knitting Archives - Page 8 of 19

tutorial – working the knit 1 below (k1b) stitch

There are cases in which skipping the row on your needle for particular stitches is desired, and one is to knit or purl in the row below that one. In other words: you knit/purl into the stitch below where you normally would, exactly as the name suggests. Think, for example, of Fisherman’s Rib. In a previous tutorial I already showed you how to work the purl 1 below stitch, so now it’s the turn of the knit 1 below! The main challenge in working this stitch is recognizing the stitch to insert your needle in. So that’s what I’ll be showing you in this tutorial on how to work the knit 1 below or k1b stitch.

Materials used

Yarn: * Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the colors 155 Vintage Pink and 125 Spearmint 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 knit 1 below or k1b step by step

In patterns, you may encounter the following description of this stitch:
Knit 1 below (k1b): Knit into the stitch 1 row below the one on the needle by inserting the needle from front to back. Knit this stitch, then pull the worked stitch and the stitch above off the needle together.
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 stitch
In this case I’m making the k1b4 stitches in from the right edge.
Identify the correct loop to insert your needle in.
Normally, you’d insert the right-hand needle in the loop that’s on the left-hand needle. If we go down a row, you see the stitch we want (pointed out by the extra needle), hugging the loop that’s on the needle.
Now, insert the right-hand needle knit wise in the stitch we’ve identified.
You can see it more easily if you pull down the fabric a bit with your fingers.
Now wrap your working yarn around the needle…
…. and pull it through the stitch.
See that you’re actually pulling it through 2 stitches at once? That is, the one on the needle and the one directly below it.
Finish the stitch by slipping the top stitch off the left-hand needle without actually working it.
Because the fabric is secured by knitting into the stitch below it, the stitch won’t run down unraveling.

And that’s all there is to it!

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 – preventing a tight edge when knitting stripes

When knitting stripes, especially the thinner ones, it often doesn’t make sense to break the yarn when switching to a different color. It mostly gives you a ton of ends to weave in later on. And personally, I’m just not a fan of extra and unnecessary work. That said, carrying the unused yarn along the side of the fabric has its own disadvantages.

For one, you have to remember to actually wrap the yarn you’re working with around the yarn you’re carrying along, before you go on knitting. Without securing the yarn to the side of the project and moving it up to where you’ll need it next, you’ll have a loose hanging strand on the edge of your work. And if you do remember to wrap the carried-along yarn, you may do it with a different tension than in the knitted fabric. This one is especially hard to judge, because both stitch pattern and yarn composition have a big influence on the tension of knitted fabric after blocking. This may very well result in a too tight or too loose tension at the edge, where it initially seemed to be just right.

In this post I’ll show you how I prevent these issues when carrying along the unused yarn at the side of the work.

Materials used

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

Preventing a tight edge when knitting stripes step by step

In this example I’m knitting thin 2-row stripes, but it would work just as well with deeper/wider stripes.

Work to 1 stitch before the end of the row, at which point you’ll be switching to the other color yarn.
This particular technique does assume that the new color of yarn is started and ended at the same side edge of the fabric. This means working an even number of rows in every stripe.
Next, insert your needle into the stitch to work it and wrap both color yarns around the needle.
In this case, the edge is worked in garter stitch, so we’re talking about a knit stitch here. But it can, of course, just as easily be done in a purl stitch.
Now pull both strands of yarn through the stitch on the left-hand needle…
… and slide the original stitch of the needle to complete the stitch.
Now, turn the work and get ready to start the new row in the new color.
To do so, insert your needle into both strands and work it as one using the new color yarn. What you’re basically doing is carrying along the unused yarn by knitting it into the last stitch of the row. This way the unused yarn is incorporated into the main fabric and will behave similarly upon blocking. In other words: no tension differences!
This is how the resulting edge looks.
Yes, the edge will be slightly bulkier than its non-doubled counterpart at the other side edge. But usually it’s not very noticeable.

Overall look

You may wonder how this looks on both the right and wrong side of the fabric. This is how:

Preventing a tight edge when knitting stripes: result on the RS

Preventing a tight edge when knitting stripes: result on the WS

And that’s how to go about preventing a tight edge when knitting stripes!

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worsted delft blue

Due to popular request here’s the worsted weight version of my bulky weight Delft Blue cowl design. My lovely tester Yayalovestoknit made the version pictured (in size S). Isn’t it pretty in these colors?! A wonderful way for stash busting odds and ends. Of course, I also included larger sizes in the pattern for those who prefer a longer loop.

The Worsted Delft Blue cowl is knit seamless in the round, with simple color work in the corrugated ribbing.

Pay what you want: (minimum €5.50)

€

Difficulty level

The Worsted Delft Blue cowl is seamless and knit in the round with simple color work patterning. Stitches used are knit and purl. This pattern is suitable for the advanced beginner to intermediate knitter.

