knitting

full fade hap

Full Fade Hap - a design by La Visch Designs

Worked in this lovely fade yarn, hand-dyed by AG2N Hand Dyed Yarns, the Full Fade Hap makes for a wonderful, cozy shawl, which is perfect to wrap up in on a chilly day. This shawl is made in the tradition of the shawls from the Shetland Isles, making for a very interesting construction.

Start the Full Fade Hap at one corner of the center square and increase until big enough, then decrease. Pick up stitches along the edges, and work the stunning border outwards. Each color band in its own lace patterning. The shawl is finished with a gorgeous edging that is knitted on sideways and attached to the live stitches of the border as it is being worked.

Want to knit this shawl in the smaller, triangular version? Take a look a the Half Fade Hap!


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Difficulty level

This shawl is worked both flat back and forth as in the round. Techniques used include working a knitted-on edging and grafting remaining stitches together using Kitchener stitch. Stitches used include knit, purl, yo, k2tog, k3tog, skp, and various double decreases.

This pattern is suitable for the intermediate to advanced knitter.

Sizes and finished measurements

Finished dimensions of the sample shawl: 146 cm (57 ½ inches) square, measured after blocking.

Pattern details

  • Gauge: approx. 12.7 sts / 25 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) over the center square, measured after blocking Gauge is not critical in this design.
  • Pattern languages included: English and Dutch (Dit patroon omvat zowel een Nederlandse als een Engelse versie)
  • Digital PDF has 8 pages (letter size)

Yarn

In the sample hap shown, AG2N Hand Dyed Yarns Softy Sock Fingering (75% Merino, 25% Nylon; 422 m (462 yds) / 100 g) in the following colors and amounts was used:

C1: 211 m (231 yds) / 50 g in “Fade 1”
C2: 211 m (231 yds) / 50 g in “Fade 2”
C3: 211 m (231 yds) / 50 g in “Fade 3”
C4: 211 m (231 yds) / 50 g in “Fade 4”
C5: 211 m (231 yds) / 50 g in “Fade 5”
C6: 422 m (462 yds) / 100 g in “Fade 6”

Substitute wool fingering weight yarn of comparable thickness, in a fade sequence for a similar result, or with 1477 m (1617 yds) / 350 g yarn in a single color.

Materials

  • Size 4 mm (US Size 6) 80 cm (32 inches) or longer circular needle.
  • Extra needle in size 4 mm (US Size 6) for the applied edging and grafting.
  • Yarn needle
  • 7 stitch markers to denote the corner stitches/quarter sections
  • 1 differently colored “end-of-round” stitch marker
  • Stitch markers to denote repeats of the lace patterning (optional)
  • Waste yarn for provisional cast-on

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tutorial – Russian grafting garter stitch

Tutorial Russian grafting garter stitch - by La Visch Designs

Russian grafting is a method of joining live knitting stitches together. It’s an alternative to the Kitchener stitch and is a quick and easy method for finishing off your knitted piece. In this post, I’ll show you the specifics for Russian grafting garter stitch. Of course, this method has pro’s and cons when compared with the Kitchener stitch, which I’ll go into below.

Pro’s

  • When used to join garter stitch pieces together, the seam blends in with the garter stitch ridges.
  • No working yarn is necessary, this makes this method, not a “true” grafting method.
  • When grafting with this method, the stitches of the pieces to be joined align better than with Kitchener stitch grafting. This can be desirable when using patterning.

Con’s

  • Since Russian grafting is worked by pulling existing stitches through other stitches, there is no way to adjust the tension of the graft.
  • The seam will be visible if it’s used on a very open lace fabric, even if it’s garter-stitch-based.

Materials used

Yarn: * Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the colors 125 Spearmint Green and 155 Vintage Pink.

A crochet hook in the same size or slightly smaller than your knitting needles. For example this * Pony Aluminum Crochet Hook in size 4 mm.

Russian grafting step-by-step

I’ve read that Russian grafting is a seaming technique commonly seen in patterns for traditional Orenburg shawls with garter-stitch-based lace edgings. For this reason, in this tutorial, I’m showing you how it’s done with the help of a swatch of an applied garter stitch lace border. It’s a miniature version of the edging on my Full Fade Hap.

Since I didn’t have the time to knit it all around the center square I just did the provisional cast-on followed by one repeat on the right in the below picture. On the left, you can see a repeat of the edging plus turning the corner minus the very last row, just as in my Full Fade Hap. The reason I’m omitting this last row is that we otherwise have a row of purl bumps on each needle. When grafted together, this gives a very bulky and visible seam. Without that last row, the grafted seam is much less notable.

