knitting Archives - Page 11 of 27

tutorial – working a tubular CO in the round for 1×1 rib

The tubular cast on creates a rounded edge of your knitting project, as well as being very stretchy. This makes it a very good cast on for edges that are prone to wear and tear. And, of course, where the stretch is useful. Think, for example, of top-down socks, and the start of a bottom-up hat. In this example I’m casting on for a top-down sweater.

Of course, there are many ways to work a tubular cast on. This particular version is for working in the round in k1, p1 rib patterning.

Materials used

Yarn: Shetland Lambswool from De Schapekop, a yarn very similar to Jamieson & Smith 2ply Jumper Weight, and no. 5 crochet thread or other smooth waste yarn.

Needles: KnitPro Zing Fixed Circular Needles. In this tutorial, I used the 2.5 mm (US 1 1/2) and the 3.5 mm (US 4) size. Both with a cable length of 80 cm (32 inches).

Other materials: a crochet hook, and a stitch marker.

Working a tubular CO in the round for 1×1 rib step by step

First, using the larger size needles, the smooth waste yarn and the provisional cast on of your choice, cast on half as many stitches as you need according to your pattern.
In other words: if you need 80 stitches, cast on 40. I used the crochet provisional cast on for this step.
Now, using the smaller size needle and the working yarn, work (k1, yo) across all provisionally cast on stitches.
After this row is finished, as shown below, it’s time to join into the round.
The last worked stitch is a yarn over, so make sure it stays intact when joining into the round.
Here I’ve rearranged my stitches to continue knitting in the round, magic loop style.
Before joining, I made sure that my stitches weren’t twisted, and I’ve added the stitch marker to indicate the beginning (and end) of a round. Also, do you see that the yarn over is still there, behind the stitch marker?
In this step, work (knit 1, slip 1 purl wise with the yarn in front) to the end of the round.
In other words: knit every stitch that was knit in the previous round, and slip every yarn over. Below, is how it looks after this round is completed.
Next, work (slip 1 purl wise with the yarn in the back, purl 1) to the end of the round.
In other words: slip every stitch that was knit in the previous round, and purl every stitch that was slipped. This is how it then looks:
In this step, work (knit 1, slip 1 purl wise with the yarn in front) to the end of the round.
In other words: knit every stitch that was slipped in the previous round, and slip every stitch that was purled.
Now we repeat step 6: work (slip 1 purl wise with the yarn in the back, purl 1) to the end of the round.
In other words: slip every stitch that was knit in the previous round, and purl every stitch that was slipped.
In this step, it’s time to unravel the provisional cast on
Starting at the end that you indicated when doing the provisional cast on, undo the knot and gently pull the cast on loose.
This is the cast-on result, ready for further knitting (k1, p1) rib in the round (using magic loop) as described in your pattern!

A comparison

I thought it would be useful to compare the tubular cast on with a regular knitted on cast on one. So, I continued the piece above with another few rounds in (k1, p1) rib until it measured 1.5 cm / 0.6″.

Now take a look at the following picture. The lower neckband has a regular knitted-on cast on, followed by 1×1 rib for 1.5 cm / 0.6″. The one at the top has the tubular cast on in the round with 1×1 rib. Both pieces are worked in the same yarn, and with the same needle size.

I think the neckband with the tubular cast on looks much better, with its rounded edge. It is also much less likely to give issues with wear & tear, because there are no single strands of yarn right at that edge. What do you think?

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mossy cables

Mossy Cables is a cozy triangular shawl knit sideways, with an eye-catching cable panel. The squishy garter stitch makes it perfect to hide away in, when it’s cold outside. While I made my version in a DK weight yarn, it’s very easy to customize to other weights and quantities of yarn. Just knit in pattern until your shawl has the desired size, or when you run out of yarn!

The pattern contains both fully written out as well as charted instructions for the cable panel.

Pay what you want: (minimum €6.50)

€

Difficulty level

This pattern features a cable panel, with cables worked over 2 stitches, as well as cables worked over 10 stitches. Directions for part of the body are written separately from the cable panel instructions, and must be read together to work each row. Techniques used include knitting cables with a cable needle. Stitches used include knit, purl, and kfb. This pattern is suitable for the intermediate to advanced knitter.

