CSM Lesson 3A - Part 2 ( lots of photos)

It is now time to do picots. In hand knitting picots can be done in a couple of different ways. You can cast on with picots. Bind off with picots. Do a folded hem with eyelets that will form picots when the fabric is folded. I'm sure there are probably more ways that I don't know about. With the CSM picots are done by knitting a set number of rounds, transferring every other stitch to its neighboring needle, knitting another set number of rounds, and finishing up by doing a hang hem. While it may sound a bit confusing at first, it's rather easy once you do it a few times. The following photos will show the process.

At the end of my last post we ended with several rows of the working yarn being knit.

We are now ready to do picots.....or at least set up for them. They will actually be formed once the hang hem is done ( more on that later). To set up for the picot every other stitch needs to be moved to its neighboring needle. This needs to be done while the piece is still weighted so stitches don't jump off the needles.....or go where they shouldn't. The first time I did this I felt like I was all thumbs. Now that I've done this a few times it has gotten easier....and I'm a bit quicker.

If you look closely you can see that the stitches on the right side of the cylinder have been moved while the ones on the right near the front have not. Hopefully the close up below shows this a bit better.

The cylinder will have to be advanced so all the needles can be reached. Once every other stitch has been moved, a specified number of rounds are knit and you are ready to do a hang hem. The photo below shows the eyelets that were formed ( center back...the dark line of purple)..

To do a hang hem you reach down into the center of the piece pulling up the tail of your working yarn. This also brings up the first row of knitting ( purl bumps since it is the wrong side of the piece) done with the working yarn.  The purl bumps are then picked up and placed on the needles. The weights have been removed for this ( for obvious reasons). Can you imagine how hard it would be to do this with the piece still weighted? It's pretty easy to see the purl bumps that need to be picked up since the working yarn is purple and the waste yarn is yellow.

 

Once all the stitches of the first row have been picked up, weights are put back on and a few more rows are knit. Unfortunately the finished picot hem can't be seen in the last photo because it is now hanging under the cylinder. The first dark row of purple above the yellow waste yarn is where the picot hem is.

There is one more part to this lesson before the piece is finished.....mock ribbing. Stay tuned for Part 3!