The turtleneck that lies perfectly and doesn’t strangle
the wearer:
This is easy, and much improves the sweater. The directions always say, “bind off loosely
in pattern,” but that isn’t quite enough to make a ribbed turtleneck fit well,
and lie flat at the flare of the neck to the shoulders, once it is turned
down. You can make this simple, increasing one stitch in four; lettuce leaf, increasing two stitches in four;
or frilled, doubling the stitches on each of two successive rows. Try swatching these; they’re fun.
Instead, when you are binding off, use the increase bind
off. Turtlenecks are almost always k2, p2 rib, but for perfection, increase between each pair of purl stitches as you
go, so the bind off increases one stitch in four, and goes:
 k2, bind first
stitch over second,
*purl 1, bind previous stitch over
purl stitch.
make 1 as purl stitch, bind
previous stitch over increase stitch
P1, bind increase stitch over purl
stitch
K1, bind previous stitch over K
stitch,
K1, bind off previous stitch over
this stitch*
Repeat, around the turtleneck.
The result is shown on the red
sweater at right.
By the same principle, you can
make a lettuce-leaf edge by increasing between each pair of stitches,
making 1 in knit between every pair of knit stitches, and making 1 in purl
between each pair of purl stitches, as I did on the blue sweater shown
below. That’s two stitches of
increasing for every four.
You can make a frilled edge by working an increase
in each stitch on the first row, not binding off; then making an
increase in each of that row, and binding off as you go, on a second
round. This is four increases per four
stitches on the first row, and four increases per four stitches on the second.
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