Neckline shaped on waste yarn (divide and rehang)

Machine types that can knit it

• Single bed, punch card
• Single bed, electronic
• Single bed, no patterning
• Single bed (punch card) + ribber
• Single bed (electronic) + ribber
• Double bed with pushers (Passap type)
• Double-bed hand flat (V-bed)

Steps

1. Knit the front to the start of the neckline.
2. Knit the centre neck stitches and one side off on waste yarn, and leave the first side's needles in work. Or knit everything off on waste yarn and rehang one side.
3. Shape the first side (decrease at the neck edge, shape the shoulder), then cast off or knit it off on waste yarn.
4. Rehang the second side's loops from the waste yarn on the needles, the right way round.
5. Shape it as a mirror of the first side.
6. Keep the centre stitches on waste yarn for the neckband pickup.

The full card

What it looks like

A round or V neckline whose two sides look the same as in a holding-shaped neck, but the centre stitches show the soft edge of loops that went onto waste yarn, ready to be picked up for the neckband.

How it behaves

Flat.

How it works

Instead of holding needles, whole sections of the knitting come off the machine on waste yarn. One section is hung back on the needles and shaped while the others wait safely off the machine. Then the next section is rehung and shaped.

Machines

Any machine, including ones without a holding position (hand flats, simple machines): nothing waits in hold, so the carriage never has to skip needles [inference]. Waste yarn in a contrast colour, transfer tool, weights.

Parameters

Waste yarn: about 6–10 rows, at the same or a slightly looser tension, smooth and contrasting [unverified]. Sections: left shoulder, centre front, right shoulder, from your pattern.

Steps

1) Knit the front to the start of the neckline. 2) Knit the centre neck stitches and one side off on waste yarn, and leave the first side's needles in work. Or knit everything off on waste yarn and rehang one side. 3) Shape the first side (decrease at the neck edge, shape the shoulder), then cast off or knit it off on waste yarn. 4) Rehang the second side's loops from the waste yarn on the needles, the right way round. 5) Shape it as a mirror of the first side. 6) Keep the centre stitches on waste yarn for the neckband pickup.

Charting

Bed chart with the sections outlined; waste-yarn rows drawn in a contrast colour; hand steps in the row column: "off on waste yarn", "rehang left", "rehang right".

Limits and common problems

Rehanging a twisted or skipped loop leaves a dropped stitch or a ladder; rehang slowly with the purl side facing you [inference]. A fluffy waste yarn sheds into the main yarn.

Combines with

v-neck-holding (the holding method), machine-linking (neckband), button-stand-folded.

Pieces and assembly

Front necklines on machines without hold, or when you want to try the fit before shaping the second side [inference].

Related techniques

• V-neck shaped by holding
• Folded button stand with waste-yarn buttonholes
• Piped edge (rolled tube trim)
• Machine i-cord (tube cord)
• Linking trims and seams on the knitting machine (no linker)