Sizes and finished measurements

Finished dimensions of the sample shawl: span width of 180 cm (71 inches) along the upper edge and a depth of 78 cm (30 ¾ inches), measured after blocking.

Change the size of the shawl by using heavier or lighter weight yarn and/or working fewer (or more) repeats of the body, the border, or both. This will, of course, change the amount of yarn needed.

Pattern details

Mossy Cables is written for a gauge of approx. 10.5 sts / 20 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) over garter stitch, measured after blocking. Gauge is however not critical in this design.
Pattern languages included: English.
Digital PDF has 6 pages (letter size)

Yarn

591 m (645 yds) / 300 g Wayfaring Yarns Arcadia DK (100% Merino; 197 m (215 yds) / 100 g) in “Portobello Road”.

This yarn and pattern are also available as a kit from Sweater Sisters!

Substitute a smooth DK weight yarn of comparable thickness in a tonal color for a similar result.

Materials

Size 4.5 mm (US 7) / 80 cm (32 inches) circular needles were used for the sample shawl. Choose a needle size appropriate for the yarn selected.
Yarn needle
2 cable needles
2 stitch markers to indicate the cable panel
Stitch markers to indicate repeats of the cable patterning (optional)

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tutorial – cabling without a cable needle

Most of my projects are about knitting lace, not cables. The reason? I find that with cabling, my flow is very much interrupted. First by getting the cable needle. Next, by manipulating all three needles I have in my hands at that moment while working the stitches. Followed by laying the cable needle aside again. All of this to repeated multiple times in a row, depending on the patterning, of course.

For complex cables, I see no way around using a cable needle. For the simple twists only involving 2 stitches, it’s another matter, though! Cabling itself is nothing more than working in another order than the one they originally appeared on the knitting needle. So, if we’re talking about simple twists only involving 2 stitches, we can easily change the order around without using a cable needle. And, of course, without having a big risk of dropping a stitch.

In this tutorial I show you how to go about it!

Materials used

Yarn: Wayfaring Yarns Arcadia DK, a 100% extra fine, non-superwash merino in the color Portobello Road.

Needles: Addi Fixed Circular Needles. In this tutorial, I used the 4.5 mm (US 7) size with a cable length of 80 cm (32 inches).

Cabling without a cable needle step by step

In this example, I’m working on my Mossy Cables shawl that involves various types of cables. The ones that can easily be done without a cable needle, are the following ones:
1/1 LPC – a left cross cable over 2 stitches: Slip next stitch to cable needle and place at front of work, p1, then k1 from cable needle.
1/1 RPC – right cross cable over 2 stitches: Slip next stitch to cable needle and place at back of work, k1, then p1 from cable needle.

To start, we knit to the point where a cable has to be worked.
See those 2 stitches on the left-hand needle? I want to reverse the order of that purl and knit stitch, to make it seem that the column of knit stitches curves outwards from the center cable. To do so, I want the knit stitch to cross in front and to the right of the purl stitch. In other words: I’ll be working a 1/1 RPC or right cross cable.
To start, I grab the work directly below the 2 stitches, as shown in the picture below.
This way, I can remove them from the knitting needle without having the risk of them running down and ruining my work.
Here I’ve removed the 2 stitches from the needle.
Keep squeezing that fabric, we don’t want to drop one of these stitches!
To change the order of the stitches, I first place the stitch on the right (the purl stitch in this case) back on the needle.
While doing so, keep your fingers underneath the other stitch to keep it from running down. Please note that if I was working a left cross cable instead of a right cross cable, I would have held the remaining loose stitch at the back, instead of at the front of the work as pictured.
Now use the working (right-hand) needle to catch the remaining loose stitch from the front and also put it on the left-hand needle.
For a left cross cable, I would have caught the remaining stitch from the back of the work.
Now the order of the stitches has been changed, ready to work!
This is how it then looks in the case of the right cross cable:
For this right cross cable, I have to work 1 k, followed by 1 p.
This is how it looks when done:

And that’s all there is to cabling without a cable needle!

