knitting tutorial

tutorial – in between tinking and frogging

In between tinking and frogging - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

In a shawl project, I encountered a hiccup that I had to fix. When finishing the diamond patterning after a full repeat, and then working a garter stitch ridge to mirror the beginning of this section, this is what I noticed:

Do you see those plain rows of stockinette just above the needle and garter stitch ridge on the right? This did not mirror the start of the section at all… So, I undid some rows to start the garter stitch ridge earlier. With a rather “sticky” yarn, I would just remove the knitting needle, rip it out and place the stitches back on the needle at the right point. However, the yarn used in this project contains 50% tencel, making it rather slippery. I certainly didn’t want to drop any stitches in this patterning. But tinking (knitting spelled and done backwards) back 3 rows wasn’t a good option as well, with over 350 sts on the needle.

The solution: a technique that is something in between tinking and frogging! Below, I’ll show you how I went about it step by step.

Materials

Yarn: Hearthside Fibers Crystal in the colors “Vermont”, and “Lake”.

Needles: A pair of Addi circular needles in the size 4 mm (US 6)

In between tinking and frogging step by step

  1. I positioned my project in such a way, that I had a good view of the row I wanted to put back on the needle from the right side of the fabric.

    In this case, that meant holding the work as shown.Step 1

  2. Do you see the little “V” just above the knitting needle, positioned in between the loops on that needle? Insert the needle into the left leg of the first “V”

    You could, of course, insert the needle under the other leg, but that would mean that the loops are placed on the needle with a twisted orientation. Not a big issue, but it would mean working a first row of the project through the back loops to get them oriented correctly again.
    I do hope I haven’t mixed up my stitch legs here, though…Step 2 of in between tinking and frogging

  3. Repeat step 2 until you have a decent number of stitches on your needle.

    When working with circulars, that’s about 15 to 20 stitches for me.Step 3

  4. Next, slide the knitting needle that holds all non-tinked back stitches out of the stitches below which you’ve just picked up stitches with the other needle.

    Step 4

  5. Now gently pull out the working yarn out of these stitches.

    Make sure to watch out for any missed stitches, now it’s easy to fix it without any runners in your fabric. This will be less so when you’ve already moved on to a new section of stitches.Step 5 of in between tinking and f rogging

  6. And there you have it: a whole set of stitches safely on the needle, without either tinking or frogging.

    Step 6

This way really is between tinking and frogging; a lovely compromise! And my project? I got the offending rows out and did the garter stitch ridge earlier. This is how I intended it to look!

Result in my project
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tutorial – working the improved SSK decrease

Working the improved SSK decrease

Previously, I told you about the SSK decrease. SSK stands for “slip slip knit”, but working the decrease entails a bit more than that, visit the tutorial to learn more about it! However, because you slip 2 stitches with a traditional SSK, you also risk stretching the stitches out a bit. So, smart folks thought of a different way that involves less slipping and therefor less risk of stretched out stitches, and thus a smoother left-leaning decrease.

Below, I’ll show you how to work the improved SSK decrease step by step.

Materials

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

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

Working the SSK decrease step by step

  1. Work your way across the row until you’ve reached the point where you want to make the decrease.

    In this case, I’m using the same swatch as I did for the regular SSK. This time, I’m working the decrease 4 stitches in from the left side of the swatch. Including the edge stitches in garter stitch.Step 1

  2. Insert the needle into the first stitch on the left-hand needle as if to knit…

    Step 2 of the improved SSK

  3. … and slip the stitch to the right-hand needle.

    With this action, you twist the stitch mount of the stitch. Do you see how it sits differently on the needle when compared with the other stitches?Step 3

  4. Next, slip the stitch back to the left-hand needle, to do so I insert the left-hand needle into the front loop of the slipped stitch…

    Step 4

  5. …. and put it back on the left-hand needle.

    step 5

  6. Now we want to work a k2tog tbl. To do so, insert the right-hand needle through the back loops of the first 2 stitches on the left-hand needle…

    step 6

  7. … wrap the yarn around the needle….