Sizes and finished measurements

Sizes S (M, L, XL): With a circumference of 60 (74, 88, 102) cm (24 (29, 35, 40) inches), and 21.5 cm (8½ inches) high.

To further adjust the sizing, cast-on any number of stitches in a multiple of 4 and/or work a different number of repeats of the body pattern. This will, of course, change the amount of yarn needed.

Pattern details

Worsted Delft Blue is written for a gauge of 20 sts / 24 rounds = 10 cm (4 inches) over color work pattern after washing and gentle blocking.
Pattern language included: English.
Digital PDF has 3 pages (letter size).

Yarn

Premier yarns Everyday Worsted Solids, Marls & Heathers [100% acrylic; 160 m (181 yds) / 100 g] in the following colors and amounts:

C1: 107 (132, 157, 182) m (117 (144, 172, 199) yds) / 65 (80, 95, 111) g in Black
C2: 25 (31, 37, 43) m (27 (34, 40, 47) yds / 15 (19, 22, 26) g in Aubergine
C3: 25 (31, 37, 43) m (27 (34, 40, 47) yds / 15 (19, 22, 26) g in Grenadine
C4: 25 (31, 37, 43) m (27 (34, 40, 47) yds / 15 (19, 22, 26) g in Peacock

Substitute any worsted weight yarns of similar weight and in sufficient contrast to each other for a similar result.

Materials

Circular needles in the following sizes (or to match gauge): Size 4 mm (US 6) and size 4.5 mm (US 7). For sizes S and M, a cable length of 60 cm (24 inches) is advised. However, for the larger two sizes a length of 80 cm (32 inches) may be more appropriate.
Yarn needle.
1 end-of-round stitch marker.

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delft blue

If you’re in need of a fast extra-bulky weight cowl project, look no further! The design for the Delft Blue cowl came into being because my daughter bikes to school every day. It can get cold in the 45 minutes she needs for that. So, I made her this nice and snug-fitting cowl (size S). It’s tall enough to keep her neck warm, even if she pulls it up over her nose. Of course, I also included larger sizes for those who prefer a longer loop.

Extra bulky-weight knitting not quite your thing? There is also a worsted weight version of this design!

The Delft Blue cowl is knit seamless and in the round, with simple color work in the corrugated ribbing.

Pay what you want: (minimum €5.50)

€

Difficulty level

The Delft Blue cowl is seamless and knit in the round with simple color work patterning. Stitches used are knit and purl. This pattern is suitable for the advanced beginner to intermediate knitter.

Sizes and finished measurements

Sizes S (M, L, XL): With a circumference of 60 (74, 88, 102) cm (24 (29, 35, 40) inches), and 34 cm (13 inches) high.

To further adjust the sizing, cast-on any number of stitches in a multiple of 4 and/or work a different number of repeats of the body pattern. This will, of course, change the amount of yarn needed.

Pattern details

Delft Blue is written for a gauge of 11.3 sts / 14.5 rounds = 10 cm (4 inches) over color work pattern after washing and gentle blocking.
Pattern language included: English.
Digital PDF has 3 pages (letter size).

Yarn

Debbie Bliss Merion [50% wool, 50% acrylic; 100 m (109 yds) / 100 g] in the following colors and amounts:

C1: 80 (99, 118, 136) m (88 (108, 129, 149) yds) / 80 (99, 118, 136) g in 10 Admiral
C2: 80 (99, 118, 136) m (88 (108, 129, 149) yds) / 80 (99, 118, 136) g in 09 Sky Blue

Substitute any single-ply type bulky weight yarns of similar weight and in sufficient contrast to each other for a similar result.

Materials

Circular needles in the following sizes (or to match gauge): Size 7 mm (US 10.75) and size 8 mm (US 11). For sizes S and M, a cable length of 60 cm (24 inches) is advised, for the larger two sizes a length of 80 cm (32 inches) may be more appropriate.
Yarn needle.
1 end-of-round stitch marker.

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tutorial – working a bobble from 3 rows below

Bobbles are a lovely way to add texture to a knitting project. I’ve used them myself to add interest to an otherwise rather plain stockinette shawl body in my Moerbei shawl. They’re also rather popular as an extra design element on cabled sweaters.

In the basis a bobble is nothing more than a single stitch that is increased to a collection of stitches (usually 3, 5, or 7 stitches), worked back and forth and then decreased back again to a single stitch. There are, however, many ways to go about this.

In this tutorial I’m focusing on a specific kind of bobble that is described in the Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible by Hitomi Shida. It’s worked in stockinette stitch on a background of reverse stockinette by working in a stitch 3 rows down. Read on for more details!

