I’m sure you’ve heard me say it, “I hate finishing!” When the knitting comes off the needles I’d love nothing better than to wash, block, and wear. Knitting tank tops is a great way to enjoy knitted garments in hot weather without the dreaded hours of finishing. A tank will have far fewer ends to weave in than a sweater. But there are some easy ways to sneak your finishing into the knitting process so that when those last few shoulder stitches are ready for the three needle bind off, your FO will be all the closer to “ready to wear”.
Towards that end, I’ve got a couple of fun knitting tips to share – today is tip 1: underarm I-cord Bind Offs.
To save finishing time, instead of binding off, try using the I-cord Bind Off! It puts the finishing touch on your underarm opening while you work instead of crocheting or picking up and knitting at the end. Paired with a slip stitch (or 2) along the arm openings, when it comes to binding off you’re done! Remember just don’t slip along the arm openings when using 100% linen – see post here for why.
Step 1 – join yarn and increase 1 st
Step 2 – ssk (ws bind off p2tog)
2 sts on right needle
Step 3 – slip 2 sts back to left needle
Step 4 – k1, ssk (ws p1, p2tog)
Repeat steps 4 and 5. On the final bind off you will have to work 1 extra time to compensate for the initial increased st.
Note: whether your size has 1 set of I-cords or more, this particular decrease happens only when the last of the underarm Bind Offs is finished.
Et Voila!
I must admit it was rather unusual to ask camera mom to take a close up… there! I’m sure had the lake been busy we’d have gotten more than one cock eyed glance.
Tip: if you find your I-cord is a bit loosey goosey, try dropping a needle size makes for a nice tight underarm I-cord. For this project, the body needle size created a great I-cord tightness… but on projects using larger needles, the loosey goosey has occurred.
Bonus Tip: If you want to get really snazzy with your skip the finishing plans, when you flip to work the I-cord for the back, loop your yarn tail through the butt of the I-cord from the front and therefore eliminate the gap between the front side I-cords and back side I-cords… one less mini seam to weave!
Yes, I shot this tutorial in March during the long drive home from treatment in Toronto! Summer knitting makes for perfect travel projects, indeed!!