    Step 7

  8. … Pull the yarn through…

    Step 8

  9. … and slip the stitch of the needle to finish the decrease.

    This is how it then looks:The result of working an improved SSK

The below picture shows how it looks after 2 more decrease rows have been worked. You can compare the improved SSK decreases with the regular ones on the bottom half of the swatch. To be honest, I don’t see a lot of difference, but I’m sure it’s just my knitting that’s to blame. Try it yourself, your results may very well be better than mine!

The result of several improved SSK decreases
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tutorial – working the SSK decrease

Tutorial on working the SSK decrease

When we’re talking about a single, left-leaning decrease, I usually prefer working the SKP decrease. This abbreviation stands for “slip 1, knit 1, pass slipped stitch over”. However, many people prefer the SSK decrease instead. SSK stands for “slip slip knit”, but working the decrease entails a bit more than that. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a hard decrease to work, but you do have to know how to slip the stitches.

Below, I’ll show you how to work this decrease step by step.

Materials

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

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

Working the SSK decrease step by step

  1. Work your way across the row until you’ve reached the point where you want to make the decrease

    In this case, I want to work the decrease 7 stitches in from the left side of the swatch. That is including the edge stitches in garter stitch.Step 1 of working the SSK

  2. Insert the needle into the first stitch on the left-hand needle as if to knit…

    Step 2

  3. … and slip the stitch to the right-hand needle.

    With this action, you twist the stitch mount of the stitch. Do you see how it sits differently on the needle when compared with the other stitches?Step 3

  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the next stitch on the left-hand needle.

    Step 4 of working the SSK

  5. Now, we have to put those 2 stitches back onto the left-hand needle. To do so, insert the left-hand needle into the front loops of the 2 stitches on the right-hand needle.

    Step 5

  6. With the action of the last step, we have already positioned these 2 stitches for the next step: Knitting them together through the back loop (k2tog tbl). This means we now only have to wrap the yarn around the needle….

    Step 6

  7. … Pull the yarn through…

    Step 7

  8. … and slip the stitch of the needle to finish the decrease.

    This is how it then looks:The result of working the SSK

The below picture shows how it looks after 2 more decrease rows have been worked. 

The result of several SSK decreases
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tutorial – working the Icelandic bind-off

Working the Icelandic bind-off

In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to work the Icelandic bind-off. I must admit, I’m not sure how it came by its name. I do know that it’s a bind-off that gives a very stretchy cord-like edge to your work. For this reason, it’s often advised for binding off long stretches of garter stitch. In this tutorial, however, I made a little swatch in stockinette to show you how to do it.

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 Icelandic bind-off step by step

  1. To start, knit the first stitch on the needle.

    Step 1

  2. Next, slip the stitch just worked from the right-hand needle back to the left-hand needle purl-wise.

    The reason for slipping it back, purl-wise, is that we want this stitch to be mounted twisted.Step 2 of working the Icelandic bind-off

  3. Now insert the right-hand needle as if to purl into the first stitch on the left-hand needle….

    Step 3

  4. … then insert the right-hand needle as if to knit into the next stitch on the needle.

    This is how that looks:Step 4

  5. Next, wrap your yarn around the needle…

    Step 5

  6. …. and pull it through.

    Step 7

  7. Next, slip both stitches off the needle.

    Step 7

  8. Repeat steps 2-7 until only 1 stitch is left.

    To completely finish the bind-off, break the yarn, and pull the end through this last loop.The result: a nice Icelandic bind-off

And that’s all there is to it!

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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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tutorial – working the bunny ears back decrease

The Bunny Ears Back decrease

Earlier, I already showed you how to work the bunny ears decrease. In this tutorial, I’m going to show the bunny ears back decrease, which is similar to the bunny ears decrease. It’s also a symmetrical way of decreasing 3 stitches to only 2, called this way, because the result somewhat looks like 2 bunny ears “hugging” the resulting 2 stitches. However, instead of the “ears” pointing outwards, they point inwards.

Part of this decrease is working a left leaning single decrease of your choice. I prefer skp, so that’s what I’ll be showing in this tutorial. But it can be changed to ssk or any other left leaning decrease you prefer.

