The Perfect V-Neck: Preventing Holes

Hello, Sportsfans

Whether following a pattern or designing your own luscious knitwear, there are a few things that you can do to give your garment a smooth finish. The neckline is a particularly prominent part of any garment, and getting a V-neck right can be tricky.

Second in my series of tips for V-Neck perfection, I talk about preventing that gaping or sagging that some experience at the base of the V-neck.

That Pesky Middle Stitch

Your pattern will tell you, and any garment design instructional will advise you, to hold one stitch at the centre of your V-neck. (This is so you can pick up the collar later.) You will probably be asked to put on a stitch-holder. If you’re not careful, this stitch will stretch badly. I’ve found an excellent technique to prevent this.

When securing this middle stitch with a stitch marker, pass the marker through a stitch either side of the live middle stitch for additional support. You might wish to go a step further, and secure the stitch with a piece of scrap yarn passed through the live middle stitch and a stitch to either side  (as shown below).

This technique is so simple and effective, and will avoid the gaping hole at the bottom of your lovely V-neck.

Here, you can see the the live blue stitch in coloured section at the base of the V-neck. It is being held by that hot pink scrap yarn (I must've had a lot of it lying around that day) which is also passed through the stitches on either side to secure it.

Acknowledgements

I am very much indebted to the work of Paula Ward, whose instructional Youtube videos have helped me enormously in teaching me some very handy knitting tricks in the V-neck department. I highly recommend you check out her YouTube Channel and, if you’re so inclined, purchase her excellent e-Book on jumper/sweater design.