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tutorial – working the bunny ears decrease

Tutorial on working the bunny ears decrease

In this tutorial, I’m going to show you a very neat decrease: the bunny ears decrease. It’s a symmetrical way of decreasing 3 stitches to only 2! It’s called this way, because the result somewhat looks like 2 bunny ears “hugging” the resulting 2 stitches. Now, in this version of the decrease, the “ears” are pointing outwards. There is also a version in which the ears point inwards, that one is called the “bunny ears back” decrease. I’ll make a tutorial on that version of the decrease soon.

Materials used

Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color Marine.

Needles: This is a pair of straights that I picked up at the second-hand store when I started knitting, brand unknown.

Working the bunny ears decrease step by step

In patterns, you may encounter the following description of this stitch:
Bunny ears decrease (bedec): Knit 2 stitches together but leave the second stitch on the left needle, next work skp over the next 2 stitches.
But how to actually do this? Read on!

First, work your way across the row until you’ve reached the point where you want to make the decrease.
See those 3 stitches on the left-hand needle? That’s where I’ll be making the bunny ears decrease.
Next, insert the tip of the right-hand needle into the first 2 stitches at the same time as if to knit.
Over these stitches, we’ll be doing the first steps of a k2tog.
Wrap the yarn around the needle…
… and pull the yarn through the 2 stitches.
Next, slide only 1 of the 2 original stitches of the left-hand needle.
With a regular k2tog, both stitches would be moved off the needle. So this is where it starts to go different.
Now we’re starting the left leaning decrease part of the stitch.
The main point here is to work this on the 2 remaining stitches on the left-hand needle: 1 stitch we haven’t handled yet, and 1 stitch that we didn’t move off the needle when working the k2tog right-leaning decrease. This part of the stitch can be worked as ssk, skp, or any other way you may prefer to work a left-leaning decrease. Since I personally prefer skp I’ll be showing this in the tutorial.

To start, insert the tip of the right-hand needle into the first stitch as if to knit, and slip it onto the right-hand needle without actually knitting it. This is how it now looks:
Next, we knit the second stitch.
To do so, we start with inserting the right-hand needle into the first stitch on the other needle, wrap the yarn around the needle, pull it through the stitch you inserted the right-hand needle in, and slip the original stitch off the left-hand needle.
Next, insert the left-hand needle into the second stitch counted from the tip of the right-hand needle…
… and pull it over the first stitch from the tip of the right-hand needle to complete the decrease.
Do you see how this part of the decrease slants to the left? With this, the bunny ears decrease is finished.

And that’s all there is to it!

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duin

Duin is a crescent-shaped shawl worked from the top-down. The design contains color work in the border with the mosaic slip stitch technique: only one color is worked at a time. The perfect way to do color work without any tension issues or stress!

Start the shawl with a garter stitch tab. The body contains special shaping, which helps to avoid the “bump” in the upper edge of the shawl, so often present in crescent shawl designs. The instructions for the mosaic color work are provided both fully charted and written out.

Pay what you want: (minimum €6.50)

€

Difficulty level

Start the Duin shawl with a special garter stitch tab, the pattern contains a link to a La Visch Designs photo tutorial. Stitches used include knit, purl, yo, k2tog, and m1l, and m1r increases. This pattern is therefor suitable for the advanced beginner or intermediate knitter.

Sizes and finished measurements

Finished dimensions of the sample shawl: 200 cm (78 ¾ inches) along the upper edge and a depth of 62 cm (24 ½ inches), measured after blocking.

Change the size of this shawl by using lighter or heavier yarn. This will, of course, change the amount of yarn needed.

Pattern details

Duin has a gauge of approx. 17 sts / 22 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) over stockinette, measured after blocking. Gauge is not critical in this design, but for a look similar to the sample shown, a loose gauge is advised.
Pattern languages included: English.
Digital PDF has 4 pages (letter size)

Yarn

Sandnes Garn Tynn merinoull (100% Merino; 175 m (191 yds) / 50 g) in the following colors and amounts:

MC: 525 m (573 yds) / 150 g in 2564 Caramel
CC: 175 m (191 yds) / 50 g in 6562 Petrol

Substitute any wool fingering or sport weight yarn in colors with sufficient contrast for a similar result.

