Ah, ha Moment

I think I have had an ah-ha moment. Do I trust it? I have been wrestling with the problem of stopping the stretch at the back of the neck. When you start a Top Down at the collar (like I do) it has no cast off at the back of the neck to stablize this spot which takes quite a lot of the strain when you wear a sweater. Every construction has a weak point and I think this is one for this type of Top Down.

We have done various things in different patterns for coping with this. With a fold-over collar you can decrease across the back of the neck and then increase back up again, or you can work a large collar with many stitches cast on at the outside edge and decrease down at the back of the neck. Both of these work really well. But for the small ribbed neckband this does not seem to work. I am also working on a mock turtleneck pullover with a k1,p1 rib and this doesn't work too well on that either. But ...

This is an adaptation of a slip stitch pattern which I had a vague memory of (I will have to try to find it in a book). You increase and then pass a slipped stitch over, but if you don't slip the stitch but knit it, it gives me a non-stretchy line which mimics a purl ridge. I think I got it !! Tomorrow I may wake up and realize I have totally missed something but for the moment I am happy, happy.

-Deb