Russian grafting preparation

Preparation

First is undoing the provisional cast-on on the right piece and placing it on a knitting needle, starting at the body side of the waste yarn. It isn’t visible in this picture, but that’s where the waste yarn chain is, indicating the point where it can be undone easily. Make sure to place the stitches correct (not twisted) on the needle.

Please note that in this example the provisional cast-on was 15 stitches (needed for the lace patterning to start correctly), while there are 16 live stitches on the left (15 from the border and 1 remaining live body stitch). To solve this I picked up an extra stitch at the shawl body side.

Russian grafting garter stitch preparation

I’ve turned everything 90 degrees clockwise. Make sure the right side is facing and the yarn tail is on the left side. Now we’re ready to start the actual Russian graft.

Set-up

1. Back needle: Insert the crochet hook purlwise through the first stitch on the needle ….

Russian grafting garter stitch, set-up step 1

2. … and slide it off the needle.

Russian grafting garter stitch, set-up step 2

3. Front needle: Insert the crochet hook purlwise through the first stitch on the needle and slide it off the needle. This is similar to what you did in steps 1 and 2.

Russian grafting garter stitch, set-up step 3

4. Now pull this second stitch through the first stitch on the hook, so only 1 loop remains on the crochet hook.

Russian grafting garter stitch, set-up step 4

Repeat

1. Back needle: Insert the crochet hook knitwise through the first stitch and slide it off the needle.

Russian grafting garter stitch, repeat step 1

2. Pull this last stitch through the first stitch on the hook, so only 1 loop remains on the crochet hook.

Russian grafting garter stitch, repeat step 2

3. Front needle: Insert the crochet hook knitwise through the first stitch and slide it off the needle.

Russian grafting garter stitch, repeat step 3

4. Pull this last stitch through the first stitch on the hook, so only 1 loop remains on the crochet hook.

Russian grafting garter stitch, repeat step 4

Repeat steps 1-4 until all stitches have been worked. At this point you will have 1 stitch remaining on the crochet hook:

Russian grafting garter stitch, result

To finish the graft, pull the yarn tail through this last stitch to secure it. And there you have it! The seam may seem bulky, but that’s mostly because I’ve used relatively thick yarn here. When using fingering weight yarn at a loose gauge, it will blend in nicely in garter stitch!

Russian grafting garter stitch, result
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Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.

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ramalina

Ramalina shawl by La Visch Designs

The Ramalina shawl, named for the greenish lichen, was inspired in both construction and coloring by this wonderful part of nature. The plain stockinette body lets the subtle variegation of the silk yarn used really shine.

Ramalina is a semi-circle Pi shawl worked from the top-down in one piece, starting at the neck edge with a garter stitch tab. Finish the shawl with a gorgeous lace edging in the contrast color. The instructions for the lace are provided both charted and written out.


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Difficulty level

Ramalina is a half-circle shawl, knit from the top down, starting with a garter tab cast-on. Stitches used include knit, purl, yo, m1, kfb, k3tog, a left-leaning double decrease, and lifted-over knot stitch.

This pattern is suitable for the intermediate to advanced knitter.

Sizes and finished measurements

One size – finished dimensions: 186 cm (73 ¼ inches) along the upper edge and a depth of 65 cm (25 ½ inches), measured after blocking.

Pattern details

  • Gauge: 20 sts / 27 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) over stockinette, measured after blocking. Gauge is, however, not critical in this design.
  • Pattern languages included: English and Dutch (Dit patroon omvat zowel een Nederlandse als een Engelse versie)
  • Digital PDF has 4 pages (letter size)

Materials

  • Yarn: Handmaiden Fine Yarn Swiss Silk (100% Silk; 400 m (437 yds) / 100 g) in the following amounts and colors: MC: 400 m (437 yds) / 100 g in “Peridot” and CC: 400 m (437 yds) / 100 g in “Moss”. This yarn and pattern are also available as a kit from Sweater Sisters! Substitute any silk (or other smooth and drapey) fingering weight yarn for a similar result.
  • Size 4 mm (US Size 6) 80 cm (32 inches) or longer circular needle.
  • Yarn needle
  • Stitch markers to denote repeats of the lace patterning (optional)

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tutorial – working a purl-side right-leaning lifted increase

Tutorial working a purl-side Right Lifted Increase (RLIP)

People usually shape knitwear by increasing or decreasing the number of stitches. There are, of course, lots of different versions possible. In this tutorial, I’ll focus on the purl-side right-leaning version of the lifted increase. If you’re looking for the knit-side right-leaning lifted increase, just click here.

