Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

A couple months back, I posted a video showing how to work the k-yo-k increase in reversible lace. I mentioned that one of the interesting things about reversible lace is you can knit into the same stitch twice. Each "stitch" is actually a knit-purl pair. You can knit, purl, then back up and knit again, then purl again. I've tentatively named this a Y increase because it is one stitch that splits into two stitches. When I sketch it out as a stitch chart or stitch map, it looks like a Y. I've begun experimenting with this increase. One of my plans for reversible lace is to turn circular shawls into swirl jackets. Circular shawls are fabulous lace projects. But how do you wear them? For so many people, the first thing you do is fold the shawl in half. When worked reversibly, you could insert sleeves and have a swirl jacket instead. I decided to test the idea with a teddy bear jacket. It turns out that an 8-section polygon was a little hyperbolic. The 7-sect...

In the Kennesaw Kudzu pattern, each multiple of pattern is worked back and forth and decreased to a point. This shaping creates the pretty leaf edging. But it does raise questions of how to deal with those final two stitches and where to hide the tail when you are out at land's end? To graft that final knit-purl pair, start with “wrong” side facing: plunge a blunt tapestry needle into the base of the final stitch 
leaving needle in place, pull tail up and out poke eye of tapestry needle from purl side to knit side of penultimate stitch 
thread tail in eye of tapestry needle 
pull needle to bring tail through penultimate stitch and to re-complete final stitch. I prefer to duplicate stitch ends. In this case, I don't have any horizontal fabric that I can use for duplicate stitch. Plan B is hiding the ends vertically. Identify a knit wale and thread the tail down through a vertical column of stitch legs. This isn't my favorite way to deal with an end, but it will...

The Kennesaw Kudzu socks and hat both start with a center-out cast-on. This is a combination of Gwen Bortner's encasement pick-up and a typical center-out cast-on. Wrap the tail counterclockwise in a circle twice.
 Knit into the center of the circle.
 Yarn over.
 One pair completed.
 Repeat as many times as needed.
 Pull tail gently but firmly to close hole. In addition to the hat and the toe-up socks, this cast-on would be useful to work a circular shawl in reversible lace.

I said I would blog more about my winning entries at Maryland Sheep and Wool. One of the entries was a hat. This was the winner in category K14: Miscellaneous knit from commercial yarn. The design started out as socks. For the sock pattern, I decided to investigate just how stretchy reversible lace is. Socks normally have a heel turn. For some sock knitters, this is part of the fun. You work in the round for awhile, sometimes in pattern, then you have the excitement of a heel turn, then you work in the round some more. For others, this is exactly why they don't knit socks. For many people, working in the round without increases or decreases is perfect television knitting. Paying attention to a heel turn is not. And of course, there are multiple ways of dealing with heel turns. So many choices! So many options to like or dislike. While I typically enjoy the challenge of a good heel turn, I sometimes don't like the design options. If I'm working a pretty lace pa...

I made another reversible lace video. This time, I'm demonstrating the knit, yarn over, knit into the same stitch double increase. In reversible lace, you'll substitute knit-purl, double yarn over, then knit and purl again in the same stitch pair. The maneuver is a little fiddly, but it does get easier with practice. Knit 1, paying attention to where the left shoulder of the mother knit stitch is. Purl, but do not drop the mother purl stitch off the left needle. Bring the left needle tip up behind and into the shoulder of the mother knit stitch. Double yarn over. Put the right needle in "through the back of the loop" position and knit the shoulder. Purl again, but this time drop the old stitch off the left needle. Working out how to do this maneuver made me realize it may indeed be possible to knit into the same stitch twice! Heresy! In normal knitting, you can't work the same stitch twice. In the video, I show you how this doesn't work. Speci...

