The pattern for Exponent alternates plain rounds of 1×1 ribbing with rounds of Y-increases. The Y-increase is a knitting heresy. Normally, you can't knit into the same stitch twice. If you try it, you will discover that all you do is add a wrap, making the stitch taller but not making more stitches. Versa lace is ribbing based. Instead of having a single stitch, you have a pair of stitches. This means you can work knit 1, purl 1, then back up and work knit 1, purl 1 in the same stitches again. As you can see in the detail photograph, the effect looks like two stitches coming out of one. And they are bilaterally symmetrical, meaning there is no left-leaning or right-leaning version of this.
I have not yet put in the time exploring, but I suspect there may be some crochet maneuvers that can be mimicked in knitting using this technique.
Comments