I know you are anxious to find out the two winners of the book copies! They are Heather from Ontario, Canada, and Rebecca from Andover, Massachusetts! Congratulations, ladies! Please enjoy!

I will leave you with a picture of beautiful, drool-worthy handspun:

None of it spun by me, but the talented artists at Crown Mountain Farms, Pigeonroof Studios, and A Tree Hugger's Wife enable my handspun obsession just fine ;). I'm amassed quite the collection, right?!?

And if you still want more, I have two copies of this book to give away!

• To enter, simply leave a comment on this post!
  
• Please use a working e-mail address. If I can't get in touch with you, you can't win!
  
• One entry per person.
  
• Comments will be closed Sunday (February 7th) evening.
  
• Winners will be chosen randomly and notified via e-mail.

Good luck, and I hope you enjoy my review of this book!

Comments have now been closed, and the two winners will be notified shortly. Thank you for participating!

Pattern: Rickie's Sashiko Pillow from the Purl Bee, using the white Hana-Zashi No. 12 sampler.

Your comments exactly mimicked my own feelings about this sampler. Josiane wrote, "I really like how the pattern reads in so many different ways: flowers, circles, flowing rivers," and Punkin commented, "When I look at your embroidery I see circles but when I follow the colors I realize they are in waves. Fascinating." Yup. That's pretty much how this whole thing started: I kept looking at the Purl Bee photo and each second my eyes were seeing something different. And I definitely saw circles at first. It was so interesting; I had to make it!

Threads, etc.: as I mentioned, I just bought everything the Purl Bee told me to buy :). No creativity whatsoever. The one thing I did alter was to use a simple overlap closure for the pillowcase instead of a zippered one. Laziness was one reason, but mainly I don't like hardware (zippers, buttons) on my pillowcases.

The Robert Kaufman tencel linen I used for this project was amazing. Crisp and textured, yet soft and drapey. It pressed exceptionally well, and stood up to a seam ripper like a champ. I won't even mention the beautiful color! It was also my first time sewing with 100% cotton thread. Such tight, crisp stitches, and no complaints from my sewing machine!

 

To those of you considering Sashiko, I say, just give it a try! Buy a sampler and some threads, and you'll find that it's remarkably simple. The little plump stitches will win you over in a heartbeat ;).

Because that's just the way I roll, especially when it comes to knitting. The words 'appropriateness' and 'seasonality' do not exist in my knitting dictionary.

I finished this stocking during the first week of January 2010, about two years after I had finished Walter's matching one, and one year after I had re-committed to knitting this one. Small details, really :). Maybe the hiatus was good, as I had forgotten how much I love these fantastic kits from Judy's Colors.

Pattern: Judy's Colors St. Nick Christmas stocking kit.

Yarn: Raumagarn 3-ply wool yarn.

Needles: US 4 Susan Bates 16" circular needle and dpns.

Favorite detail: all the applied i-cord! I especially loved the three rounds of i-cord at the top of the stocking, which I knit as a spiral. Least favorite detail: the shaped intarsia heel. Thank goodness for blocking. Also, every time the motif would change from spirals to golden flowers and back, there would be 4 yarn ends to weave in. Generally this would be a total bummer, except this is such a sticky wool, and weaving in more than an inch of yarn wasn't necessary.

My St. Nick, and his Red Velvet, side by side. Adorning the yarn cabinet, of course :).

My latest brioche adventure involves a follow-up vest for my mom. She loved the first, and immediately asked if I would knit a second, a little bit shorter. I took a few weeks' break (it was a lot of stockinette), and started scheming. My mom kept repeating that she wanted slimming vertical lines. Knitting a large vest in tight ribbing, like 2x2, would land me in a mental hospital. Seriously. Besides, I don't find tight ribbing over a curvy body particularly flattering, vertical-ness aside.

So, I kept thinking of other ways to add a strong vertical dimension to the vest, and ended up mixing wide ribbing with some brioche, which doesn't draw in as much as true ribbing would. I blocked my gauge swatch under tension to reveal all the peaks and valleys of the stitch pattern (just like blocking lace!), and intend to do the same with the actual vest pieces. I drafted the pattern using the post-blocking gauge, of course.