Several months ago, I posted a video of how to work the centered double decrease in reversible lace. I finally got around to shooting a video for how to work a regular double decrease in reversible lace. For the double decrease, the center stitch is on the bottom of the stack. Unlike a centered double decrease, a double decrease tends to break up the vertical line. While this is a subtle distinction, it can make a difference in lace patterns where uninterrupted wales are part of the design. knit-wise, right stitch on top (leans left) = slip 1 stitch knit-wise knit 2 stitches together pass the slipped stitch over purl-wise, right stitch on top (leans left) = slip 2 stitches together knit-wise slip 1 knit-wise return all 3 stitches to the left needle purl all 3 stitches together up through the back of the loop knit-wise, left stitch on top (leans right) = slip 1 knit-wise slip 1 knit-wise again return 2 stitches to left needle/cable needle through the back of the ...

In early summer I was knitting projects quickly. It seem that knitting is much faster than pattern-writing, photography, videography, and all the other elements that go into self-publishing a pattern. For the Mach Wave cowl, I decided to use some stash yarn. I had purchased Wool2dye4 Tweed Worsted in a "learn to dye with Kool-Aid" kit at The Whole Nine Yarns. This yarn has three plies, two of which are wool and the third is superwash wool. The third ply takes dye differently from the other two, creating the tweedy effect. I did quite a bit of outdoor dyeing back in June. That first burst of scorching summer weather triggered the impulse to execute the dye projects that had languished through the cooler months. Although I have a big pile of Kool-Aid packets in my dyestuff stash, for this project I used Jaquard acid dyes. Before applying the dye, I decided I wanted the skein to become a center-out möbius. I divided the yarn into 11 lengths, placing a pin at each division. (...

On the Alacrity mitts, I knit myself into a spot a didn't expect. I cast-on. I worked in the round. I introduced the thumb gusset using a bridge. I decreased away most of the thumb gusset. And then I got to the bottom of the gusset and realized I needed to work a reversible 5 into 1 decrease to keep everything in pattern. Yes, this is a reversible centered quadruple decrease. Park the five knits on one needle and the five purls on another needle. Use a crochet hook to enter the obverse stitches in order 3-2-4-1-5. Yes, you will need to park stitch #1 and remove stitches from the needle as you work. Using the hook, pull a stitch up through the whole stack. Place the stitch on the right needle. Turn the work. Repeat on the reverse. Turn the work back. Not fast, but it can be done.

As I continue to explore reversible lace, there are more and more techniques to develop. I've already posted how to work left-leaning and right-leaning decreases. The obvious corollary is how to work double decreases. I need to explain there are different types of reversibility. For example, if the obverse is this: /O/O The reverse could be this: O\O\ or this: /O/O The first example is mirrored reversibility, but the second example is identical reversibility. In a centered double-decrease, there are also two possible configurations. The stitches start out on the needle as left - center - right. The final stacks could be either: center                    center right           or         left  left                 ...

I gave the direction to use a bridge to create a thumb gusset. As this is an unusual maneuver, I thought I should explain. In a top-down mitt, you cast-on in the round and work a tube. At some point, you may want to create a thumb gusset without breaking the yarn. You can do that by casting on more stitches, joining them back to the main tube, then continuing in the round. For reversible lace, I use a waste yarn tab to mimic the tubular cast-on and bind-off I've used elsewhere in the project. Knit across the tab, turn, yarn over and slip one purlwise with yarn in front for the first pair, then work alternating knit 1 in the running thread, slip 1 purlwise with yarn in front across the tab. After that, turn and work 1×1 ribbing across the tab. Now that the tab is established, join to the body of the mitt using a crochet hook to work the last knit-purl pair on the body a second time. This produces a secure join that won't gap. At that point, I can return to working...

