Yes, must confess I had a brief moment of talking myself into cutting through the purl stitches; even though I have done a sweater with this technique before. A technique among others I learned in the early 1990’s from Ann Bourgeois at Philosopher’s Wool Co., www.philosopherswool.com . Probably considered an unconventional technique by some. Yet, it combines some machine sewing during the knitting process so one can continue to knit in the round without interruption of a color pattern.
I will proceed to share my process with my sweater including photos.
Sewing and cutting armhole
The purl stitch at each side of the sweater is where the armhole placement is meant to be. This is where I machine stitched on either side of the purl stitch with 1.5mm stitching. The sewing machine stitching is to keep the yarn stitches in place for the armhole since the yarn on the purl stitch is cut to make the armhole. The stitching lines are parallel with short 1.5mm stitches plus a few stitches at the base/armpit to connect the parallel stitching. Basically stitching a “U” two times around the purl stitch column.
In the next post I will show the shoulders and the funnel neck in the round.
Keep on stitching~
Resources
Ann Bourgeois, Philosopher’s Wool Co., www.philosopherswool.com