DIY Network

Contrasting Bands and Cuffs Contrasting Bands and Cuffs From "Knitty Gritty" episode DKNG-112

There are many ways besides new collars that a knitter can rejuvenate a garment with handmade additions: bottom bands, cuffs -- if you can knit it, chances are that you can add it to an article of clothing! Here are a few suggestions to get your creative juices flowing (and your knitting needles clicking).

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Contrasting Bottom Band
Turn your attention to the bottom of the sweater you've been working on. Most sweaters have some sort of ribbing. You need to remove this before you can add on a bottom band. The majority of sweaters are knit from the bottom up. This means you are going "against the grain" when you try to unravel from the bottom. The best method to remove the cast-on portion of a hem or sleeve is with scissors -- but carefully!

	Figure A
	Figure B

Lay the sweater out flat. Decide where the new color should start (we started a couple of rows above the ribbing). Using a small-gauge circular needle or a yarn needle and scrap yarn, pick up one leg of each stitch (on the knit side of a stitch, it looks like a V). Pick up the same leg of the V on each stitch (figure A). Be careful not to move up or down rows as you pick up your stitches, and don't skip any. Once you've gone all the way around the sweater and picked up all the stitches, it's time to cut.

You need to cut at the base of the row below the picked-up row (figure B). You really want to avoid cutting or nicking the picked-up stitches, but you can always rip out one more row if you make that mistake. Cut carefully through the stitches, pulling away the loose bits of yarn as you go.

Once you've made it all the way around, transfer the stitches to the circular needle with which you'll be knitting. As you go, untwist any twisted stitches, pick up dropped stitches, pull out remaining bits of fluff and make sure that that you haven't switched rows somewhere.

	Figure C
	The gauge of the sweater yarn is 2 sts = 1"; the contrasting yarn is 3 sts = 1". To keep the bottom from puckering, change the gauge by increasing in every other stitch.

Knitting the Bottom Band
Starting from one side seam, attach contrasting yarn (figure C) and begin knitting in the round. If you want the bottom band to have a rolled edge, just keep working in St st until piece measures an inch longer than desired length and bind off. If you don't want the hem to roll, work the last few rows in rib before binding off.

By extending the bottom band to 14-16 inches, you'll have a knit dress.

Glitzy Cuffs
Sometimes you just want to add a touch of glamour to an existing sweater. This approach is very quick and easy (and even undoable if you decide you want to change it). A sweater with a slightly flared sleeve and hem works best. The sweater can be knit from just about anything so long as you can find a way to get a knitting needle through it at regular intervals. (For a garment that's even finer-gauged, consider sewing a row of blanket stitch onto the edge with a yarn that matches the sweater body. Then you can pick up stitches from that.)

Work a gauge swatch with your contrast yarn (in this demonstration we're using Berroco Glitz). Once you know how many stitches you knit per inch with it, it's time to pick up your stitches. Let's assume we're working at a gauge of 5 stitches per inch. Working around the edge of the cuff with your double-pointed needles (or a small circular needle), pick up 5 stitches per inch. This may mean picking up every other stitch; it may mean picking up an extra stitch every fourth stitch.

Once the stitches are on the needles, start knitting! Since you want to avoid rolling edges, work the last few rows in garter stitch before binding off.

Use the same technique on the second sleeve and hem.

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