I'm using Cascade Yarns Eco+, in Spruce (8462). The yarn is very soft and fluffy, comes in giant 250 gram skeins, and knits up quickly at 3.5 stitches per inch. No complaints except that I find it very unforgiving to any stitch or tension imperfections: they all show.

My idea to use a variation of brioche stitch for my mom's vest was also influenced by a book I recently purchased: Knitting Brioche by Nancy Marchant.

I found this book interesting in the same way I found Reversible Knitting interesting (my review here, the blog tour stop here): it's a complete tome devoted to one particular knitting theme. Both books develop their own language for explaining the techniques, both provide detailed instructions and step-by-step photos for knitting the elements, both contain superb stitch dictionaries, and finally provide some intriguing patterns at the end. What sets Knitting Brioche apart, for me, is the author's integration of brioche-based stitch patterns into the real world: pages upon pages of special cast-ons, bind-offs, selvedges, increases and decreases... everything you'd need to take a stitch pattern, and plug it into your favorite garment or design idea.

This book opened my eyes to the brioche family of stitch patterns. Brioche is not a one-trick pony - there are dozens of variations, sixty documented in this book alone! In addition, Knitting Brioche is a fantastic reference for reversible and multi-color knitting: the stitch patterns are photographed front and back, and, if relevant, in multiple color variations. I'm really impressed, and Knitting Brioche proudly joins the rest of my knitting reference books. In the extended entry I share some tidbits from the book - techniques, stitch patterns, clothing patterns - to give you a sense of what you can expect inside.

A quick hello from beautiful and sunny Miami, Florida! Where, of course, I'm hard at work knitting a baby blanket. It seems to have become "a thing" - a mitered blanket in Belize, and another when we were in San Francisco. This time around I'm knitting the Moderne Baby Blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting.

The miles of garter stitch seemed so mind-numbing when I was back home, but are downright perfect now that I'm actually on vacation.

I'm using some leftover Gedifra Korfu and freshly-stashed Classic Elite Sundance, basically the same exact yarns I used in the Ribbons Baby Blanket. Not too many mods, except fewer stitches/rows here and there, to make the most of what I have in the stash. I'm much further along than the photo above would lead you to believe ;).

I might even be done before I return!

Rickie's Sashiko Pillow, from the wonderfully inspiring Purl Bee, was such a project for me. I saw it, and there was nothing I wanted to change. About 3.5 seconds later, all the project ingredients were in my shopping cart, and I was at the front door asking the mailman if he had a package for me.

Sashiko embroidery was completely unknown to me until I saw this pillow, but embroidery in general is probably the first needle art I ever learned. Cross-stitch, satin stitch, French knots... I don't know the proper names for all the stitches, but I learned them all in Home Ec. in elementary school. I remember making elaborate samplers, and decorating the edges of handkerchiefs, then being graded on neatness and consistency of stitches.

In that respect, Sashiko and I were always meant to be together. After reading Mari's Sashiko tutorial and learning how to make a quilter's knot (both at the beginning and end of work), I was cruising! In reality, embroidering a Sashiko sampler is as simple as playing connect-the-dots, or creating a paint-by-number picture. So easy, so relaxing! The Purl Bee carries a nice selection of samplers, but you can buy them elsewhere, too, such as on eBay.

Though other projects intervened, I was done with my sampler pretty quickly!

 

It's very wrinkled because I washed it to get rid of the blue guide marks. Now to press it, and sew it into a little pillow case. I have a feeling this part of the project will take a bit of motivation... groan! :)

Adorable, right? This is an exciting time: so many of my friends are expecting! But the sad reality is that while I want to give something handknit to all of them, I can't shower each and every babe with a handknit blanket.

PSA: Should you want me to knit your baby a blanket, please have him or her at a time that does not coincide with the births of other friends' babies. Thank you :).

With these hats I was hoping to accomplish the seemingly impossible: knit something tiny teeny, but still incredibly special. Handspun will do that to a gift ;).

Pattern: Thorpe (link opens a pdf file) by Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops Designs. See it on Ravelry.

Yarn: Sock Hop Yarn, Good Vibrations colorway, from Crown Mountain Farms. Each hat used up about 100 yards (only 100 yards!) of this hand-dyed and handspun superwash merino yarn. One skein of sock yarn was pretty much perfect for making two of these hats, with only a few grams remaining.

