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?

Examine the detail of the stitch pattern shown to the right. Notice I numbered the rows — and I did so twice. You’ll see a column of numbers near the center and one near the left edge of the photo.

Rows 1 & 2 were worked with white yarn. Examine the column of numbers in the center; notice row 1 is at the bottom, followed by row 2. Rows 3 and 4 were worked with blue yarn; notice the blue rows 3 & 4 just above 1 and 2; those were knit carrying only blue yarn.

Now, remember when working row 3 and 4, I worked 2 stitches, then slipped two stitches? That’s why you see groups of two blue stitches separated by two white stitches which one might think were created while knitting the same row. They aren’t; the white stitches were created while working row 2. If you look carefully you’ll see the white stitches looked “stretched” compared to all the blue stitches; you’ll also see these white stitches appear 2 stitches tall.

Now if you think too much (and I tend to) you will wonder: “Why doesn’t the stitch worked on row 2 then slipped twice look 3 stitches tall?” The answer is “Distortion”. If you look at the column of numbers on the left side of the photo, you’ll see that this stitch knit while working row 1 is “above” the row 1 stitch further to the right.

Pretty cool, huh? I’ll let you analyze what’s happening in rows 5-8 to you!

So much for “why it looks that way”. Now, I’ll explain “sl 2 wyif” (i.e. slip 2 with yarn in front) and “sl 2 wyib” (i.e. slip 2 with yarn in back.)

Here’s the easy part: “sl” means slip a stitch. Ok, but that’s not telling you enough. I bet you noticed that when knitting, you insert the tip one way; when purling you insert it a different way? Which do you do? Turns out there are two conventions:
Convention 1: “Always slip stitches purlwise unless told otherwise.”
Convention 2: “Always slip stitches purlwise except when decreasing or told otherwise.

I call the second convention “the evil, nasty convention” and try to remember to use the first one when I write instructions. For this particular example, it doesn’t matter which convention you follow. You clearly aren’t decreasing, so you slip purlwise. To do this, pretend you are going to purl, insert the needle tip, but don’t purl — just slide the stitch over. )

Ok… but what’s with wyif and wyib?

Here goes: “Sl 2 wyif” means “slip 2 with yarn in front”. For the record, “in front” always means the side of the knitting currently facing you.

The instruction “sl 2 wyif” appears in row 4 of this pattern, where you will need to do this: a) notice the yarn is currently in the front of the work — because you just just finished a purl stitch, b) leave the yarn in the front of the work, c) slip 2 stitches purlwise and d) when you are done, notice instruction is to purl — the yarn is already in front– right where it belongs; leave the yarn in front. Purl as required to complete the next instruction.

(By the way, doesn’t this seem like what you’d have done if the pattern had simply said “Sl 2″? Some pattern writers would have edited this down to “Sl 2″ and assumed you know to leave the yarn where you had it. Unfortunately, other knitters think “Sl 2″ with no additional instruction always means sl 2 with yarn in back! So, kind pattern writers will be specific. )

Next: “Sl 2, wyib” means “slip 2 with yarn in back”. When working row 3 of this stitch pattern, this means you: a) notice the yarn is back — because you just finished a knit stitch, b) leave it in back, c) slip 2 stitches purlwise, d) notice yarn is in back– right where you need it to work the next stitch which is a knit; leave the yarn in back. Work the next instruction which is a knit stitch.

Ok, so what’s the point of explaining these two techniques in 4 steps? The point is that steps “a” and “c” require you to notice where the yarn is before you begin slipping. Then, if necessary, the first step of “b” or “d” is to move the yarn where it belongs so you can do the next step.

So, for example, if you’d just worked a knit stitch and the pattern said “sl 2 wyif”, step (a) would be “notice the yarn is in back”. So step (b) would begin with “bring the yarn forward² — passing under the needle tips — just as you bring it forward when getting ready to purl”. Then you could “slip with yarn in front”!

The key is: “slip wyif” and “slip wyib” describe where the yarn is while slipping. You need to put the yarn in the correct position, and only when necessary, passing the strand under the needle tips the way you do when working ribbing.

So, there you have it. An easy and fairly pretty stitch pattern, an explanation of when to slip purlwise, and explanation of wyif and wyib, and a promise to explain “yf” and “yb” a bit more!

1. This pattern, and others using the same technique can be found in Barbara Walker’s First Treasury of Knitting.

2. Notice, I said “yarn forward”? I was motivated to illustrate this stitch to write a complete discussion of the most diabolical term in knitting: “yf” (aka yarn forward). I plan to discuss “yb” (aka yarn back). Yep. I will!

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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.

Filed in “How To Knit”.

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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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I usually do things differently when I work a pattern with cable crossing involving more than two stitches, and traveling in a variety of directions. In many repetitive patterns, most of the cable crossing happen on the same row. In that case, I usually use a cable needle. But, for the sweater I’m concocting for Jim, the crossings are on so many different rows, and I got sick of using the cable needle! So, I swallowed hard and began to work most crossings without the cable needle. (I still use the cable needle for a few key crossings.)