Materials

Size 4 mm (US 6) / 80 cm (32 inches) circular needles. Use needles appropriate for the yarn chosen.
Size 4.5 mm (US 7) / 80 cm (32 inches) circular needles (or larger as needed) – for mosaic color work, to minimize “pulling in”.
2 stitch markers to indicate the center stitches of the shawl.
Yarn needle

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tutorial – working the Turkish cast-on

The Turkish cast-on is a way to invisibly cast-on for projects to be worked in the round. Think, for example, of toe-up socks. This cast-on can be used for a wide range of projects and not just for socks. It can be used for anything that requires knitting in the round and a neat, seamless start. In other words, for anything you’d use Judy’s Magic Cast-On for, this cast-on is a good alternative. And, to be honest, I find this one to be much easier and less fiddly to work!

Materials used

Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, in the color 128 Lime Green.

Needles: KnitPro Zing Fixed Circular Needles. In this tutorial, I used the 4 mm (US 6) size with a cable length of 80 cm (32 inches).

Working the Turkish cast-on step by step

In this example, I’m casting on 20 stitches, as one would do for toe-up socks.

To start, we make a slipknot, and place it on the needle.
Next, arrange both needle tips as shown in the picture below.
Place both needle tips parallel to each other, with the slipknot-holding needle below the other one, and the working yarn behind and above the top needle.
Now wrap the working yarn around both needles. Make as many wraps as half the total stitches you want to cast-on.
In this example, I want 20 stitches total, so I wrap the yarn 10 times around the needles.
Next, pull out the bottom needle (the one with the slipknot).
It helps to keep the wrapped yarn in place by holding it close to the needle with your left hand.
Now use the pulled-out needle tip as your working (right-hand) needle to knit into the first stitch on the main (left-hand) needle.
To do so, first insert the needle knit-wise into the stitch…
…, and wrap the yarn around the needle.
To finish the knit stitch, pull the yarn through en let the loop fall off the left-hand needle.
This is how it then looks:
Repeat steps 5-7 until there are no more loops on the needle.
This is how it looks:
To work the other 10 stitches that are on the cable, we have to rearrange the circular needle.
First, orient the work in such in a way that the row of stitches with the slipknot is on top, as shown below. Now push the needle in, so they no longer rest on the cable, but on the needle tip instead. For the other row of stitches, pull the needle tip out, so the stitches rest on the cable.
In this step, I’ve slipped the slipknot off the needle, because I don’t need it as a stitch.
Just gently pull the yarn tail to pull the slipknot loose. Next, knit all the stitches on the needle as described in steps 5 to 7.
This is the cast-on result, ready for further knitting in the round (using magic loop) as described in your pattern!

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mamaku

Mamaku, scientifically known as Cyathea medullaris, is a black tree fern native to New Zealand, that is commonly found in damp gullies across forested areas in the country. While I’ve never been to New Zealand, the lace edging of this shawl really looks like fern fronds. The Mamaku shawl pairs this delightful lace edging with a lovely, relaxing-to-knit textured body.

This shawl is knitted from the top-down in one piece, starting at the neck edge with a garter stitch tab. The instructions for the edging are both charted and written out.

Pay what you want: (minimum €6.50)

€

Difficulty level

This shawl is worked from the top down, starting with a garter stitch tab. Stitches used include knit, purl, yo, k2tog, skp, kfb, m1l, and m1r increases. This pattern is therefor suitable for the intermediate knitter.

Sizes and finished measurements

Finished dimensions of the sample shawl: 175 cm (68 ¾ inches) and a depth of 85 cm (33 ½ inches), measured after blocking.

Change the size of this shawl by using lighter or heavier yarn and/or working fewer (or more) repeats of the various sections of the shawl. This will, of course, change the amount of yarn needed.

Pattern details

Mamaku has a gauge of approx. 14 sts / 25 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) over body pattern, measured after blocking. Gauge is not critical in this design, but for a look similar to the sample shown, a loose gauge is advised.
Pattern languages included: English.
Digital PDF has 4 pages (letter size)

Yarn

554 m (606 yds) / 100 g Ice Yarns Afro Wool (100% wool; 277 m (303 yds) / 50 g) in Black.