What is a lifted increase?

Basically, it’s exactly how it’s called: an increase that you work from a stitch below the one next on the needle. This stitch is lifted to be able to work into it. The purl-side version is called the same as the knit-side version, only with “purl” added after it. Right Lifted Increase (Purl) with the abbreviation RLIP.

Materials used

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

Needles: * KnitPro Nova Cubics Special Interchangeable Needle Tips, pictured here in the 4 mm (US 6) size, combined with a * KnitPro Purple Single Cable with a length of 100 cm (40 inches).

Working a purl-side Right-Leaning Lifted Increase step by step

I’ve made a little swatch (continuing the same one from the RLI tutorial!) and will be making the increases 4 sts in from the garter stitch border when viewed from the wrong (purl) side.

Swatch

1. To start, insert your right-hand needle from bottom to top into the horizontal purl bump directly below the first stitch on the left-hand needle.

Start of the RLIP

2. Next, place the lifted stitch on the left-hand needle, making sure that you place it non-twisted. In other words: the left leg of the stitch is behind the needle and the right leg is in front.

Step 2 in working a RLIP

3. Now insert the other needle into the front of the stitch as if to purl….

RLIP tutorial

4. … and complete the stitch by wrapping the yarn around the needle, pulling it through and slipping the worked stitch off the needle as usual. You have now increased one stitch.

One stitch increased

5. I worked a couple of more rows, with increases on the WS (purl-side) rows only and 4 sts in from the garter stitch edge. This is how the piece looks:

Tutorial working a purl-side Right-Leaning Lifted Increase (RLIP)

Let’s turn the piece around

When turning the little swatch around to see how the RS of it looks, I found this:

Tutorial working a purl-side Right-Leaning Lifted Increase (RLIP)

Turns out that a purl-side Right Lifted Increase gives a rather lovely left-leaning result when viewed from the right side of the fabric. I’ve searched the internet to see if I could find any more information about it, but alas. So this is for now, good to know though!

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Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.

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half fade hap

Half Fade Hap in green

The Half Fade Hap is the smaller, triangular sister of the Full Fade Hap. With its generous size, it makes for a wonderful, cozy shawl. This shawl is made in the tradition of the shawls from the Shetland Isles, making for a very interesting construction.

The Half Fade Hap starts at one corner of the center triangle and increased until big enough. Stitches are picked up along the edges and the stunning border is worked outwards. Each color band in its own lace patterning. The shawl is finished with a gorgeous edging that is knitted on sideways and attached to the live stitches of the border as it is being worked.

The instructions for the lace are provided both charted and written out.


Pay what you want: (minimum €6.50)

Add to cart


Difficulty level

This shawl is worked flat back and forth. Techniques used include working a knitted-on edging. Stitches used include knit, purl, yo, k2tog, skp, and various double decreases.

This pattern is suitable for the intermediate to advanced knitter.

Sizes and finished measurements

Finished dimensions of the dark green sample shawl: Wingspan of 192 cm (76 ½ inches) and a depth of 82 cm (32 ¼ inches), measured after blocking.

Pattern details

  • This shawl pattern is written for a gauge of approx. 25 sts / 30 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) over the center triangle, measured after blocking Gauge is not critical in this design.
  • Pattern languages included: English and Dutch (Dit patroon omvat zowel een Nederlandse als een Engelse versie)
  • Digital PDF has 8 pages (letter size)

Yarn

AG2N Hand Dyed Yarns Softy Squishy Fingering 2 (100% Merino; 399 m (436 yds) / 100 g) in the following colors and amounts: C1: 100 m, (109 yds) / 25 g in “Fade 1”, C2: 100 m (109 yds) / 25 g in “Fade 2”, C3: 100 m (109 yds) / 25 g in “Fade 3”, C4: 100 m (109 yds) / 25 g in “Fade 4”, C5: 100 m (109 yds) / 25 g in “Fade 5” and C6: 200 m (218 yds) / 50 g in “Fade 6”.

AG2N Hand Dyed Yarns has dyed several fade sets (with yarn enough for the full hap or 2 half haps), these can be found here.

Substitute wool fingering weight yarn of comparable thickness, in a fade sequence for a similar result, or with 742 m (812 yds) / 175 g yarn in a single color.

Dark green version: Worked by I. Kooiman in Zettle Treviso (75% Wool, 25% Nylon; 209 m (229 yds) / 50 g) in green.

