INSET POCKETS
Subtle but still handy, the inset option is great for hidden pockets.
Inset pockets are pockets that don’t show at all, apart from the opening. You can make them in a number of ways. Afterthought pockets are added when your garment is finished. If you know beforehand where you want to put them, when you come to the appropriate place, knit across the stitches allotted for the pocket opening, slip them back to the left- hand needle and work them again in a smooth contrast yarn. Cotton is good for this 1 . After your garment is complete, carefully unpick your contrast yarn and place the resulting two rows of stitches on double- pointed needles. Purl one round to create a folding ridge. Work in the round to desired pocket depth, making sure this doesn’t fall deeper than the hem of the garment 2 . Graft two rows of two stitches together using Kitchener stitch. 3
Legendary British designer Elizabeth Zimmermann had a different way of creating a ‘snipped in’ afterthought pocket which allows the knitter to decide where to place it after the garment has finished, without any planning. Mark your pocket placement as before, and find the centre stitch of the pocket opening. Cut through this stitch and carefully unpick the stitches either side of it to the desired width of the pocket, placing the two rows of ‘live stitches’ on double- pointed needles. Weave in the cut ends of yarn to the wrong side of the fabric using duplicate stitch 4 . Finish off this pocket as for a standard afterthought pocket.
An inset pocket with one layer of fabric, rather than a tube, can be preferable on garments which use fine yarn, or where the pocket is decorative, rather than functional.
For this style, make a single separate rectangle the width and the depth of your desired pocket and set aside on a spare needle with yarn still attached.
When you come to the point in the pattern where the pocket is to be added, place the garment stitches on waste yarn and knit across the live pocket stitches, before working across the remaining garment stitches 5 . This allows you to return to the live garment stitches later. Work a separate welt on the pocket opening, to stop the fabric of the pocket edge from curling, and to make everything a little neater – working an extra welt means you can stitch it down over the side edges of the pocket opening, which can otherwise look a little baggy 6 . Stitch the side and bottom edges of the pocket to the inside of the garment, taking care not to let the sewing to show on the right side of the garment.