I've already stated that for reversible lace, I like the tubular Italian cast-on. I have discovered, however, that it is not the easiest cast-on to work in the round. It is very easy to introduce an unintentional twist! Could there be an easier way? This alternative is not as fast and requires waste yarn. However, I think it is easier to work. And it creates the same tubular structure as Italian cast-on. Cast-on auxiliary yarn using whatever cast-on you like and casting on one stitch for each knit-purl pair you want for your project. In other words, cast on half as many stitches as you intend to have. Work several rows back and forth to create the auxiliary yarn tab. You can work in garter or stockinette, as you prefer. Since the tab is what keeps the work from twisting, please don't skimp on it. I would work at least five rows, maybe more. I like to work one row of a separate thin and slippery waste yarn. That way I can reuse the auxiliary yarn tab in another project ...

Time for more reversible lace! The Whole Nine Yarns hosts an annual Christmas in July event. This year's event will be this Sunday, 24 July 2016, starting at noon. My contribution this year is a reversible lace pattern I've named Alacrity. These are fingerless mitts worked from the top down. If you know how to work two tubes simultaneously, you can work these until you run out of yarn. This is a yummy luxury yarn you won't want to waste — The Fibre Company Road to China Light, containing alpaca, silk, camel, and cashmere. I had less than a yard leftover. This pattern will also help you work your way up the reversible lace learning curve. It uses double increases and centered double decreases. The mitts are identical, so there aren't any weird directions about making a left-hand versus making a right-hand. And they are reversible, which means you can even turn them inside-out! The freebie version of the pattern is somewhat abbreviated. I'll post the full v...

As I explore and develop reversible lace, I keep adding new techniques. I usually start with, "Ok, I like this technique on one-sided fabric. How do I do it reversibly?" One of the increases I like is the yarn-over version of make 1. There are at least three different increase methods I know of that go by the name "make 1." One technique involves co-opting the running thread. The second method (used by Elizabeth Zimmermann) is casting on a backward loop. The third method is throwing a yarn over or reverse yarn over and then twisting it closed on the next row or round. Since it is twisted, this means there is a left-leaning and a right-leaning version. Working reversibly, here is the version that leans left on the obverse and right on the reverse. And here is the version that leans to the right on the obverse and the left on the reverse. Of course, there are other ways to increase. And I admit these are fairly fiddly. As with so many things in knitting, th...

If you are making the Viridi pinnam pattern, there are a couple things you can do to make the knitting flow a little more smoothly. The lace pattern is 24 rows, but with action only on the 12 right-side rows. Furthermore, those rows can be divided into two groups of 6, as the Japanese feather pattern stacks up on one side for 12 rows and then the opposite side for 12 rows. The lace trellis pattern is handy for counting, since the holes alternate right or left with every right-side row. I used a large safety pin placed through the trellis hole on row 23 or row 11. In the picture, I can count holes in the trellis pattern. There are three. My yarn location puts me at the beginning of a right-side row. From the Japanese feather pattern, I can tell the pin is in row 23. Since there are three right-side rows completed since row 23, I can tell I am about to start row 7. After every 12 rows/6 holes in the trellis, I moved the large safety pin up. This made it very easy to count pattern ro...

Since my goal for this year is to get the reversible lace technique out into the world in a big way, I have been designing items using the technique. When I was at South Carolina Knit Inn, Cindy from Stony Hill Fiber Arts insisted I take a couple skeins of Pacolet Valley Fiber Company Southern Exposure organic cotton. This is a sport-weight 100% organic cotton yarn grown and spun in the United States. If we want an American textile industry, we need to purchase their products. The cotton is 50% organic naturally-colored cotton and 50% organic cotton. (To learn more about naturally-colored cotton, visit Fox Fibre .) I was keen to try the green. I must admit, it did not look green in the skein. It looked beige or brown or neutral natural (photograph at right). Definitely not green. However, being the reader of knitting and spinning and weaving literature, I had read about these naturally-colored cottons and understood they will darken when boiled. So, after I finished knittin...

