The Knitting Fiend

Yesterday, I wrote a post about how to lengthen or shorten knitting., focusing on stockinette. Today, I’m going to discuss how to deal with garter stitch. I’m going to assume you read yesterday’s article, and just cover the issues associated with garter stitch which means the main topic is “How to graft garter stitch.”

I should warn you though: The final paragraph will suggest you think, before you get out your needles and snip. If you examine your overly long sweater, you may realize that if you snip in the right place, you can avoid grafting. So, read the article to the end before starting to follow the directions, ok?

To begin, let’s take a look at the structure of garter stitch. In the photo to the left, you will notice there are two types of rows: Those with purl bars below and those with purl bars above. These two types of rows alternate; this means that when you graft garter stitch, it’s important to make sure that the row you add when grafting fits in the sequence. If you don’t things will look strangely, mysteriously wrong.

Because it’s important for you to “see” this structure, I highlighted two stitches, one in white and one in yellow. Assuming this garter stitch swatch was knit using all knit stitches (as opposed to all purl) the white stitch and all stitches in its row, were formed when the side I photographed faced the knitter. Notice that on this row, the purl bars are at the top of the row.

The yellow stitch was formed when the side touching the table faced the knitter. Notice the purl bars are below this row.

Now, let’s assume I’ve been following instructions in my previous discussion of how to lengthen or shorten knitting, and I adapted most the steps that have nothing to do with the stitch type. I’ve set my two lifelines (which in this case are double pointed needles), and I’m ready to snip and unravel to separate my swatch into two pieces. Where do I snip? Well, I’ve decided to unravel a row with purl-bars on top and I’m going to snip into the sides of the stitch; I’ve marked that point.

I’ll snip one a few stitches from the left selvedge and one a few stitches from the right selvedge, then pull the yarn out from in between them. Afterwards, I’ll tease out the final edge stitches with the tip of a needle and separate the two pieces.

Ok, I bet you’re wondering: Does it matter which row you snip and unravel? Not really. But, make sure you only unravel 1 row. Also, if this is your first time doing this and you unravel a row with the purl bars facing down, things might look a bit different from this lesson. (Though, honestly, you might not even notice you’ve done anything different.)

Oh, and I bet you’re also wondering: This fabric is reversible. If I have a shaped piece, or a piece with some sort of details knit in, how will I keep track of the two “front” and “back” so I don’t accidentally graft the front to the back and do something weird to the shaping? Well, if you are working on a shaped piece, I suggest you put a safety pin on the front face of the above and below the split point before splitting. (You don’t need to do this with a swatch. )

Following yesterday’s instructions, I would now either add yardage by knitting a few more rows or subtract by ripping. Now, the reassembly!

Lay the two pieces on a flat surface with the bind off at the “top” and the cast on at the “bottom”. If you can’t tell which is the cast on edge, remember there will be 1 more stitch on the bottom than on the top (weird but true.)

Look for the two unraveled ends on either side. The lower piece should have an end on the right and the upper piece on the left. If they don’t, flip one the other or both over. (Note: If you used the safety pin trick and flipping means one safety pin faces up and the other down, you will need to either knit 1 row or rip 1 row to make the garter stitch match and also maintain shaping.)

Wave your swatch around and breath a sigh of relief. You now know how to fix the length of your nearly perfect sweater.

Ok, I wrote this whole thing up, and I even had a good reason: If you practice this on a swatch, you will have learned to graft garter stitch; that’s a good skill to have. However thinking is an even better skill!

So, here’s a thought. Suppose all I had wanted to do was shorten 1″ off the bottom of a garter stitch pullover knit withouth ever changing needles? There is no trim, at the bottom. Just cast on and knit garter stitch without shaping for a while before shaping the neck. Couldn’t I just figure out where I wanted the lower row to be, rip out a row right there and bind off? That would avoid the whole tedious grafting thing.

Yes, absolutely!