Multicolored version with the center triangle in yellow: Worked by M. Veldhuijzen van Zanten in Geilsk 3 ply Bomuld og uld (55% Wool, 45% Cotton; 232 m (254 yds) / 50 g) in multiple colors.

Materials

  • Size 4 mm (US Size 6) 80 cm (32 inches) or longer circular needle.
  • Yarn needle
  • 4 stitch markers to denote the edge and center stitches
  • Stitch markers to denote repeats of the lace patterning (optional)

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tutorial – working a knit-side right-leaning lifted increase

Tutorial working a knit-side right-leaning lifted increase.

As you know, the ability to shape your knitting project is a valuable one. Without it, it would be pretty hard to make a sweater fit you right and make anything else than rectangles. Shape knitwear by increasing or decreasing the number of stitches. There are, of course, lots of different versions possible. In this tutorial, I’ll focus on the right-leaning version of the lifted increase.

With right-leaning I mean that the increase leans to the right, relative to the surrounding “normal” stitches. There is also a left-leaning version, which I’ll go into another time. Pair them together to symmetrically increase the number of stitches on your project.

What is a lifted increase?

Basically, it’s exactly how it’s called: an increase that is worked from a stitch below the one next on the needle, which is lifted to be able to work into it. There are, of course, both knit and purl versions. The knit-side version of the Right-Leaning Lifted Increase is usually named the somewhat shorter Right Lifted Increase with the abbreviation RLI.

Materials used

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

Needles: * KnitPro Nova Cubics Special Interchangeable Needle Tips, pictured here in the 4 mm (US 6) size, combined with a * KnitPro Purple Single Cable with a length of 100 cm (40 inches).

Working a knit-side Right-Leaning Lifted Increase step by step

I’ve made a little swatch and will be making the increases 4 sts in from the garter stitch border when viewed from the right (knit) side.

Tutorial knit-side right-leaning lifted increase

1. To start, insert your right-hand needle from back to front into the right leg of the stitch that is directly below the next stitch on the needle.

Tutorial knit-side right-leaning lifted increase

2. Next, place the lifted stitch on the left-hand needle…

Tutorial knit-side right-leaning lifted increase

3. … and insert the other needle into the front of the stitch as if to knit.

Tutorial by La Visch Designs

4. Complete the stitch by wrapping the yarn around the needle, pulling it through and slipping the worked stitch off the needle as usual. You have now increased one stitch.

Tutorial by La Visch Designs

5. Next work the rest of the row as usual or according to instructions.

Tutorial by La Visch Designs

6. After I’ve worked a couple of more rows, with increases on the RS (knit-side) rows only, the piece looks like this:

Tutorial knit-side right-leaning lifted increase

Pretty neat type of increases, right?!

Patreon logo

Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.

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tutorial – working a Right Twist

Working a Right Twist - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

In one of the designs I’m working on, I’m using a lovely intricate stitch pattern from the Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible by Hitomi Shida. In this particular stitch pattern, a Right Twist stitch is used. So, in this post, I’ll go into the details on how to work this stitch.

The basic characteristic of a Right Twist, is that it switches the order of 2 adjoining stitches, one “main stitch” and one “background stitch” to make it appear that the main stitch travels to the right. The background is usually reverse stockinette. The main stitch is usually worked twisted (working the stitch through the back loop) stockinette. This way it pops even more against the background.

The instruction from the Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible for this stitch consists of the following text:

With RN, go in front of first st and ktbl second st without removing it from LN; p first st and slip both off LN.

Materials used

Yarn: Debbie Bliss “Piper” in Magenta. It’s a yarn with a composition of 50% cotton and 50% viscose. It has a great stitch definition, perfect for trying out those intricate Japanese stitch patterns.

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 a Right Twist step by step

1. The first 2 stitches on the left-hand needle in the picture below, are the ones we’re going to work the Right Twist over. In other words: we’re going to switch the order of the knit and the purl stitch, to make it appear that the knit stitch travels to the right.

Working a Right Twist - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

2. To start, insert your right-hand needle knit wise into the back loop of the second stitch from the tip of the left-hand needle to work a twisted knit stitch. The yarn is at the back of the work.

Working a Right Twist - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

3. Wrap your yarn around the needle…

Working a Right Twist - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

4. ….and pull it through the stitch.

Working a Right Twist - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

5. Next we’re going to work the first stitch we skipped before. Since that is a purl stitch we first have to move the working yarn to the front of the work.

