back to the drawing board...

That’s bound to happen once in a while! Good thing I never wanted to become an engineer – obviously my mind’s eye is rather shortsighted! Ha! that tubular band that I so enjoyed knitting – 2 pieces of 1000 rows each – wasted! and darny darn! those buttonholes were in exactly the right place! But at least my collar works!
Next idea – obviously a vertically knit band does not work here because I need to encase the edge where the collar folds back, otherwise the seaming is ugly. This means a horizontal band. To make it long/wide enough (100cm/39.5 in) it either needs to be done in 2 pieces or do it in a full needle rib and attach it by hand but that is still iffy, and I never do that. A stockinette band would match the bottom hem – the width of the back hem is 65 cm, but the tubular knit is very difficult to make a horizontal buttonhole in – I remember trying it on the past and making myself a sticky note to remind myself this does not work – I have a short memory for bad stuff, what can I say? I have a drawer of awful hair products that I’ve tried, and they don’t work and if I just throw them out, I’ll end up buying them again but at least if I keep them it reminds me they didn’t work – we all have flaws – that’s how I deal with mine! ;-)
Back to the band, the width of the bottom band tells me I can get a stockinette band that is long enough to go from the hem to the neckline join and then another shorter piece (30 cm) for the edge of the collar – this seems the best bet and having the join in the band at the same place as the seam between the neckline and the collar makes the most sense.
I looked through the last few issues of KNITWORDS to see if I had used a band like what I want here and yes! No 52, Purple Purls (it’s always so much nicer when someone else has done all the work for you!) had a graded tension stockinette band that encased the edge – I use stockinette bands many times but they are mostly hemmed and attached to the front but I want the band to cover up the edge stitch so there is no seam/chain line. My new band is made (10 rows, beginning at T9 and grading one dot tighter per row to T6, a loose row of T10 for the fold, and then grade back up from T6 to T9 at RC021) and then an RTR (remove, turn, rehang – which gives a nice, little detail in the finishing, looks like a garter stitch ridge between the band and the garment selvedge) and then removed on the garter bar. The selvedge edge of the front is hung (right side facing here), the band is turned and rehung, pulling the open stitches of the band through the garment edge. Now the hem is hung, and a loose row knit manually to join and chain off. Looks fabulous from inside and out! OMG! Why did I not do this in the first place?