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Mind the Gap

Before I start, Happy Memorial Day to my U.S. family and friends.  Hope you are all enjoying your day off and duly memorializing those who have fought for your freedoms.  Now on to the business of today here in Canada.

When picking up stitches to join a sleeve to a sweater after the body has been knit OR when you pick up the gusset stitches on a sock, there always seems to be a hole or gap if you do exactly what the pattern tells you to do.  Generally there are a set number of stitches to pick up, but then there is some span that doesn't get covered.  The span creates a rather large hole.  The photos below shows those long spans on either side of the hole.

 There are techniques to fix these holes using the leftover yarn and darning it shut, but my skills in this area are lacking.  My work always look sloppy at best and often there is still a bit of a gap when the darning's complete.

Hole under an arm.  Photo credit - Laura Chau
Hole at the gusset.  Photo credit Knitting Fairy on Pinterest
Those holes are not what one wants and I found a way to fix them.  When the pattern tells you to pick up stitches I pick up at least one more on either side of the start of the round.  Sometime to fill that gap two extra stitches are picked up at the start and end of the round.  What do you do with the extra stitches?  Why just knit two together and presto, the magic works and there are no holes.

Craftsy has recently posted a clear tutorial on how to do this; check out their article here.  And try the technique out on your next sweater or pair of socks.  It works and you will have that polished finished look you want.  Mind that gap and you will be happy you did.

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