THE DAILY CHUM

It was Friday afternoon, and I found myself in a quandary. I was in a hospital waiting room with an almost finished sock. All I needed to do was graft the toe, then I could start the next sock. A frantic search of my knitting bag revealed nothing, no darning needle, not even an extra dpn to hold the stitches until I got home! I had 2 more hours left of waiting and I really wanted to start the second sock. So how to graft the toe without a darning needle?

I went through several ideas before I came upon the answer. Trying to put the yarn through the stitches without a needle seemed like a really bad idea. Bugging a nurse for those swabs with the long wooden sticks (to hold the stitches for later) seemed like a good idea, but I couldn’t find a nurse. Then it hit me, I could use my dpns and graft the toe by knitting it! My normal kitchener instructions are as follows:

Thread yarn through first st on front needle knitwise, then through first st on back needle purlwise.

Knitwise through first st of front needle and drop it off needlePurlwise through next front st and leave on needle

Purlwise through first st of back needle and drop off needle

Knitwise through next back st and leave on needle

Repeat last 4 rows above til all sts are worked

Knitwise through last front st and remove from needle, purlwise through last back st and remove from needle.

To use these instructions WITHOUT a darning needle, all I did is knit where it says purl and purl where it says knit. To start, cut your yarn and leave a 12 inch tail. That way you can pull the end of the yarn through the stitch after you knit or purl. So to graft without a needle:

Purl the first stitch on the front needle and pull the yarn through, then knit through first stitch on back needle and pull the yarn through.

Purl the first stitch of front needle, pull the yarn through and drop it off needle.Knit th next front stitch, pull the yarn through and leave on needle.

Knit the first stitch of back needle, pull the yarn through and drop off needlePurl the next back stitch, pull the yarn through and leave on needle.

Repeat last 4 rows above until all stitches are worked.

Purl the last front stitch, pull the yarn through and remove from needle, knit the last back st and remove from needle. Voila, you’re done and can move on to the next sock. Whew!

Monkeypal, also known as Michele, is a native of the rain drenched state of Oregon. She can be found lurking in local yarn and spinning shops when not tending to her gang of small children. She can also be found under mossy rocks, on her blog, and can be reached by email.

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