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finishing:
cast on edge: transfer stitches to finer size straight needle. the following set
of instructions presumes that you are a right hander.
1. undo the knot to release the 8 inch tails. undo the first chain in the waste
yarn slowly. stop.
2. with your right hand, take one of the two finer knitting needles and slip it
through the first knit stitch.
3. with your left hand, slowly pull the waste yarn tail to release the first knit
stitch from the second chain.
4. slip the next knit stitch onto the needle.
5. pull waste yarn to release it.
6. repeat steps 4 and 5 until all of the knit stitches are released from the
chains except the last two. leave them on the waste yarn.
note: the very last stitch does not look like those previously released. take
care to put it on the needle as you see it. do not untwist it or let it fall off the
needle because it is responsible for making this beanie look perfectly
seamless.
7. now, slip both stitches onto the needle before releasing the waste yarn
completely. put a point protector on needle. put this edge down.
note: should you stumble and mess up the last stitch, it's okay. the brim will
have a very slight indent after the beanie is grafted because the stitch won't
match the other brim stitches. no one will notice it but you.
end edge: transfer stitches to straight needle of finer size:
1. beginning on the crown side, slip all the live stitches on to the other fine
knitting needle.
note: if you used straight needles to knit the beanie, you would have to slip the
stitches twice, meaning you'd have to put them all on another needle brim first
before you could slip them back on the finer needle crown first. this is why
circular needles are recommended.
2. both fine needles should be pointing toward the brim (away from crown)
when you're done transferring the stitches. add point protectors.
3. fold the beanie so that the cast on edge lies next to the end edge. turn on all
the lights in the house and make certain that one edge is on the bumpy
row and the other edge is on the flat row. hills and valleys, respectively.
don't proceed until you have this right.
4. grafting will proceed from brim to crown. turn the beanie so grafting will
be worked from right to left.
grafting: also known as weaving. if you have never done garter stitch grafting
before, you might want to practice before performing it on the beanie.
1. thread 30 inch tail through the darning needle. remove point protectors.
begin grafting by imitating the adjacent brim stitches. the very first stitch
will take some effort.
2. continue grafting. be careful to match the grafting stitches to those on the
adjacent rows. pull on grafting yarn with moderate tension. stop and adjust
stitches after every inch of grafting or so.
3. after the last stitch is grafted, remove all needles. pick up 8 inch crown tail.
pull firmly to gather up the wraps.
4. tie both tails together using a firm double knot. with the darning needle,
thread and weave in the tails one at a time. be careful to hide it well. after
about two inches is weaved in, cut yarn to remove ends.
voila, a seamless zeebee!
i can only hope that it knocks your socks off. if it does, please consider adding a picture of you wearing it to this flickr gallery.
afterword:
all my gratitude to:
1. my webmaster, my own personal magician;
2. holly, without whom this pattern would not be here;
3. gayle, for having championed this pattern way back when it was but a
sketch and for having given it the dubious distinction of being
"arthritis friendly," and
4. last but not least...
 maura!
pattern was spurred on by knitting for baby by melanie falick, rejected by knitty.com, and powered by elizabeth zimmermann. please feel free to contact me should have questions and comments. i would love to hear from you.
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