Finishing garments

I have finished the body of my sweater, one sleeve and I am working my way up the other sleeve. I started thinking about the finishing for this pullover when it's done and since it is knit in the round there is minimal finishing to be done. YEA!!


When I first started knitting I couldn't sew in my end pieces very well and wasn't real thrilled with any of the "finishing" aspects of a project. When I started knitting my first (and only to date) sweater it was for my daughter.

Really cute sweater, hood, and front pocket (I'll post some pictures later when I can get better light). The only big complaint is that it is knit in pieces and then has to all be sewn together at the end (that was not a fun night). By the way it was knit with 100% cotton yarn and of course didn't hide a thing. I was terrified that I would spend a lot of hours on this sweater only to botch the seams and then it would spend the rest of it's days in the back of the closet. So before I started finishing the sweater I looked for a book to help me along. This is the book I picked up




The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques by Nancie Wiseman




Anyway, as I said I picked up this book and LOVED IT!! It is spiral-bound so it lays flat as you read and knit. The instructions are simple and accompanied by clear photographs. It discusses casting on, binding off, increasing, decreasing, selvages, picking up stitches, buttonholes, and sewing seams with a few other odds and ends thrown in. It gives the pros and cons for each type and makes it very easy to decide which technique to use when given a choice in a project. The finished seams on my daughters sweater were fabulous (not because I have any particular skill but because the book was so easy to follow. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to clean up their knitting.



Now I'm off to hopefully finish my sweater and then we'll have the big reveal. Have a great weekend!