Materials used

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

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 bobble from 3 rows below step by step

1. First, work in your piece of knitting to the point where you want to make the bobble. Remember, this bobble is worked on a background of reverse stockinette, so the purl side is the right side of the work.

2. Next we have to insert the right-hand needle into the center of the stitch, 3 rows down from the next stitch on the needle. I’ve indicated it with the yarn needle.

3. Move the working yarn to the back of the work (we’re working the bobble itself in stockinette, not in reverse stockinette!) ….

4. … and insert the right-hand needle right through the stitch to the back of the work!

Working a bobble from 3 rows below step 4

5. Now wrap the yarn around the needle and pull up a loop through the fabric.

Working a bobble from 3 rows below step 5

6. Wrap the yarn around the needle to form a yarn over.

Working a bobble from 3 rows below step 6

7. Repeat steps 4 and 5 once to make a 3 stitch bobble, or repeat steps 4 to 6 followed by steps 4 and 5 once again for a 5 stitch bobble. Pictured below is how it looks after working these steps for a 5 stitch bobble.

8. Next, drop the next stitch on the left-hand needle. It won’t ladder down below the bobble, because the stitch is secured by pulling the yarn through the fabric in the steps above.

9. Now work in pattern to the end of the row. You can see in the picture below, that I worked a 5 stitch bobble on the right and a 3 stitch bobble on the left.

Onwards to the next row

10. Turn the work and again work in pattern (knit) until you reach the bobble loops. Those we work in purl, because we’re looking at the wrong side of the work here.

11. This is how it looks after working this row. You can see the bobble stitches more easily now, because they are purled.

12. Again work in pattern to the bobble stitches. Now we have to decrease these 5 stitches back to 1 stitch. To do so, I have slipped the first 3 stitches together knit wise to the right-hand needle, worked a k2tog, and then passed the 3 slipped stitches over the result of the k2tog. This is the result of that decrease:

14. For the 3 stitch bobble I worked a sl2-k1-p2sso decrease. This is the result:

15. And this is how these bobbles look after 2 more rows in reverse stockinette have been worked. See how much fatter the 5 stitch bobble is when compared with the other one? You can, of course, work even fatter bobbles this way. Just repeat steps 4-6 twice or thrice instead of only once.

And this how to do it!

Found this tutorial useful? Tag me with @la_visch on Instagram or @lavischdesigns on Facebook if you’ve used it in a project!

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tutorial – the k3tog tbl left-leaning double decrease

In another post I’ve already showed you how to work the sl1-k2tog-psso left-leaning double decrease. In this tutorial I’ll show you another way to reduce 3 stitches down to 1 stitch in a left-leaning way: knit 3 together through the back loop, or k3tog tbl for short.

This decrease requires fewer steps than the sl1-k2tog-psso one, but it can be a tad fiddly to work. And while the result may look a tad different, in most patterns it really won’t matter that much which specific left-leaning double decrease you use. So, just try it out and use the one that works best for you.

Materials

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 k3tog tbl step by step

1. First, 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 double decrease over the 3 stitches in the middle of the swatch.

2. To start, insert the right-hand needle knit wise (from right to left) into the back loop of the next 3 stitches on the left-hand needle.

3. Wrap the yarn around the needle…

4. … and pull it through the 3 stitches.

5. To finish the k3tog tbl decrease, slide the original 3 stitches off the left-hand needle.

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

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mint chocolate

Mint Chocolate is a shallow triangular shawl knit sideways. There is just something about the combination of striped garter stitch and openwork that appeals to me: Lazy mindless knitting, together with patterning that requires a tad more attention. The perfect project for me!

The pattern contains both fully written out as well as charted instructions for the lace. The lace section is worked on both wrong and right side rows. However, increases and decreases are only worked every 4th row, making it quite suitable for new “true lace” knitters.

Pay what you want: (minimum €6.50)

€

Difficulty level

The lace in this pattern is worked on both RS and WS rows. The points in the pictured shawl are blocked that way. You can, however, block it straight instead of scalloped, if you prefer.
Stitches used include knit, purl, yo, kfb, k2tog and a centered double decrease.

This pattern is suitable for the intermediate knitter.

Sizes and finished measurements

Finished dimensions of the sample shawl: Span width of 186 cm (73 ¼ inches) along the upper edge and a max. depth of 91 cm (36 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 in the body of the shawl. This will, of course, change the amount of yarn needed.