The contrast yarn is Louet Gems sportweight, 100% superwash merino in Indigo (16). This yarn is now thrice "leftovers" - I originally purchased it to make a pair of socks for my dad, then the leftovers found their way into this hat for Walter, the leftovers of which were used in knitting the Pod of Cetaceans Cardigan, and now those leftovers ended up as trim on this little baby Thorpe. And I still have a few yards left ;).

Needles and gauge: I used Inox dpns, 3.00 mm (that's about a US 2.5). Using those needles, this sportweight yarn knit to 6.5 spi and 10 rpi in my hands.

I obviously had to modify this pattern a bit, both for a smaller size and thinner yarn. Luckily, a top-down hat pattern is incredibly easy to modify as you go. I increased until I had 88 stitches, then knit even for 4.25" before beginning the garter stitch portion. This resulted in a hat that is about 13.5" around and 7.25" from crown to where the earflaps start. When I knit the second hat, I made it a hair more shallow (the first seemed a little too long to me) by knitting even for only 3.75", so the finished hat was 6.75" deep overall. Oh, I used Kathryn Ivy's modifications for a jogless join in garter stitch, and it worked out perfectly.

Pattern: Top Down Bonnet with Anime Character by Adrian Bizilia of Hello Yarn. See it on Ravelry.

Yarn: Hand-dyed and handspun superwash merino in the Retro Kitchen colorway from Missy, A Tree Hugger's Wife on Etsy. This was a custom order that I told you about a little while ago. Yup, it's the same yarn! Knits up stripey, as it ends up! Each bonnet used up only 65 yards of this yarn! The contrast yarn is Louet Gems sportweight, 100% superwash merino in Crabapple (26).

Needles and gauge: I used two US 5 circular needles to knit this project, an Addi and an Inox Express, I think. My gauge was 5.75 spi and 9 rpi.

Those of you who remarked that this bonnet looks a lot like a sock toe are precisely right! It's knit as you would knit a toe-up sock. So, I started with the inimitable Judy's magic cast-on, and followed the pattern instructions for the smallest size. When time came to knit the garter stitch border, I knit a few rounds even, and worked an i-cord bind-off using the contrast color. Two i-cord ties later, and voilà! I wasn't sure how to measure the finished dimensions of this hat, but it's about 6" from the crown to where the tie starts.

 

So simple, so nubbly, so squishy and delicious. I'm so glad that this type of handspun doesn't allow a complicated pattern, because I was glad to knit stockinette and garter stitch for a change. It allowed me to focus entirely on the formation of the stitches - all different, transforming in color, thickness, and texture right before my eyes. Maybe these hats aren't as impressive as a giant shawl, but I enjoyed knitting them so much. That's why there are four of them, and more to come.

Pattern: A basic women's vest with input from Her Llama Cardigan (Knitting Classic Style), Portland Tweed Zip Vest, and measurements my mom took of some of her clothes. Described in more detail in this introduction.

Yarn: Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed in Butternut (#419), 9 skeins (that's about 1300 yards, for those who are counting). My thoughts about this yarn are in the abovementioned introduction, but to summarize, I really love it :).

Needles: Addi Turbo and Susan Bates circs, US 5. I used slightly smaller needles to get a denser fabric, to combat any potential stretching and loss of shape. My gauge was close to 5 stitches and 8 rows per inch. I used the same needles for the ribbing (as opposed to going even smaller), because twisted rib condenses itself nicely as is.

Finished dimensions: About 51" across the bust, 47" at the waist, 49" at the hips. It's a very long vest, as you can see: 20.5" from armpit to hem, and another 10.5" armpit to shoulder (31" total).

Here's a picture of the vest in indirect light (though the model is the wrong size), which I think showcases the true color much more accurately: it's a warm caramel with pink undertones. Taupe can be a harsh color, but I think among all the different shades of taupe, this is the best possible scenario.

And here are some details:

 

 

Pictures on the left: twisted rib armholes and button bands, picked up from edges which themselves had a narrow column of ribbed stitches. Pictures on the right: some twisted rib stitches at the seams; pretty dark brown buttons with light centers from Windsor Button (sorry it's buttoned a little crooked).