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 back decrease step by step

  1. First, work your way across the row until you’ve reached the point where you want to make the decrease.

    See those first 3 stitches on the left-hand needle? That’s where I’ll be making the bunny ears back decrease.step 1 of the bunny ears back decrease

  2. Next, work the left leaning decrease of your preference over the first 2 stitches.

    I’ve worked a skp, you can see the result in the picture below.working a left-leaning decrease

  3. Now take a good look at the decrease you worked.

    Do you see the 2 stitches that were decreased to 1, with the one on the left “covered’ by the other one?step 3

  4. Now insert the left-hand needle underneath the left loop of that lower stitch.

    step 4

  5. Next, work a k2tog over the first 2 stitches on the left-hand needle as the final step.

    Below, you can see the result: 3 stitches that have been symmetrically decreased to 2 stitches.the result: a bunny ears back decrease!

And that’s all there is to it!

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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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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!

  1. 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.Step 1 of working a bunny ears decrease

  2. 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.Step 2

  3. Wrap the yarn around the needle…

    Step 3

  4. … and pull the yarn through the 2 stitches.

    Step 4

  5. 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.Step 5

  6. 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:Step 6 - the second part of working a bunny ears decrease

  7. 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.Step 7

  8. Next, insert the left-hand needle into the second stitch counted from the tip of the right-hand needle…

    Step 8

  9. … 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.The result: a binny ears decrease!

And that’s all there is to it!

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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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stitch pattern – double lace rib

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.

Double Lace Rib stitch pattern
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tutorial – working a pfb

Tutorial - Working a pfb

There are lots of ways to increase the number of stitches on your needle. Purling in the front and back of the same stitch, also known as the pfb increase, is the purl side version of the kfb increase. In other words: you work the pfb on the purl side of the fabric, which is often the wrong side) to get an extra stitch that looks like the kfb increase on the knit- or right side of stockinette fabric. This increase can be a bit tricky to work at first, but once you know how to do it, you will breeze right through them.

The pfb increase is also known as a “bar increase” because it forms a little horizontal bar in your work. Due to this little bar, this increase is virtually invisible in garter stitch. When used in stockinette, as shown in this tutorial, it forms a series of decorative bars along the increase line when viewed from the knit side of the fabric. This how-to will give you step-by-step instructions on how to work the “purl front and back” increase.

Materials used

Yarn: * Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here 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 a pfb step-by-step

In this tutorial I’ll continue the swatch that I used in previous tutorials on increases and decreases.

  1. First, work your way across the row until you’ve reached the point where you want to make the increase.

    In this case, I want the increase 2 sts in from the garter stitch border on the right. A pfb first makes a purl stitch, followed by the extra “bar” stitch on the left of it. Because of this, I start working the pfb over the third stitch.Working a pfb - step 1

  2. To start, insert the right-hand needle purl wise into the front loop of the stitch.

    To finish this part of the stitch, wrap your yarn around the needle, and pull it through the stitch. Don’t drop it of the needle yet!Working a pfb - step 2

  3. Now we insert the right-hand needle purl wise into the back loop of the stitch.

    To do so, insert the needle from the left to the right through the back loop. This is the tricky part, I find it helps to pull the fabric down a bit as shown in the picture, because it makes it easier to see where to insert the needle.Working a pfb - step 3

  4. Next, wrap the yarn around the needle and pull it through the stitch.

    To complete the pfb stitch, drop the loop from the original stitch off the left-hand needle.Working a pfb - step 4

  5. This is how it looks now.

    Do you see the purl stitch with an extra “bar stitch” to the left of it?Working a pfb - step 5

  6. This is how it looks after some more rows with increases, when viewed from the purl side of the fabric.

    In this swatch, I’ve also made increases on the left side of the fabric. Very invisible here!Working a pfb - the result on the purl side

  7. And here is the view from the knit side of the fabric.

    When viewed from this side, it really looks like a kfb, right?!Working a pfb - The result on the knit side

And that’s all there is to it!

