The Knitting Fiend

Today, I’m going to give you direction to knit “Two-Stitch Check”, a simple slip stitch pattern shown to the left.

Two-Stitch Check is a very simple two color pattern, that can be knit by any one who has mastered stockinette. Some knitters examining the pattern might think the knitter needs to carry two yarns while knitting a row: they don’t. The knitter carries only one strand at a time; the interlacing of the colors is accomplished by slipping.

Here are the directions for the stitch pattern knit back and forth. (My swatch has two extra stitches on each side; these are knit in garter stitch. My directions omit these stitches.)

Two-Stitch Check¹:
Note: If you want a nice flexible fabric, use larger needles than you would for stockinet.

Begin: Cast on a multiple of 4 stitches.

• Row 1: White: Knit.
• Row 2: White: Purl.
• Row 3: Blue: K3, *Sl 2 wyib, k2; repeat from *, end k1. (Slip all stitches purl-wise.)
• Row 4: Blue: P3, *sl 2 wyif, p2; repeat from *, end p1.
• Rows 5 & 6: White: Repeat rows 1 and 2.
• Row 7: Blue: k1, *Sl 2 wyib, k2; repeat from *, end sl2, k2.
• Row 8: Blue: p1, *Sl 2 wyif, p2; repeat from *, end sl2, p2.

I bet beginner want to ask at least two questions: 1) What the heck do “sl 2 wyif” and “sl 2 wyib” mean? and 2) If you only use one color in each row, why does the stitch pattern look like two colors were used when knitting some of the rows?

The answers are related! I’m going to (mostly) address the second question first: Why does it look like you need to carry two colors in some of the rows? (more…)

Often, knitters ask how to bind off the final two stitches when knitting in the round. Evidently, these knitters are doing “something”, which they don’t describe, but which, they think, results in a visible jog.

I’ll show you, then you can decide if it’s acceptable for you.

As I previously described when I bind off rib, I knit the first two stitches “as they present themselves”^1. Eventually, I have two stitches on the right needle tip and none on the left tip. (See below left.)

I insert my left needle tip into the second stitch from the right on the right tip and lift it over edge stitch on the right tip. Since these are the last stitches, I break the yarn leaving a long tail, then I pull the stitch on the right tip. (See above right.) I keep pulling until the tail pulls through both stitches; this anchors the stitches.

Now, if you think about this, I’ve just unknit that very last stitch I worked! That turns out to be a good thing because levels out the height of the first and last stitches in the round.

Often, when I look carefully, I notice the stitch below the last stitch in the round is loose. So, I insert my needle tip into the first stitch I bound off and pull gently to adjust the tension. (See below left.)

Next, I thread a tapestry needle with the yarn end and embroider a chain to close the little gap. See above right. Then I tighten to make it look like all the other chains.

To the left you can see how this looks when I finish. As far as I can tell there is no height jog.

But, as you know, I am a knitter who has been known to knit and crochet using fun fur, so it may be that I’m just not picky.

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End notes:
1. That is, if it looks like a knit, I knit it. If it looks like a purl, I purl it. So, I’m working stitches in rib. To read more details click: binding off in rib.

Filed in “How To Knit”.

I think ordinary ribbing looks a bit boring on a heavily cabled Aran sweater, so I decided to work the ribbing so the knit stitches are twisted on the outside. I did this by “knitting through the back loop”, which is one way to twist knit stitches. Because I was sort of lazy, I purled normally, so the back side is not twisted.
If you compare the two photos above, I think you can see the difference.

Knitting 1 x 1 ribbing went quickly. I was even able to concentrate on the plot of “Lost” while knitting. (That’s a change compared to working all the fancy cables.) I found myself binding off toward the end of the evening.

But, for the benefit of the beginning knitters who read my blog (and those who get here by typing “how to bind off ribbing” into Google, I saved the last bit of binding off and took photos. (Showing this also has the benefit of showing how I worked a “knit through the back loop”– that is how to work a “ktbl”.)

When binding off in ribbing, work the stitches “as they present themselves”. That is, if the stitch I am about to knit looks like a knit stitch, I knit just as I would if I were knitting a row of ribbing without binding off. Above, left, you can see I am inserting the tip of my right needle into the knit stitch on the left tip. If you examine carefully, you can see I placed the tip of the right hand needle to the right side of the right leg of the stitch. Then, I slid it in through the hole. This is called “knitting through the back loop” and abbreviated “ktbl”.

Notice, the stitch I am about to knit is twisted!

I then wrap over and knit the stitch. If you examine this stitch, it will be twisted. That’s what I want when I knit twisted rib!

After knitting this stitch, I have two stitches on the right tip. I insert the left tip into the right most stitch, see above right. Then I pull the right hand stitch over the other stitch, and drop it. There is now 1 stitch on the right tip.

Because I’m knitting 1 x 1 ribbing, the next stitch is a purl stitch. I bring the yarn back as to purl, and insert the needle to purl. As I mentioned, I was lazy and just purled these the normal way; that means I’m going to “purl through the front loop”. No one ever says that, since purling through the front loop is the normal way; you can see how the right tip goes through the stitch on the left tip above and to the left.

Once again I have two stitches on the right tip. So, I insert the left tip into the right hand stitch on the right needle, (see above right), lift it over and drop it.

I should mention, when beginning, you need to knit two stitches before binding off. After all, you need two stitches on the right tip before you can bind off. When you finish, you’ll have one stitch on the tip; I just break and pull the yarn through.

Lot’s of people posts questions about how to make the final bind off look good when knitting circular. I may show how I do that more detail sometime later; then you can decide if you like my method. But, I need to wait until I knit the collar, or cuffs, because I forgot to take pictures!

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This is filed with stitch patterns and Aran Knitting.