I think reversible lace looks especially nice with one-color Italian cast-on, incorporated i-cord selvedges, and tubular bind-off. It is a little tricky to transition between the cast-on and the i-cord and between the i-cord and the bind-off. Some of the maneuvers demonstrated in the videos might also work for transitioning between other cast-ons and bind-offs. If you are using an even-number of stitches in the i-cord, then you can cast-on with knit-purl pairs when working Italian cast-on. For odd-numbers of stitches in the i-cord, you'll need to start with a purl rather than a knit. Notice, too, you can use a cable needle to rotate stitches to make them more knit-like or purl-like, as you need. When transitioning to a tubular bind-off, work the same maneuvers you did to transition into the i-cord, but work those steps in reverse. A tubular bind-off to match Italian cast-on takes two "rows": Row 1: alternate knit 1, slip 1 purlwise with yarn in front. The knits wi...

One difference between beginning knitters and intermediate or advanced knitters is that novice knitters tend to only know only one or two cast-ons. A good cast-on can make an edge look professional, well-crafted. A poor match between cast-on and fabric can make a project look amateurish, even if the knitter has correctly executed the directions. For 1×1 ribbing — and, therefore, reversible lace — I like the look of one-color Italian cast-on. When worked in two colors, the cast-on can be used for double-knitting. It also works well for brioche knitting. Notice that the maneuvers are essentially the same as knits and purls. Stitches are cast-on in knit-purl (or purl-knit) pairs, which is why this cast-on does not work well for plain stockinette. To cast-on a knit stitch: duck the right needle front to back underneath the front yarn, wrap the back yarn as you would when making a knit stitch Continental style, bring the yarn forward as if pulling up a knit stitch. To cast-on a ...

Yesterday's post was about the holes in knitted lace. Today's post is about the partners of those holes  — decreases. If you just keep making yarn-overs in your work, the work will widen. If you want the fabric to stay the same width throughout, then the yarn-over holes/increases need to be balanced/offset with decreases. A "basic" lace pattern typically has the decreases and the yarn-overs on the same row. A really basic lace pattern has action only on right-side rows. Thus, the same number of stitches are on the needle at the end of every row, whether right-side or wrong-side. A more advanced lace pattern may have action on both right-side and wrong-side rows. Or it may have rows with non-balanced yarn-overs. Or it may have both. The decreases that balance the yarn-overs do not have to be on the same row with their yarn-overs. Many beautiful lace patterns with rippling or scalloped edges are created using this method. But, these patterns can be trickier to work be...

Knitted lace is knit fabric with holes in it on purpose. The easiest way to make a stable hole in knitting — cutting the fabric would be an un stable hole — is to make a yarn-over. Yarn-overs and holes in general tend to be reversible by their very nature. Sweet! When working reversible lace on 1×1 ribbing, you'll need to substitute a yarn-over with a double yarn-over. The notation for that can be yo2 or yo 2 or even (yo)×2. Whatever way it is written, it means wrap the yarn not once but twice around the needle. Alternatively, you can just wrap very loosely if you prefer to wrap only once. When you come to the yarn-over hole on the next row or round, you'll need to create two stitches from it rather than one. Since the base fabric for reversible lace is 1×1 ribbing, work knit 1, purl 1 into the yarn-over hole. Interestingly, it is knit 1, purl 1 whether you are working back and forth or in the round. If you have a lace pattern that uses dramatic increases, such as k1-y...

I started off 2016 with a post about double-knit lace . If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know one of my interests is reversibility, hence my obsession with double-knitting. But what if you don't want to double-knit? There are some patterns that are inherently reversible, such as garter stitch, seed stitch, balanced ribbing, or lace faggoting. What if you wanted to move beyond that narrow category? Lily Chin showed we can work reversible cables by simply cabling 1×1 or 2×2 ribbing. What if you did the same thing with lace? What would happen if you worked a lace pattern over 1×1 ribbing? And how would you do it? It turns out that stockinette-based knit lace is surprisingly easy to convert to reversible lace. This works on the same principle as ribbles — 1×1 ribbing draws in and resembles stockinette on both sides of the fabric. This also has the same caveat as ribbles —purl stitches are not easily accommodated. Patterns where all the right side rows include onl...