Hey, this is cute!

 This was an insight that should have occurred weeks ago, but only came recently: a provisional cast-on (PCO) would be an excellent way to achieve a really stretchy beginning for the crimped stitches! When the item is done, the PCO can be removed and the resulting loops bound off at the same tension as the stitches at the end. They have to be bound off, or your project might start unraveling from the beginning up.

But would it really? It turns out that k1, p1 ribbing cannot be unraveled from the beginning, so by substituting that for the first row of your pattern, you can just take out the waste yarn and that's that!

It gets better, though. This method forms cute little picots along the beginning edge.

There are a number of ways to do a PCO. I prefer the crochet chain method as it is very stable. Choose a waste yarn that is smooth and a good contrast with your project yarn.  A word of warning, though: if your project yarn is light in color, don't pick too dark a waste yarn. Even a smooth yarn can leave a bit of lint and red lint on a white project . . . not so nice.

Start by crocheting a chain in waste yarn with a hook that will produce stitches large enough to get your needle through. You'll need one chain for each cast-on stitch plus a few extra since the occasional chain may not be obvious when you go to pick up in it. Cut the waste yarn and pull the tail through the last chain to secure it.

Look for the back of the chain. (It's the side that doesn't look like a chain.) The bumps you see are the backs of the stitches. They will be oriented differently depending on whether you're holding the final chain to the right or the left.

Pick up the needed number of sts in the backs of the chains as per the diagram. Work Row 1 (RS) in k1, p1 ribbing. It doesn't matter which st you start and end with.

Continue with  Row 2 and the rest of the pattern stitch. Obviously, on subsequent repeats Row 1 will be as normal.

When you do the crimping row, make sure you go into the stitches as shown; don't go into the waste yarn chains. The heads of the stitches that appear as purls will be much closer to the waste yarn and it is easy to miss the stitches themselves.

Remove the waste yarn. If you've picked up the stitches correctly, you can just undo the last chain and quickly take it out. If not, you will have to work stitch by stitch. (It's usually a combination of the two.) In either case, be a little bit gentle so that the picots are not distorted.

Finally, block the piece. Wet and stretch it well. Pin the picots individually. Allow it to dry.

I did try this method on an extremely small seed stitch swatch without the crimping. It does form picots but not as prominent or nicely shaped. It's an idea worth pursuing on seed stitch, moss stitch, or, of course, k1, p1 ribbing, but I'm not going to go down that path right now. If anyone does try it, though, please let us know how it works out.

Until next time . . .

Embroidering Beads On

The stitches used in this sample are so basic that I am almost embarrassed to call them "embroidery". (For real embroidery, you might want to check out this site. In a few minutes, I saw how to do some new-to-me stitches and learned about some unusual embroidery styles. More things I'm gonna wanna try! )

Do remember, though, that embroidery on knitting does not require a hoop; that would only crush the fabric.



The first step in this particular sample is to make a simple running stitch. Thread a yarn needle, secure the yarn to the back of the work, then take the needle to the front through the first space, to the back through the next, and so on. End by securing the yarn to the back. This step is shown in the salmon-colored lines in the following diagram.

The second step is called "lacing". Again, start by securing the yarn to the wrong side. Following the blue line, go up under the first running stitch and down under the second. At Point A, unthread the yarn needle, string a bead, and rethread the needle. Continue across. Be aware of how tightly you're pulling the yarn. The beads don't have to be super-snug against the fabric, but you certainly don't want the embroidery yarn to be pulled tight.


The second pass is shown by the green line for clarity only. You are still using the same strand of yarn. Take the needle back under the previous running stitch in the opposite direction from the first pass. At Point B, unthread the yarn needle, string a bead, and rethread the needle. Finish the row and secure the yarn on the wrong side.


Essentially, the passes are two opposing waves. The first pass forms troughs between every other pair of running stitches; the beads sit in these troughs. The troughs of the second pass fill the spaces in between those of the first; again the beads sit in the troughs.

Well, that's it for now. Please use the "Comments" if you have any questions.

Until next time . . .