Dear Anne
I’ve never liked sewing on neckbands and saw this method in MKM years ago, so it might help someone coming back to machine knitting who may not remember it. First do a cut and sew neck and leave the left shoulder open. Set the ribber up and using the same number of stitches needed for the neckband, knit something like ten rows at Tension 7 or some 1×1 rib in a bit of waste yarn. Transfer all stitches to the main bed and knit a few more rows. Knit a row with a nylon cord then one row at Tension 10 with main yarn and one row at Tension 6. Take it all off on waste yarn, still with the ribber comb in place.
Hang the neckline on the empty needles, push the knitting behind the latches and then put the neckband stitches in the hooks. Carefully push the needles back through the neckline and I usually knit another row at Tension 4 or 5. Change to rib, add weights to the ribber comb and knit the rows required. Leave the ribber set on P and with the stitches in place on the ribber, move it to H. Knit the rows needed at Tension 3/3. Transfer stitches to the main bed then remove the ribber comb and pick up the first row you knitted at Tension 10. Put the stitches into the hooks, but make sure you leave the other stitches behind the latches. Take all the needles back, then remove the cord and waste yarn and latch off. It seems a lot of messing about, but it’s easier than writing it down and a lot neater than backstitching through the open loops. Over the years I’ve learnt such a lot from the magazine and what goes around, comes around. Thanks for all you do, Anne. Best wishes, Chris