My mom was very happy with her new vest, and even suggested that I knit another! I'm not sure I'll follow through, as my stockinette willpower has been exhausted for the foreseeable future. (At least the color suggested for the second vest is deep teal, which is a whole lot more interesting than taupe.) However, were I to knit another, the vest could be improved in the following ways: work a few decreases in the armhole ribbing right at the armpit, and shorten the whole thing a few inches, as this vest peeks out from under my mom's lab coat.

And nothing suits stockinette and garter better than handspun yarn! Four baby hats, all cranked out in the car. I still need to put the finishing touches on these, and then I'll tell you all about them!

The style requirements were pretty straightforward: simple, taupe, v-neck with buttons. This was the example my mom showed me. The yarn choice was open-ended: just something warm to wear under her lab coat at work. My preference was a wool yarn which would knit to a respectable gauge, as I had no desire to make an adult sweater using fingering or even sportweight yarn.

Although I contemplated many options, the perfect yarn jumped into my hands when I visited Wild & Woolly the day after Thanksgiving, November 27th.

It's Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed in Butternut (#419). Wild & Woolly had a full bag of this in the clearance bin - score! The color is exactly what mom wants, and the tweediness will allow even a simply-styled vest to look interesting, I think. Ravelry warned me about this yarn's abundance of VM (agreed), knots (yes, at least one in every skein), and tendency to stretch.

While I could do nothing about the first two imperfections, to combat the last one, I used a slightly smaller needle size than recommended (US 5) and made sure to base my vest measurements on the washed and dried swatch. In my hands, the gauge was something like 5 spi and 8 rpi, which satisfied my "no sportweight, please" requirement. Overall, I really enjoyed working with the yarn, which knits into a beautiful, drapey fabric. I did not find its flaws to be enough of a deterrent, and would definitely use it again.

  

The vest pattern was a homemade chimera. I auditioned a few different stitch patterns, starting with the one used in Her Llama Cardigan from Knitting Classic Style. While I didn't like the main stitch pattern worked up in the Jo Sharp, I really loved the way the twisted rib looked. So I kept that detail for the hem, armholes, and button band, and as a defining detail along the edges of all the pieces. Next I tried the stitch pattern from the Portland Tweed Zip Vest. It wasn't a winner for me, but I continuously used the pattern's sizing information for guidance. Last, I asked my mom to measure a cardigan and a fleece vest that fit her well to determine the target finished dimensions. She supplied me with a number for each of the letters in the rightmost schematic, and I took an educated guess about how to make them happen. All of this information was overlaid on simple stockinette, which I decided was the best-looking stitch pattern for this yarn. Sometimes simple works the best.

Knitting miles and miles of stockinette was not as terrible as it sounds. Many days the weather was lousy and/or I was cooped up in the house with a bad ankle - I just wanted to sit on the couch, watch mediocre TV, and not look too much at what my hands were doing. Because each piece of the vest was so large, I was nervous about the fabric potentially stretching in a way that a small swatch couldn't capture. I wanted to catch any discrepancies as early as possible. So, I blocked each piece of the vest individually as I finished it and confirmed the measurements before casting on the next one. Then after attaching the button bands and finishing the armholes, I blocked the whole thing all over again. I had to do this because the twisted rib also grows a bit once wet.

The vest is done, though I say that somewhat hesitatingly. The hesitation stems from the fact that my mom hasn't even approximately tried on the vest. I haven't seen her since September, and I relied on her to determine the target measurements. Like an idiot I keep measuring and re-measuring the finished vest and comparing the numbers to those in the schematic. They match. So, I'm crossing my fingers that it all works out.

I will visit my mom shortly and see for myself how the vest fits (or doesn't). So, this is not the FO post, just an introduction and some background ;). The vest is a big, wet, soggy mess up above in that picture, and I haven't even mentioned the buttons. Stay tuned!

After a tip from my friend Bertha, I contacted one such seller - Missy, A Tree Hugger's Wife on Etsy. I am deeply sorry that her shop is currently on vacation, because I think you would find Missy's typical offerings beautiful - fiber and yarn in saturated, unique color combinations. I asked Missy if she could take one of her standard funky colorways, "Retro Kitchen," but customize it for me by using a superwash merino, spinning it to a sport weight, and making a large 8 oz. order (that's half a pound, people!). She agreed!

Oh, yes, it's so fabulous, it deserves two pictures!