Working a Right Twist - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

6. Now it’s time to insert your right-hand needle purl wise into the first stitch from the tip of the left-hand needle.

Working a Right Twist - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

7. Wrap your yarn around the needle…

Working a Right Twist - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

8. … and pull it through the stitch.

Working a Right Twist - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

9. Now both stitches are worked, slip them from the left-hand needle to complete your Right Twist stitch!

Working a Right Twist - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

On the following wrong side row, work the stitches as they present themselves. In other words: what looks like a knit stitch is knit, what looks like a purl stitch is purled, and the “traveling stitch” is purled through the back loop. Below is how it looks after a couple of more rows have been worked.

Working a Right Twist - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

And that’s it! In a new tutorial I’ll go into how to work a Left Twist stitch, stay tuned!

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Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.

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pine cone sachet

Pine Cone Sachet by La Visch Designs

This little sachet bag is simple, sweet and very quick to knit. Perfect to keep a piece of soap, lavender or jewelry. This pattern features Pine Cone Lace and includes two sizes of sachets. This pattern only requires a small amount of fingering weight yarn, so it is perfect for stash busting! It also makes a lovely gift.

The sachet is worked in the round from the bottom up beginning with Judy’s Magic Cast On. The instructions for the lace are provided both charted and written out.


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Difficulty level

The Pine Cone sachet is started with Judy’s Magic Cast On and worked in the round from the bottom up. Stitches used include knit, skp, k2tog and yo.

This pattern is suitable for the advanced beginner or intermediate knitter.

Sizes and finished measurements

Size S (L) finished dimensions: Width of 8.5 (12) cm (3 ¼ (4 ¾) inches) and a height of 12.5 (15) cm (5 (6) inches), measured after blocking. The sachet pictured is in size L.

Pattern details

  • Gauge: Approx. 25 sts / 33 rounds = 10 cm (4 inches) over stockinette, after blocking. Gauge is not critical in this design.
  • Pattern languages included: English and Dutch (Dit patroon omvat zowel een Nederlandse als een Engelse versie)
  • Digital PDF has 3 pages (letter size)

Materials

  • Yarn: 37 (56) m (40 (61) yds) / 10 (15) g ONION knit Nettle Sock (70% wool, 30% cellulose; 185 m (202 yds) / 50 g) in Oker. Substitute any solid or tonal colored fingering weight yarn for a similar result.
  • Size 3 mm (US 2 ½) / 80 cm (32 inches) circular needles were used to work the sample Pine Cone sachet with the magic loop technique.
  • Yarn needle
  • 1 stitch marker
  • 1 differently colored end-of-round stitch marker
  • Ribbon to close the sachet (optional)

Do you prefer working in the round from the top down? Take a look at the Snowflake sachet!

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snowflake sachet

Snowflake Sachet by La Visch Designs

This little sachet bag is simple, sweet and very quick to knit. Perfect to keep a piece of soap, lavender or jewelry. This pattern features Snowflake Lace and includes two sizes of sachets. Only a small amount of fingering weight yarn is needed, so it is perfect for stash busting! It also makes a lovely gift.

The sachet is worked in the round from the top down. The bottom is closed using a three-needle bind off. The instructions for the lace are provided both charted and written out.


Pay what you want: (minimum €4.30)

Add to cart


Difficulty level

The Snowflake sachet is worked in the round from the top down and closed with a three-needle bind off. Stitches used include knit, skp, k2tog, a centered double decrease and yo.

This pattern is suitable for the advanced beginner or intermediate knitter.

Sizes and finished measurements

Size S (L) finished dimensions: Width of 8.5 (12) cm (3 ¼ (4 ¾) inches) and a height of 12.5 (15) cm (5 (6) inches), measured after blocking. The sachet pictured is in size S.

Pattern details

  • The Snowflake sachet pattern is written for a gauge of approx. 25 sts / 33 rounds = 10 cm (4 inches) over stockinette, after blocking. Gauge is not critical in this design.
  • Pattern languages included: English and Dutch (Dit patroon omvat zowel een Nederlandse als een Engelse versie)
  • Digital PDF has 3 pages (letter size)

Materials

  • Yarn: 37 (56) m (40 (61) yds) / 10 (15) g ONION knit Nettle Sock (70% wool, 30% cellulose; 185 m (202 yds) / 50 g) in Gray. Substitute any solid or tonal colored fingering weight yarn for a similar result.
  • Size 3 mm (US 2 ½) / 80 cm (32 inches) circular needles were used to work the sample sachet with the magic loop technique.
  • Yarn needle
  • 1 stitch marker
  • 1 differently colored end-of-round stitch marker
  • 1 extra knitting needle size 3 mm (US 2 ½) for three-needle bind off
  • Ribbon to close the sachet (optional)

