Friday, September 14, 2007

To Seam or Not to Seam: A Question


For those of you who know me - I'm sure you have heard me bitch about seaming. After about 20 different tries (and still I'm not 100% happy) I came up with this finished product. I swear after this post no more talk about Isabella. I am mostly pleased with the finished product, although if anyone has any suggestions on how to keep the shoulders from rolling I would be greatly appreciated.

What is it about seaming that puts a lot of knitters in a cold sweat - for me it can turn a lot of hard work into crap with only one needle and a string. I am a perfectionist by nature and this is only my second time seaming so I guess I can't expect it to be perfect, but as usual I am hard on myself (notice I didn't take a picture of the seams) LOL. When I learn I need to see, write it down, ask questions and then do it on my own. Now that is not to say I need to do this with every task - but with knitting I do. So if anyone is willing to show my the proper way to seam/mattress stitch I am all eyes, ears, and pen ready.

Now lets see if my seams last through a wash cycle. SNOL (or SNorting Out Loud - Brilliant ladies for all the opinions on this one - you all rock and you know you are!!!)

18 comments:

Tracey said...

you did it! it looks great! woo-hoo!

Bubblesknits said...

I suck at seaming, too, so I'm no help. LOL It looks fabulous from the pictures, though! :-) Great job!

(I love SNOL, even though it reminds me of SNOT every time I glance at it. LOL)

Unknown said...

For some reason, seaming scares the knickers off of me too. I don't know why ... I'm good at hand sewing things. That's why I LOVE knitting sweaters in the round, from the bottom up. But I ordered some yarn to make a cardigan today, and I'll have to sew the sleeves on.

I've said it before, but wow - that sweater is so great and looks wonderful on you.

Monika said...

This totally lovely! I like it a lot. When I was looking for Kitchener Stitch, I googled and found a website with short videos on how to do it. Sorry, can seem to remember the link, but it helped me a lot. Maybe you can google it?

SissySees said...

If it isn't three-needle bind-off or kitchner, just thinking about seaming makes me ill. Isabella looks lovely though, as does the model!

Um, Jessi? SNOL isn't far removed from snot, so it's appropriate for it to remind you...

JenniferB said...

It looks so great! I took a seaming class at my LYS, and it turned out I was the only one who showed up, so that was really nice for me. But I've forgotten some of it because I didn't have a garment to seam up at the time. I think if I would have gotten more practice right then, I would have remembered it. Maybe take Isabella apart (gasp!) and get thee to a seaming class. Knowledge gained!

Virtuous said...

Isabella looks good on you!! You did a great job for your 2nd sweater garment!! YAH!!

As far as the "stockinette roll" you could to one or the other. Pick up stitches and do a ribbing around the armholes (joy joy) or single crochet around them.

And I detest seaming too ugh!

Again, great job Devon! I can't wait to see what you are working on next!

Anonymous said...

Great job Devon, Isabella looks great on you!
You know I'm no help with knitting...lol
Have a great weekend and hopefully someone will come to your rescue on seaming.

Melissa said...

GORGEOUS!! It looks awesome on you!
Nice Job!!!!

Bertha said...

Wow, that looks awesome! So flattering! (I suck at seaming too!)

jackie said...

this is lovely! and it looks wonderful on you! great job! and congrats!

Anonymous said...

Wahooooo she looks gorgeous :D I'm so proud of you for getting it done! And it really is quite fetching on you, dear :)

As a side note? My random word verification is boobsjb. LOL. for some reason that amuses me.

Anonymous said...

It looks fantastic!

(Maybe a crochet slip-stitch edging to keep the shoulders from rolling?)

You don't live anywhere near me, but I'd show you how to mattress stitch. It might cause me to actually start seaming my unfinished project...

http://languidly.com/

Michele said...

You look beautiful in it! Have you tried to block the shoulders a bit?

Nancy @ the Jersey Shore said...

It's beautiful. for the future, I have been told that if you slip the first stitch on every row it makes it really easy to line up edges for seaming. I haven't tried it yet, I adapted the pattern I love for a tank to knit in the round. I hate seaming too. I want to knit this pattern sometime.

jopal said...

Beautiful job! Seaming is my leaast favorite thing about knitting or crocheting. I work in the round whenever I have the option!

Unknown said...

Ooh hoo your tatas look FINE in that top! I have to make me one of those! :)

Perhaps you should block again if the shoulders are rolling. But to my inexperienced eye it looks great. I hope the weather warms up so you get to wear it this year!

Susan said...

Beautiful!

Looks soooo good on you. I love it all, the color, fit, style.
Really, really cute ;)

(now that you have a super cute tank, the temps will drop to below zero ~ funny how it works that way)