At Last - "Knitter's Finishing School" is Available!

Finish your knits expertly!  The Knitter's Finishing School - Video Course is now available, a resource for all knitters, beginners, experts, hand and machine knitters alike.

Wouldn't you love to just relax and enjoy the sewing up process on your knits, confident that you can assemble them expertly? This set of videos has the information to help you make your investment of time and materials turn out as beautifully as possible and give your projects a "blue ribbon" finish.

This course is also a resource for when you encounter some of the less common situations, like making horizontal, invisible ribbing grafts.  You can use this course by making swatches and practicing the techniques, or as a reference when you need a specific technique.  Perhaps you'd like to show it at your club meetings and then practice with your friends.

Note that I do some things in about the same way as any other knitting teacher, but I also do a lot of things with a different approach.  Some more experienced knitters may enjoy seeing a different way to do the job, especially if it helps make the seams invisible.

I have longed to produce a course like this for years, as I listened to knitters talk about their finishing experiences and their need for up-close lessons.  The two DVDs have over four hours of video lessons, all hand assembly techniques.

Here are the contents:

Disk One: 

Mattress Stitch:  In the photo, that's an underarm shot of the side seam done with one-row mattress.  Mattress is the way to get side seams that are invisible on the right side.
 
I show mattress on stockinette stitch, on reverse stockinette, on a shaped edge, and along a full-fashion decrease edge.  Later on the disk, I work it with knit one, purl one ribbing and knit two purl two ribbing, just showing how to plan ahead or even adjust so the ribbing forms an unbroken pattern.

Hide Yarn Ends:  A lesson on hiding ends with a needle and then one using the latch tool.

Kitchener Stitch (Grafting):  Kitchener is a stitch that acts just like a row of knitting, but is sewn in with a needle, for a wonderful invisible seam.  The videos teach purl side grafting, knit side grafting, and Kitchener for a growth line in children's garments.  Did you know that you can graft ribbing invisibly, as long as you can graft from waste yarn at the bottom of a piece to waste yarn at the top? We start grafting ribbing with knit one, purl one and go on to knit two, purl two ribbing.

Disk Two:

Grafting Ribs Top to Top:  I begin by demonstrating the challenge of grafting pieces of knitting with open top stitches, showing how knit one, purl one doesn't work out well if grafted in the usual way, because the stitches will be offset by a half stitch.  Instead, there's a method called the "four-needle graft" that I show using a waste yarn string through the stitches that gives a virtually invisible graft.

Mobius Scarf and Garter Grafting:  Garter stitch is easy to graft invisibly, and there just had to be one project on the disk.  I have a simple, hand knitted garter stitch Mobius scarf (with nice, big easy-to-see stitches) that I begin and end on waste yarn and use to demonstrate the Kitchener Stitch on garter stitch. 

Right Angle Seams:  This is a mattress stitch for those situations where the two pieces are quite unlike, but you still want them to look even and tidy.

Knit 3, Purl 3 Graft Top to Top:  Here's how to deal with wider ribs that need grafted top to top.

Three-Needle Bind Off:  Using knitting needles, I demonstrate the three-needle bind-off.  I call some of these seams "dent" seams, and I like invisible ones better, but this is an easy technique when you need a sturdy seam.

Crochet Seam Like Three-Needle Bind Off:  I demonstrate this two ways, taking the stitches off knitting needles and also by working from waste yarn.

Zipper Installed in a Seam:  Having problems getting zippers in so they're not wavy?  I baste the seam and use that to keep the knitting from stretching out, then remove the basting later.  Just for fun, I use some Liquid Stitch to baste the zipper fabric to the inside of the knitting (test that stuff, first, okay?  And make sure you don't get it on the coil.)

Separating Jacket Zipper:  Here's an exposed coil installation of a separating jacket zipper, positioned with hand basting, then machine sewed.

Blocking:  Here is how to use blocking wires, pinning out to measurements, and then an explanation of several methods of blocking.  I demonstrate steam blocking.

Armhole Seam:  This segment shows how to sew in a seam with mattress stitch.

Bands and buttonholes:  I show how to pick up and knit a band along a vertical edge, how to pick one up along a horizontal edge, and the math behind those processes.  I show how to make a doubled neckband.  (Warning:  I used knitting needles here, because I wanted this course to be for all knitters.) Then I demonstrate three garter stitch buttonholes and two ribbed band buttonholes.

PRICING:  The two-DVD course is $25 plus shipping.  This course contains over four hours of high definition video that looks crisp and clear even on a humongous television screen, showing how to do the techniques with detailed, up-close views.

SHIPPING:  We mail items each weekday using U. S. Postal Service.  In the United States, we charge $3 to ship an order.  If you need other items, you can save on shipping - when a customer orders more than one item at the same time, additional items are shipped free of charge.  My other items are at www.dianaknits.com. 

I love my international customers, but shipping is different - please see the www.dianaknits.com page for information about international shipping.