Kitchener Stitch for Linda

Linda of From the Purlside requested a video on how I do Kitchener stitch.  Originally I'd planned on finishing up the sock I'm making and using that for the video, but then I decided it was really too small to be able to show clearly, so I knitted up a little swatch and demonstrated with that.

In the video I talk about the proper orientation of the stitches and show a little "mantra"  I use to keep myself on track while grafting.  So that it's easily accessible, I wanted to reproduce it here:

  f p
  b k
*f k - drop
 f p
 b p - drop
 b k *

I explain what all this means and how to do it in the video, but here's a little key as well:

front purl
back knit
*front knit - drop
front purl
back purl - drop
back knit*

(ETA:  the first two stitches are set-up stitches, and the remaining four stitches between the asterisks are repeated to the end of the row.)

I call this a mantra because I literally repeat this over and over to myself while I'm doing the Kitchener stitch!  For a long time I had to have it written out in front of me too, but now I can just do it while thinking my mantra.  I must be illumined - at least, knitwise!

There's one caveat here:  this method only works for stockinette stitch.  If you are grafting some other stitch, say 2 x 2 ribbing, then this won't work.  That is:  it will work to hold the knitting together, but it won't be invisible like it is on stockinette.  But since the most frequent use of Kitchener is for the toes (or heels) of socks, and those tend to be in stockinette, this method will get you pretty far.

I've got two videos because my memory card crapped out on me when I was almost at the end!  There's only a bit on the second video.

Also, there are times when my hands shift upwards.  When I made the videos, I was standing up behind the tripod and looking at the camera screen and occasionally over at my hands.  It's really awkward to do it that way:  I'm never sure where to look and my hands shift up to where I can see them!  I checked the videos though and you can always see what you need to see.  So much for the myth that my videos are super professional - this is all just seat-of-the-pants stuff, kids!