Here’s an example of how I am crossing the stitches to work cables on this sweater. Some cables involve crossing knits over purls; some involve crossing knits over knits. Sometimes the right stitches cross in front the left stitches, these are often called front cross cables. I may cross the right stitches behind the left stitches; these are called back cross cables.

To illustrate the technique, I will work a back cross involving a purl and two knit stitches. You can adapt this to any type of crossing you like by dropping the correct stitches in step 2 and crossing the appropriate stitches in step 3.

1. Work across until you arrive at the stitches you want to cross. The three stitches to cross are shown on the left needle tip in the photo above left; the goal is to cross the two knit stitches in front of the purl stitch next to the tip.
2. First, make sure the work is not stretched tightly and stitches aren’t being pulled. Carefully drop the three stitches off the left needle tip. When some of the stitches are purls, they will generally automatically lean to the back; the knits will lean to the front. This is convenient, since you almost always cross knits in front of purls. See figure above right.
3. Insert left tip into purl stitch to the right and right tip into 2 knit stitches toward left making sure knit stitches lie in front of purl stitch. (See below left and right.)
   The order you insert the tips this doesn’t matter, but you need to be sure to cross the stitches as required for your particular cable crossing. In this example, I am crossing the knits in front of the purl, and that’s how I have them crossed on the needle tips.
4. Slip the two unworked knit stitches back to the left needle tip. The stitches are now crossed and in position to work off the left needle; see below left. You can now work them off as specified in the directions for your particular stitch pattern.
   For this particular cable crossing, I need to knit the two knit stitches, purl the purl stitch; so I did. (See below right.)

By the way, sometimes, the cable crosses don’t look terrific when I first finish them. One stitch in the row just knitted off may be loose relative to the others. I find that’s easy to fix by inserting a sock needle into the tight stitch and taking up the slack. I also periodically stretch the knitting laterally and vertically to even out the stitches. Works like a charm.

I find working the cables this way time saving. That said, I have some advice. First, practice on a swatch. Second, do keep the work scrunched up a bit when crossing. Stitches will unravel if you pull the knitting laterally. Last, but not least, keep a crochet hook handy, just in case you do drop a stitch.

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Of course, she’s right. That means I need to explore the whole buttonhole issue.

I’ve made buttonholes before. But, I’m dissatisfied with the three row buttonholes in Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Without Tears.

So, I kept looking, found instructions for one row buttonholes buried in Barbara Walkers “Second Treasury of Knitting” .
and thought I’d give them a try. I decided to test them in seed stitch, garter stitch and stockinette.

I cast on in yellow, and worked the buttonholes on a right side row . That’s kinda-sort-ok. The bind off rolls to the right side. If you look closely at the lower buttonhole in the stockinette portion of the swatch, you just might be able to see the “lip” formed my the chain stitches of that bind off. It’s not tremendously noticable, but a knitter would notice it.

I changed to white yarn, knit a few rows and and worked the button holes from the wrong side. This looks better. The bind off rolls to the wrong side, and the button holes edges look good from the side of the garment people will see. I’d be much happier about my work that way.

So, work these on wrong side row. Ok?

Here are my instructions are for working the 4 stitch wide buttonholes. I expanded a bit from Walker’s discussion, and I took photos. You can easily adapt the buttonholes by increasing or decreasing the number of stitches bound off in step 3 and cast on in step 5.

1. Work in pattern stitch up to first stitch of buttonhole.
2. If yarn is not in front, bring it to front. Slip next stitch from left needle to right. Bring yarn to back, and drop it there; Notice the yarn wrapped around the slipped stitch in the picture to the top right.
3. **Slip a stitch from the left needle to the right needle. Insert left tip into the second stitch on the right hand needle and pass it over the first stitch. (This binds off a stitch.) ** Repeat until you have bound off 4 stitches. There will be a big gap where you bound off the stitches as illustrated in the photo to the right and second from the top.
4. Slip the last bound off stitch from the right needle to the left needle. Turn work.
5. Pick up the hanging yarn, which is now in the front. Pass it between the needles to the back. Cast on 5 stitches using cable cast on as follows: **Insert tip of right needle bewteen the first two stitches on the left needle, as illustrated directly to the right; yarn over and knit a stitch. Slip stitch just created onto left needle. **
6. Slip final cast on stitch back onto right needle. Bring yarn forward between tips; slip stitch on right needle back to left needle. Turn work.
7. Slip first stitch on left hand needle onto right hand needle. Insert left tip into the extra cast on stitch on right needle, as illustrated bottom right. Pass the stitch over to bind off. This seals the final edge preventing a gap. Slip stitch on right tip back to the left needle. Buttonhole finished!
8. Work in pattern to the end of the row.

I worked a whole bunch. Now I’m a pro, right?

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