I was extremely satisfied with my order from Missy, who was exceptionally quick, and kept me updated throughout the entire ordering-dyeing-spinning-shipping process. The product speaks for itself. If you're like me - love the handspun, but don't spin - do not hesitate to contact Missy with your proposal!

The funny thing is that I requested 500 yards of this yarn, thinking I'd knit it into something substantial - funky knee-highs or a toddler sweater, maybe? But my first plan is to use a mere fraction of the yarn, combine it with a complementary solid, and knit a tiny baby hat.

Maybe a variation of the Baby Bonnet from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts?

Accepting an opportunity to work with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock is a no-brainer for me. Especially if a colorway is as brilliant as this one!

Introducing Birds in Flight sock pattern, available exclusively as a kit at the Woolie Ewe.

This design was inspired by the Mallard colorway, which was specially created for the Woolie Ewe by the talented artists at Lorna's Laces.

Images of birds in flight as I used to draw them when I was little - strongly angular, almost like checkmarks - were incorporated into the leg using simple cables.

The bird design fluidly transitions into simple ribbing for the top of the foot, so the socks are comfortable when worn with shoes.

I took advantage of the highly variegated colorway by incorporating columns of three-stitch cables on either side of center panel: loops of yarn traveling over other stitches break up the blocks of color nicely.

Similarly, the eye of partridge heel accentuates each beautiful color present within this yarn.

The socks are knit from the top down, and use the following techniques: knitting in the round, reading charts, and knitting cables. The finished dimensions are 5.5" from cuff to top of heel, and about 7" foot circumference (relaxed) to fit woman's average foot width. I used US 0 (2.0 mm) double-pointed needles to obtain a post-blocking gauge of 33 sts and 48 rnds = 4" worked in stockinette stitch in the round.

See them on Ravelry:

I hope you enjoy them!

P.S. A special thanks to Pam at the Woolie Ewe, who helped to make this collaboration a success :).

My participation in the blog tour for this incredible book was a given - just check out my review! This book is fantastic, and I wouldn't decline the opportunity to pick the author's brain a little bit, not for anything :). I mean, a person capable of imagining Knitting New Scarves and now Reversible Knitting will unquestionably have something insightful to say.

Before I go any further, please allow me to (1) tell you how you can win your own free copy of the book, and (2) share the entire blog tour schedule with you.

(1) STC Craft | Melanie Falick Books will have a drawing for a copy of the book. Please check here for details.

Plus I have an extra personal copy of Reversible Knitting to give away to one lucky winner!

• To enter, simply leave a comment on this post!
• Please use a working e-mail address. If I can't get in touch with you, you can't win!
• One entry per person.
• Comments will be closed Friday (December 11th) evening.
• Winner will be chosen randomly and notified via e-mail.
• Maybe you want to tell me how reversible knitting inspires you. Maybe not. It's up to you, and the random-number generator won't discriminate between short comments and long ones :).

Good luck!!

Comments have now been closed. Thank you for participating!

(2) If you follow along with Lynne's visits, you'll keep learning more and more about this fabulous book!

• Dec. 8 - http://goknitinyourhat.blogspot.com Review
• Dec. 9 - http://www.grumperina.com - Q & A
• Dec. 9 - http://www.purlbee.com - Interview/book feature
• Dec. 10 - http://www.knitandtonic.net - Review
• Dec. 11 - http://chronicknittingsyndrome.blogspot.com - Q&A
• Dec. 11 - http://www.sheepinthecity.prettyposies.com - Review
• Dec. 14 - http://retroknit.net/blog - Review/Q&A
• Dec. 15 - http://boogaj.typepad.com - Project discussion
• Dec. 16 - http://knittingtoday.com/knews - Q&A
• Dec. 17 - http://www.ilgaleja.com/blog - "One designer to another"
• Dec. 18 - http://www.thehookandi.com - Review
• Dec. 21 - http://www.melaniefalickbooks.com - Special post

In the extended entry you will find some topics that Lynne and I discussed - specific stitch patterns, their uses, modifications, yarns... Lynne even very generously provided shaping instructions for one of the more ornate stitch patterns from the book, Half Nelson - all for you!

 

When the shaping instructions are applied, look how beautifully the stitch pattern is transformed! It reminds me so much of a delicate necklace.

