Holli Yeoh, techniques

Reverse st st seams

At the Sally Melville workshops I attended last January I learned a new tidbit for working a reverse stocking stitch seam. Sally suggested working two selvage stitches on each end of the row in stocking stitch. I tried it out with the Chloë that I’ve been knitting. I’m pleased with the results.

Here is a blocked sleeve. You can see the nice even column of two selvage sts worked in stocking stitch along the edge.

I always use mattress stitch for my seams and it was certainly much easier to see where to place my needle because it was nicely nestled between those two knit sts.

The finished seam looks lovely. On a fully reverse st st garment there will definitely be a st st seam line, but I think it adds a nice designer’s touch. Form follows function.

Project Stats
Pattern: Chloë by me and available for purchase here or here.
Yarn: Opal Prisma (1191) and Opal Uni Black.
Challenges: Gauge when working the fronts and sleeves in the alternating reverse st st and st st stripes is different than simple stocking stitch. It’s much more like a garter stitch gauge. As a result, more swatching is needed to determine needle size for the fronts and sleeves. I used UK size 12 which when measured with my calipers (from my jewellery making days) are just a titch bigger than 2.5 mm needles. Last time I knit this sweater with 2.5 mm needles, but I used Regia yarn.

If you are interested, I have kits for this design in sizes 0-6mo to 2T priced from $34 to $60.