knitting Archives - Page 9 of 19

tutorial – preventing gaps in slip-stitch patterning

In this new design, I’m using mosaic slip-stitch patterning in the border. The beauty of this type of colorwork is that it is worked with a single color in a single row. In other words: An RS and a WS row are worked in the main color (MC). After working these two rows, the MC is dropped, and an RS and a WS row are worked with the contrast color (CC) yarn while slipping the sts indicated.

However, I didn’t want to use the CC yarn in the garter stitch border of 3 stitches on each side of the shawl. This caused the gaps to happen that you can see at the bottom dot:

So, of course, I had to think of a way to prevent these! I settled on a “wrap & turn” like approach, similar to w&t as in working traditional short-rows. Read on for the step by step how-to!

Materials used

Yarn: The yellow yarn is Økologisk Hverdagsuld (“organic everyday wool”) by Camarose Dk. The brown is HverdagsUld by Tusindfryd. I got these at the lovely yarn store “By Bek” in Fåborg, Denmark when I was there on vacation.

Needles: * Addi Circular Needles, pictured here in the 4 mm (US 6) size, with 80 cm (32 inches) cable.

Preventing gaps on the right step by step

1. In this row, I’m about to start the RS row using the CC yarn. The CC yarn tail is located 3 stitches in from the edge of the work, at the WS of the fabric.

2. First, we have to reach that CC yarn tail. To do so, slip the 3 MC stitches purlwise as well as the stitch marker to the right-hand needle.

3. Next, bring the CC between the needles to the front of the work.

4. Slip the stitch marker and the first of the MC stitches back the left-hand needle.

5. Now move the CC yarn between the needles back again to the WS of the work.

6. Now slip the remaining MC edge stitch and the stitch marker back to the right-hand needle and continue with the instructions in the remainder of the row.

Preventing gaps on the left step by step

1. In this row, I’m nearing the end of the RS row using the CC yarn. Stop right before the 3 MC edge stitches, the CC yarn tail as at the back of the work at WS.

2. First, we slip both the stitch marker and the first of the MC edge stitches (purlwise!) to the right-hand needle.

3. Next, we bring the CC between the needles to the front of the work. (My apologies that this picture is a tad blurry! Didn’t notice until it was too late to redo).

4. Slip the stitch marker and the first of the MC edge stitches back the left-hand needle.

5. Now move the CC yarn between the needles back again to the WS (the back) of the work.

And now you’re ready to continue with the instructions for your pattern for the remainder of the row!

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 – fixing a dropped stitch

It can happen just like that: a dropped stitch in the middle of your work! When using a somewhat “sticky” yarn, it is usually a matter of putting the stitch back on the needle and continuing to knit. With a smooth yarn, however, it may be that the stitch ladders down in your work….

Do not panic, though! A dropped stitch really isn’t that hard to fix. Especially when the project is still on the needles and you’re not dealing with patterning and shaping. So, in this tutorial, I’ll show you how to fix a dropped stitch in the middle of a piece of stockinette knitting.

Materials used

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

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.

Fixing a dropped stitch step by step

1. First, grab your crochet hook and catch the fallen stitch before it ladders even further down!

2. Take a look at the last stitch that sits correctly in the fabric and the stitch directly below it: Here we have stockinette stitch. This means that we, therefore, insert the crochet hook through the stitch from the front to the back.

Catch the wayward stitch with your crochet hook.

3. Next, insert the crochet hook underneath the thread directly above the dropped stitch…

4. … and pull the thread through the loop already on the hook to make a new knit stitch.

5. Repeat steps 4 and 5 (for stockinette) until you have run out of threads to pull through.

6. Place the stitch back on the knitting needle and continue knitting as if nothing happened!

An that’s all there is to it! Really not that hard, right?

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tutorial – working the ptbl stitch

The purl through the back loop stitch (or ptbl for short) is a variation of the purl stitch. It creates a twisted stitch by slightly turning the stitch while you work it. I’ve used the ptbl in some of my patterns, for example in the Art Deco shawl pattern.

And while it isn’t a hard stitch to work, it can be a tad tricky if you’re not familiar with how to work into that back loop of a stitch. So, for that reason, it’s a good idea to get that straight. If you look at the picture below, you can see that the first stitch on the needle consists of a loop of yarn, straddling the needle. The “leg” facing is what we call the “front loop”. Likewise, the “leg” at the back of the work is the “back loop” one.

Materials used

Yarn: * Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 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 ptbl step by step

1. First, we have to make sure that the working yarn is at the front of the work since we’ll be working a purl stitch.

2. Next, insert the right-hand needle purlwise into the back leg or loop of the stitch. To do this, it is important to know the difference between knitwise and purlwise when talking about that back loop. To insert the needle knitwise you’d insert the needle away from the tip of the left-hand needle. In the same vein, to insert the needle purlwise you’d insert the needle towards the tip of the left-hand needle!