The instructions for shaping Half Nelson, many stitch patterns from the book (including additional ones not featured in my review), and an interesting discussion about reversible knitting, all after the fold!

Pattern: Pod of Cetaceans Cardigan by Elinor Brown.

Yarn: Louet Gems sportweight, 100% superwash merino. I used a 100 gram skein of Neptune (15) almost in its entirety. In fact, I ran out of Neptune when time came to knit the button band, so I ended up making it using Indigo (16). Cream (30) was the third color. It seems to me that both Neptune and Indigo have been discontinued, which is not surprising - I have had these skeins forever! Well, at least since April 1st, 2006. Which reminds me - this project used 100% stash yarn! Go me!

Longtime readers of the blog will remember that Louet Gems merino is one of my favorite yarns. I started using it early in my knitting career because it was very approachable to a beginner knitter - big skeins, many colors, good price, nice feel, superwash... And I continue to stick with it because I've always had excellent results when using it. Not surprisingly, it was not difficult to find three complementary colors in the stash to knit this little sweater :).

For me, the two properties of this yarn that are most noteworthy are: first, it knits to a true sportweight gauge, perhaps even a little bit heavier. Using US 5 needles, my gauge is consistently in the 5.5-6 spi range. Maybe it's just me, but many self-proclaimed "sportweight" yarns knit to 7 spi in my hands, which is a lot more knitting than I want to do when I'm using a "sportweight" yarn.

Second, it has fantastic stitch definition. Crisper than a mercerized cotton. I say this with a caveat, though. I think at some point Louet changed their mill or base yarn or something. I find yarn in older skeins to be much more plump and crisp than yarn in recently-purchased skeins. I especially noticed this when I was knitting Walter's Komi hat, in which I used all kinds of Louet, old and new. Fortunately, this little sweater is all "old" yarn, so the stitches are as plump as can be!

Evolution of Louet packaging, oldest on top. Yarn wrapped with the top two labels is always plump-tastic! I've seen the third label on both plump and stringy yarns. The fourth one has been somewhat disappointing so far.

Needles: Susan Bates circs, US 3 for the ribbing and US 5 for the main part of the sweater. My gauge was about 6 spi and 8 rpi.

Finished size: About 20" across the chest, 11" from hem to shoulder, and 5.5" from cuff to armpit. This size is in the 3-6 months range.

This project was an instance of following the intent of the pattern more than following the pattern itself. My yarn had a completely different gauge, and I didn't knit the cardigan in the round and steek. So, I had to re-interpret all the directions, charts, measurements, etc.

It wasn't a big deal, though - it's a baby sweater! Even when I totally messed up the yoke section (looked at the largest finished dimensions instead of the smallest), and had to rip out both button bands, the collar, and part of the yoke, it only took a few hours to get myself back to where I started. The yoke is still a little bit misshapen because I didn't want to completely re-knit it: that would necessitate fishing out all the ends I so painstakingly wove in - major ugh. But I'm told little babies are misshapen, too, so everything should work out just fine :).

Just like when I knit the Archie Vest, I didn't find stranding on both right and wrong sides of the fabric to be in any way annoying. There were maybe 10 rows of it, total? No big deal. I completely omitted all the optional duplicate stitching, so there were even fewer floats and ends to weave in. The inside is fairly tidy, I think.

Confession: with all the baby knitting around these parts, I've acquired some baby hangers specifically for ease of photographing the little projects. And when I say "acquired," I mean pilfered from a neighbor's recycling bin on garbage day. Since I'm in a confessing mood.

The silver-tone buttons are from Winmil Fabrics. I knew the button band would be navy when I picked them out, and I think they stand out against it very nicely. Had I had enough yarn to knit the button band in the same light blue color as the rest of the sweater, I think I would have used navy-colored buttons.

And, of course, a little gift tag so the mom knows how to wash the sweater! (Plus a place to stick the spare button.) Next time I might even wind a little extra yarn onto the tag, as Nikki so cleverly did here.

This photo of the tag reminded me of one last thing: someone e-mailed me and asked whether I had any tips about closing up the armpits on this type of sweater. In fact, I do. In addition to sewing up the obvious hole, I also weave the yarn behind several of the stitches on either side of the armpit. Basically, if a stitch looks loose, I "duplicate stitch" it on the wrong side to tighten. Works like a charm!