Pattern details

Gauge: approx. 13.5 sts / 23 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) over garter stitch stripes, after blocking.
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: The Dutch Yarn Barn Double Dutch (100% Texel wool; 200 m (218 yds) / 50 g) in the following colors and amounts – MC: 400 m (437 yds) / 100 g in Linden Green, and CC: 200 m (218 yds) / 50 g in Madder/Indigo brown. Substitute wool fingering or sport weight yarn of comparable thickness, in solid or tonal colorways for a similar result.
Size 4 mm (US 6) / 80 cm (32 inches) circular needles
Yarn needle

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tutorial – sl1-k2tog-psso left-leaning double decrease

Working a sl1-k2tog-psso left-leaning double decrease

The double decrease as shown in this tutorial reduces 3 stitches down to 1 stitch in a left-leaning way. The sl1-k2tog-psso abbreviation is short for “slip 1 st, knit 2 stitches together, pass the slipped stitch over the knit-together stitches”. You may however also encounter SK2P as an abbreviation for this decrease.

As you may already expect, there are 3 main steps in working this double decrease: sl1, k2tog, and psso. Read on to see how it’s worked.

Materials

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 sl1-k2tog-psso step by step

2. To start, slip the next stitch knitwise from the left knitting needle to the right knitting needle. Unfortunately no picture for this step, I noticed too late that it was totally out of focus…

3. To work the next step, insert the right-hand needle knitwise into the front loop of the next 2 stitches on the left-hand needle.

4. Wrap the yarn around the needle…

5. … and pull it through the 2 stitches.

6. To finish the k2tog part of this decrease, slide the original 2 stitches off the left-hand needle.

7. Now for the third and last part of this decrease, insert the left-hand needle into the slipped stitch …

8. … and pull it over the k2tog and off the right-hand needle to complete the decrease.

And the last step of the sl1-k2tog-psso is done!

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

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faaborg

The Faaborg shawl (or Fåborg as written in Danish) is a delightfully whimsical shawl – a lovely layering piece with a lot of playful character and substance. This is certainly a shawl that will keep you warm and cozy in the most turbulent of autumn and winter weather.

Start the shawl with a garter stitch tab. The colorwork in the border is done using the slip-stitch mosaic technique, so you will be handling only one strand of yarn at all times. The border patterning is both charted and written out.

Pay what you want: (minimum €6.50)

€

Difficulty level

Knit the triangle-shaped Faaborg shawl from the top-down, starting with a garter tab cast-on. The edging uses the slip-stitch mosaic colorwork technique. Stitches used include knit, purl, m1bl, k2tog tbl, as well as slipping stitches.

This pattern is suitable for the intermediate to advanced knitter.

Sizes and finished measurements

One size – finished dimensions of the sample shawl: 193 cm (76 inches) along the upper edge and a depth of 84 cm (33 inches), measured after blocking.

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

Pattern details

Gauge: approx. 12.5 sts / 22 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) over stockinette, after blocking.
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: MC – 450 m (492 yds) / 150 g CaMaRose Økologisk Hverdagsuld (100% wool; 150 m (164 yds) / 50 g) in Mørk Okker 37. CC – 150 m (164 yds) / 50 g Tusindfryds Hverdagsuld (100% wool; 150 m (164 yds) / 50 g) in 47/39870 brown. Substitute any 2-ply 100% wool DK or sport weight yarn for a similar result.
Size 4 mm (US 6) / 80 cm (32 inches) circular needles
Size 4.5 mm (US 7) / 80 cm (32 inches) circular needles
Yarn needle
4 stitch markers

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tutorial – sl2-k1-p2sso centered double decrease

Working the sl2-k1-p2sso centered double decrease

A centered (or central) double decrease as shown in this tutorial, reduces 3 stitches down to 1 stitch in a symmetrical way. The sl2-k1-p2sso abbreviation is short for “slip two sts, k1 st, pass the 2 slipped sts over the knitted st”. You may however also encounter CDD or S2KP as abbreviations for this decrease.

It results in a strong vertical decrease line that doesn’t slant to either the left or the right. It’s a decrease that’s often used in lace patterns, and for example at the base of a v-neck opening in a sweater. A very useful decrease to have in your knitter’s toolkit!

Read on to see how it’s worked.

Materials

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 sl2-k1-p2sso step by step

2. To start, slip the next two stitches knitwise and together from the left knitting needle to the right knitting needle. Basically as if to knit those two stitches together.

3. The below picture shows how it looks after slipping these two stitches to the right-hand needle.

4. To knit the next stitch on the left-hand knitting needle, first, insert the right-hand needle knitwise into the front loop of the stitch.

5. Wrap the yarn around the needle…

6. … and pull it through the stitch.

7. To finish the knit stitch, slide the original stitch off the left-hand needle.

8. Now for the third and last part of this decrease, insert the left-hand needle into the two slipped stitches …

9. … and pull them over the single knitted stitch and off the right-hand needle to complete the decrease.

The below picture shows how it looks after 2 more decrease rows have been worked. Please note that the bottom half of the swatch pictured shows the kfb increases I showed you in a previous tutorial.

Result of the sl2-k1-p2sso centered double decrease

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