In the picture below the needles have become a bit twisted due to me holding everything with my left hand and the camera in the other. But if you take another look at the picture with the blue yarn above you can see exactly what I mean!

3. Now wrap the yarn around the needle…

4. … pull it through and slip the resulting stitch from the left-hand needle to complete your ptbl stitch.

And that’s all there is to it! Not that hard, right?

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tutorial – working a Left Twist

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 Left 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 Left 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 left. 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 behind first st and p second st without removing it from LN; ktbl first st and slip both off LN.

Now, I don’t know if you’ve tried this, but following the above instruction didn’t give me anything resembling the picture of the worked left twist. It may be due to where I had my yarn or the fact that I knit weird, who knows? Anyway, I did some more research and found that this type of traveling stitch is also used quite a lot in Bavarian knitting. I also found that there are quite some ways it can be worked. Take for example this one from leethalknits.com, the one described in this Interweave article or the elaborate description of methods by Rox over on Ravelry.

Personally, I found just changing the order of the stitches before actually knitting them (as one would do for cabling without a cable needle) to be easiest. So that’s what I will show you in this tutorial.

Materials used

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

Some words about the swatch

In this swatch, I’ve taken part of the stitch pattern in which I encountered the Left Twist stitch. It consists of a k3, p4 rib in which the left-most knit stitch travels across the purl stitches until it joins the next column of knit stitches. As you can see, I’ve already worked one RS row with a Left twist, as well as it’s accompanying WS row.

Working a Left 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 Left 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 left.

2. First I make sure to move the working yarn to the front of the work since the first stitch to work will be a purl stitch. Next, I grab the yarn directly below the 2 stitches to be switched and pinch down as pictured.

3. Next, I move these stitches off the left-hand needle. Keeping the fabric pinched, makes sure that the stitches won’t ladder down.

4. Then insert the left-hand needle knit wise into the loose stitch on the right to put it back on the needle. Make sure to keep pinching the fabric underneath the other stitch! Especially now we’re placing some stress on the yarn.

5. Now insert the left-hand needle knit wise into the remaining loose stitch and put it back on the needle. This can be somewhat fiddly.

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.

7. Next, wrap your yarn around the needle, pull it through and let the stitch slide of the needle to complete the purl stitch.

8. Next is to work the traveling stitch itself. To make it pop against the background and tighten it up a bit, this stitch is worked through the back loop. So, insert your right-hand needle knit wise into the first stitch from the tip of the left-hand needle.

9. Next, wrap your yarn around the needle, pull it through and let the stitch slide of the needle to complete the twisted knit stitch.

Then what?

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” itself is purled through the back loop. Below is how it looks after a couple of more rows have been worked. Please note this piece has not been blocked!

Of course, there is also a Right Twist tutorial, you can find that one here.

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monegros

Monegros is a simple yet stylish triangular shawl knit sideways on the bias, named after the Monegros Desert in northeastern Spain. The combination of garter stitch in a variegated hand-dyed yarn and simple lace in a solid/tonal yarn makes it a perfect choice to get the best of both worlds. Due to its shape and generous size, it’s perfect to wear as an elegant scarf.

The pattern contains both fully written out as well as charted instructions for the lace section.

Pay what you want: (minimum €6.50)

€

Difficulty level

Stitches used include knit, yo, k2tog, skp, kfb and a centered double decrease. This pattern is suitable for the intermediate knitter.

Sizes and finished measurements

Finished dimensions of the sample shawl: 195 cm (76 ¾ inches) along the upper edge and a depth of 66 cm (26 inches), measured after blocking.

The shawl can be made larger by adding more repeats of the garter stitch and/or by working more repeats in the lace section. This will, of course, increase the amount of yarn needed.

Pattern details

Gauge: 14.6 sts / 26 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) over garter stitch, measured after blocking. Gauge is, however, not critical in this design.
Pattern languages included: English, the Dutch version will be available soon. (Dit patroon omvat zowel een Nederlandse als een Engelse versie)
Digital PDF has 4 pages (letter size)

Materials

Yarn: C1 – 1 skein Sticks & Cups Sockstravagance (80% Merino, 20% Nylon; 400 m (437 yds) / 100 g) in “Santorini”, C2 – 1 ball Rauma Baby Panda (100% Merino; 175 m (191 yds) / 50 g) in 54 “Orange”. Substitute any variegated fingering weight yarn for C1 and any solid or tonal colored fingering weight yarn for C2 for a similar result.
Size 4 mm (US 6) / 80 cm (32 inches) circular needles.
Removable stitch marker to denote the RS of the shawl (optional)
Yarn needle

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ramalina

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.

Pay what you want: (minimum €6.50)

€

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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:

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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half fade hap

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)

€

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

Pretty neat type of increases, right?!

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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.

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.

3. Wrap your yarn around the needle…

4. ….and pull it through the stitch.

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.

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.

7. Wrap your yarn around the needle…

8. … and pull it through the stitch.

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

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.

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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