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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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tutorial – working a double crochet bind-off

Working a double crochet bind-off

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to work a double crochet bind-off. As you know, there are many ways to bind off knitted fabric, which one to choose depends greatly on various factors. Take the amount of stretch in the bind-off itself, for example. The Russian bind-off is wonderful for lace shawls that are blocked to the max, but is less suitable for projects that need more structure at the bind-off edge. For that an i-cord bind-off may be more suitable. Another thing to take into account is the way it looks, does it match the cast-on used?

The double crochet bind-off is reasonably flexible and, due to its taller height when compared with other bind-offs, a pretty good match with the German twisted cast-on. Let’s take a look at how it’s worked!

Materials used

Yarn: * Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn. Pictured here in the color 155 Vintage Pink.

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).

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.

Working a double crochet bind-off step by step

Working a double crochet bind-off - 1

  1. First, insert your crochet hook into the first stitch on the needle knit wise.

    Working a double crochet bind-off - 2

  2. Next, wrap the yarn around the hook….

    Working a double crochet bind-off - 3

  3. …and pull it through the stitch on the needle.

    Working a double crochet bind-off - 4

  4. Next, remove the stitch and let it drop from the needle.

    Working a double crochet bind-off - 5

  5. Repeat steps 1-4 once.

    Now you have 2 loops on your crochet hook.Working a double crochet bind-off - 6

  6. Now wrap your yarn around the crochet hook…

    This is the start of the “double crochet” part of this bind-off.Working a double crochet bind-off - 7

  7. …and pull the wrapped yarn through both loops that are on the hook.

    Working a double crochet bind-off - 8

  8. Repeat steps 5 to 7 until all stitches are bound off.

    This is how it looks:Working a double crochet bind-off - the 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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tutorial – inserting an afterthought life line

Tutorial inserting an afterthought life line

As shown in the post about life lines, these are very handy. They can be used for added security when you’re sure that a certain stretch of knitting is error-free. Just insert the life line and you have a safe place in your knitting to rip back to in the event you make a mistake in your knitting. But what to do when you’ve forgotten to add in a life line?

No worries! In that case you can insert an afterthought life line. In this post I’ll show you how.

Materials used

Yarn: * Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn. Pictured here in the color 155 Vintage Pink.

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).

Darning needle: * Hiya Hiya Darn It Yarn Needle, or any other tapestry needle, threaded with yarn.

Crochet cotton: Manuela N° 5 from Schoeller+Stahl, a 100% mercerized cotton 6-ply thread (200 m (219 yds) / 50 g)

Inserting an afterthought life line step by step

In this example, I’m using the same stockinette swatch as for the previous life line tutorial. I’ll use it to show you how to insert a life line using a darning needle and thread. When doing so in a piece of knitted lace, you may find it easiest to do so after a plain knit of purl row if that’s possible in your patterning.

  1. First, make sure you have your thread and darning needle ready.

    Don’t cut your thread too short, or you may not have enough length to thread through all stitches, and allow for some stretch.Using life lines - getting everything ready

  2. Next, identify the row and stitches to insert the life line in, take your darning needle and insert it through the first couple of stitches on the needle.

    For this, it is of importance to correctly select which “leg” of the stitch to insert the darning needle under. In stockinette stitch fabric, the individual stitches look like a “V”. When inserting the needle, make sure to insert pass it underneath the right leg and over the left leg of the “V”. This way the stitches are mounted correctly on the life line. When doing it like this, you just have to follow the path of the life line when putting the fabric back on your knitting needle, to correctly mount the stitches there too. In other words: not twisted! Take care not to pierce any strands of yarn.Step 2 of inserting an afterthought life line

  3. After the first few stitches, pull the cotton thread through, taking care to leave a tail outside the piece of knitting.

    Then, you can insert the darning needle into the next couple of stitches and so on, to put all stitches on the thread.

  4. Now we have to secure the life line.

    To do so, I prefer making a loose knot in the ends of the cotton thread.Securing the life line

  5. And this is the result!

    When the life line is no longer needed, just undo the knot and pull the thread out of the knitting. Or follow the path of the life line through the stitches with a knitting needle before ripping back your knitting…

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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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