September 7, 2007

  • Mattress Stitch

    I have two recently-completed FOs, but they are both gifts, and so I don't want to post pics until I can get them mailed off.  But I do want to talk about a part of one of them.  It's a sweater for my cousin Katherine, who turns one this month, and it's a great raglan construction with very little seaming.  You do have to sew up the arms though.  Now, I've sewn seams up before, but never actually learned the details of mattress stitch.  I did a quick & dirty version, but quick & dirty wasn't good enough for little Katherine, so I broke out the books and the internet, and finally learned!  It's always a bummer to be working with knitwear and not actually knitting (I'm not the only one who thinks this...), but this is actually a pretty neat technique, because your seam ends up invisible on the public side:

    You start by weaving the yarn through both sides in the proper pattern:
    DSC_5716.JPG

    And then you pull the yarn taut...which is surprisingly fun...and voila!  Invisible seam:
    DSC_5721.JPG
    See how the V's in the knitting line up perfectly?  Isn't that lovely?

    Here's what it looks like inside:
    DSC_5722.JPG

    It's pretty swell folks.  If you don't know how to do it, you should learn.  It's super easy.  You can even watch a video of it here (scroll down to Finishing).

    Now, the real question is, why is it called mattress stitch?  Anyone?

    Allrighty, time to get some rest.  Y'all have a great weekend!!! =)