Saturday, May 31, 2008

Nifty Worm Trim Variation


Time for me to get back to machine knitting on this blog!
DOUBLE WORM TRIM

This easy trim is a variation on the standard worm edging commonly put around knits. Its uses are many … from necklines to hems, to placemats and embellishment on clothing. I would not suggest this be used for baby items since the loops are quite long and tiny fingers can become entwined easily.

My apologies for the colors in the picture. It was the only way I could show the contrast with the two rounds of knitting this trim and more readily explain the technique. Let's get on with it and begin making this trim! You'll need a swatch of knitted fabric and for the purposes of our demo, pick a contrasting color of yarn for the worm edging.

Pull out 3 needles on your machine. E-wrap those three needles with the contrasting yarn. With the wrong side of the swatch facing you, hang three edge stitches on those needles. Set machine to do I-Cord and (*) knit 12 rows. SKIP three edge stitches and hang the NEXT three edge stitches on those three needles. Repeat from (*) along the edge. End off.

Again, pull out 3 needles on your machine. E-Wrap those three needles with your contrasting yarn. Again with the wrong side of the swatch facing you, hang the first set of 3 empty stitches. (*) Knit 12 rows, hang the next three empty edge stitches onto those needles. Repeat from (*) around.

Here are some how-it-looks in stages. The first picture shows the first round of 'worming' and the second photo was taken after the second round was formed. On the sample, I added another variation to the pattern and moved the looped I-cord to the front when picking up one set of stitches and then moved it to the back when picking up the second set of stitches. This gave me a much more intertwined look as you can see.

A variation on any kind of worm edging, is to spin your fabric full circle a couple of times as it hangs on the machine after you've knit the 12 rows (6 for standard worm edging). this little twist to it is quite firming to the edges, and causes a different look. The trim no longer lays as flat, but has even more depth which can be a nice addition to edgings of knits.

Another twisting one to try is one 12-row piece twisted to the right, then the next one twisted to the left. You'll see quite a difference as opposed to twisting in one direction. Whether you do single or double worm edging, this very simple technique can add a lot to your knitting. Enjoy!

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