Making a seamless join is a great way to knit a circular project look polished. And it’s so easy!
Alternative
I’ve seen people use their cast on yarn to weave in the edge and make it look flat. But why do that if this is so easy?
Setup: Cast on all your stitches that you need plus one additional stitch (for example, if you needed 100 stitches you would cast on 101 stitches). In my pic, I needed to CO 17 sts, so I started with 18.
Step 1: Make sure that the round isn’t twisted on your needle(s). Slip the first stitch you cast on (typically the slip knot) from your left needle to your right.
Step 2: Slip the last stitch you cast on (now the second stitch on your right needle) over the stitch you just passed onto it. Do this just like you would if you were binding off. Now you’re back to the correct amount of stitches.
Step 3: Slip the stitch back to your left-hand needle.
Step 4: Tighten both yarns (the yarn tail and the working yarn) so it has regular tension. The stitch you’ve passed over and back should now look like the other loops.
And that’s it! You can now knit a regular round. You’ll probably want to put a stitch marker to note the new round before you start knitting.
And here it is after a few rounds are knit. All we have to do is weave in the tail and we’re done!
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About the Instructor: Jody Richards
Jody is the founder and lead editor of Knotions. She loves poring over stitch dictionaries and trying out new stitches.
She’s also on a mission to get everyone to embrace the blocking. And, to avoid using garter stitch edges in knit swatches made for gauge.
And while she likes all things crafting (well ok, except that one thing), yarn crafts are her true love (and she has the stash to prove it).
Thanks for the great pictures and explanation. I’ve heard of and seen this a bunch of times, but now I truly understand!
you’re very welcome! glad it was helpful 🙂
Excellent tip, and well presented, but I figured it out on my own some 30 years ago.
unventing is a great thing, isn’t it?
Nice you had figured it out. Even nicer that today it is shared with millions.
we’re glad to be able to share it!