Substitute a 2-ply wool (light) fingering to sport weight yarn in a solid or tonal colorway for a similar result.

Materials

In the sample shawl: Size 4 mm (US 6) / 80 cm (32 inches) circular needles. Use needles appropriate for the yarn chosen.
4 stitch markers to indicate the center stitch and the edge stitches.
Stitch markers to indicate repeats of the lace patterning (optional)
Yarn needle

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tutorial – the standard knitted bind-off

This particular bind-off is the one most knitters learn first, and with good reason: it’s a very versatile bind-off that can be used in both knit and purl variations. This makes it my go-to bind-off when a pattern instructs me to bind-off “in pattern”. That said, in this tutorial, I will focus only on the knit variation, to work this in purl, just replace all knits by purls!

But I’m getting ahead of myself. The standard knitted bind-off creates a lovely edge, that is perfect for seaming, picking up stitches or doing “pick up and knit” for further finishing. Think for example of knitting a button band for a cardigan. That said, while this bind-off has some elasticity, it can be hard to get the tension exactly right. It’s not advised to use for edges that need a lot of stretch, like the ribbing of toe-up socks. If you know you’re a tight knitter, it may be a good idea to go up a needle size when doing this bind-off. Likewise, if you’re a very loose knitter, you may want to drop down a size.

Materials used

Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 125 Spearmint Green.

Knitting needles: This is a pair of straights that I picked up at the second-hand store when I started knitting, brand unknown.

The standard knitted bind-off step by step

In patterns, you may see the following instruction for this bind-off:
K1, *k1, insert tip of the left-hand needle into first stitch on the right-hand needle, pass this stitch over the second stitch; repeat from * to end.
Below I’ll show you step by step how this looks like in knitting!

To start, take the piece of knitting you want to bind-off.
In this case I’m using the swatch I made for the Double Lace Rib stitch pattern.
Knit the first stitch on the left-hand needle.
Next, knit the new stitch nearest to the tip of the left-hand needle.
Insert the tip of the left-hand needle into the second stitch on the right-hand needle….
…., and pass this second stitch over the first one.
You have now bound-off a stitch!
Repeat steps 3-5 until all stitches have been bound-off.
Midway, it will look something like this:

And here also a picture of the resulting edge. Pretty, isn’t it?!

The Standard Knitted Bind-Off - the result

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stitch pattern – double lace rib

This post is about working the double lace rib stitch pattern. It works well both as an insert or as all-over patterning. This stitch pattern is worked on both right side and wrong side rows, and is a multiple of 6 + 2 stitches.

Materials used

Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 125 Spearmint Green.

Knitting needles: This is a pair of straights that I picked up at the second-hand store when I started knitting, brand unknown.

Stitches used

Double Lace Rib stitch pattern instructions

Row 1 (right side): K2, *p1, yo, k2tog tbl, p1, k2; rep from * to end.

Row 2: (wrong side): P2, *k1, p2; rep from * to end.

Row 3: K2, *p1, k2tog, yo, p1, k2; rep from * to end.

Row 4: P2, *k1, p2; rep from * to end.

Repeat rows 1-4 for pattern.

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tutorial – working a k2tog tbl

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to work the k2tog tbl decrease. The abbreviation stands for “knit 2 stitches together through the back loop”. Basically, it’s the twisted version of the k2tog decrease. However, while the k2tog is a right-leaning decrease, k2tog tbl is a left-leaning decrease. It’s similar in appearance to the skp and ssk decreases.

Knitting the k2tog tbl decrease step by step

First, take your project and work to the spot indicated in your pattern, where the decrease is supposed to be made.
In this case, I’m working a stitch pattern in which I have to work a k2tog tbl directly after a YO, over the 2 stitches near the tip of the left-hand needle.
Next, insert the tip of the right-hand needle into the first 2 stitches at the same time as if to knit through the back loop of these stitches.
This can be a tad hard to get right, I find it helps to pull the fabric down a bit.
Wrap the yarn around the needle…
…, and pull it through the stitches you inserted the right-hand needle in.
To finish the decrease, slip the original stitches of the left-hand needle.

And this is how to work the k2tog tbl decrease!

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