Do you prefer working in the round from the bottom up? Take a look at the Pine Cone sachet!

snowflake sachet Read More »

tutorial – casting on & knitting magic loop

Knitting magic loop - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

When working in the round with lots of stitches, using a circular and just going round and round and round is a relatively easy thing to do. It’s however, a different case when working in the round on a project with a small circumference. With small circumference knitting, it usually just doesn’t work in a circular needle, because the needles and the cables are just too long to accommodate the limited number of stitches.

What exactly is magic loop knitting?

The short description is, that with this method, you pull out a loop of cable of your circular needle to divide your stitches. This is usually done into two equal parts. Once the stitches are divided, you can use the free needle tip to knit across half of the stitches. Next, the project is rotated and the needle pulled through to work the remaining stitches.

Materials used

Yarn: * Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the colors 142 Tea Rose.

Needles: * Addi Lace Circular Needles, in this tutorial I used the 4 mm (US 6) size with a cable length of 100 cm (40 inches). I would like to advise using at least a cable length of 80 cm (32 inches) to facilitate magic loop knitting.

Magic loop knitting step by step

1. Begin by casting on the required number of stitches for your project. I used the cable or knitted-on cast on in this example. Once this is done, you can continue to the next step. However, doing so directly increases the odds that the cast-on twists around the needle, resulting in a twist in your work when joined in the round. To avoid this, I usually just knit the first “round” of the pattern flat. So, that’s what I also did here!

Knitting magic loop - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

2. Next, lay the work down on a table in front of you in such a way, that the working yarn is on the right. Make sure that the cast-on edge is not twisted around the needle.

Knitting magic loop - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

3. Now, move the stitches to the center of the cable and find the middle point in the stitches. If working with an odd number of stitches, no worries: this won’t make that big of a difference. Gently bend your cable and bring it up between the center stitches.

Knitting magic loop - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

4. Next, pull the cable gently to reposition both sets of stitches on the needles as pictured, instead of on the cable. Make sure the working yarn is near the tip of the needle at the back, in between both needles. For working the first stitch, make sure it runs up between the needle tips for knitting, and for purling that it runs down.

Knitting magic loop - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

5. To join in the round and to start knitting, grab the needle tip that is at the back and pull it out so the stitches on it slide to the cable. Now is also the time to put a “beginning (or end) of round” stitch marker on this needle tip. This needle tip becomes your right-hand or working needle.

Knitting magic loop - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

6. Now you’re ready to work your way across the stitches on the left-hand or main needle. Especially with the first few rounds, you can encounter a “gap” at the spot you joined in the round. You can help avoid this by connecting both sides of this gap with a removable stitch marker. It also helps to tighten up the second stitch you work on each needle.

Knitting magic loop - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

7. Once you worked across these stitches, it will look something like this:

Knitting magic loop - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

8. Next, turn your work so that the working yarn is on the right again and the former back needle is now in the front.

Knitting magic loop - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

9. To be able to use the needle that is now in the front as your main (left-hand) needle, we first have to pull the cable connected to the needle tip. This way the stitches slide from the cable onto the needle tip.

Knitting magic loop - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

10. Again pull out the other (back) needle so that the stitches rest on the cable and the tip can be used as your working (right-hand) needle and work across all the stitches on the main (left-hand) needle.

Knitting magic loop - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

11. Continue steps 6 to 10 for each round as described in your pattern.

Knitting magic loop - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

And that’s all there is to it!

After a couple of rounds the work will look something like this:

Knitting magic loop - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

Knitting a “round” flat before joining in the round, as I described in step 1? Don’t forget to use the yarn tail to sew it closed when finishing your project.

Knitting magic loop - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

But what about laddering?

Laddering is nothing more than that the stitches are pulling apart a little, if it happens it’s usually where you switch from one needle to the other. As described with step 6, it really cuts down on laddering if you tighten the second stitch when working the stitches on each needle.

The material of the cable of your circulars, however, also has a great influence. The stiffer the cable the more resistant it will be to being fold in half to accommodate magic loop knitting. This means that with a very stiff cable it will actively push apart the stitches on the ends of both needles. The same issue may happen if you’re using a circular needle that is too short. I like my circs to be at least 80 cm / 32 inches. Do try out for yourself what length hits the sweet spot for you!

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