The Knitting Fiend

Let’s say you’ve finished the base triangle of entrelacs. You’ve turned and now … what?

Well, you’re going to need to make some fiddly little “fill in triangles”. I’ll show how I do this for ribbed entrelac. If you aren’t doing ribbing, your directions will differ, but most of the steps will be qualitatively similar. Let’s start/

The base triangles are show to the left. Oh, don’t those look like base triangles? Well, they aren’t. My base triangles are in the darker blue. I do exactly the same thing after you finish a set of dark colored rectangles and I’m not going to rip back just to show base triangle.

So, first, look at your knitting. Notice I broke the dark blue yarn and it’s dangling on the left hand side. Now pick up the work, attach the yarn and we are going to do the following: Knit and purl into the first stitch. This increases a stitch and sets the “k1, p1″ pattern. (If we weren’t knitting rib, we’d either p into front and back or knit into front and back. All entrelac patterns will require you to increase in the first stitch.)

Here’s the detail of how to knit and purl into one stitch. (If you look carefully, you’ll see I cheat and illustrate “knitting and purling into the same stitch” when I work the 5th row of the triangle. I’ll explain why later.)

Begin row 1:
First operation: Knit and purl into same stitch:

Step 1: attach yarn and knit normally but don’t slide the stitch off the left needle then bring yarn forward as to purl. You will have a stitch on the right needle– that’s the one you just created. The stitch you knit into is still on the left needle. It will appear as in the photo above and to the right.

Step 2: Insert the tip of the right needle into the stitch you just knit. Insert this “as to purl”. (Actually, you can insert anyway you want, but this is the easiest way.)

Step 3, wrap the yarn to purl, and pull through to work the purl. Now let that very first stitch drop off the left needle tip.

You know have 2 stitches on the right needle tip, see above right.

(Now, the reasons I showed this on row 5 and not row 1 is this: 1) When you work row 1, the loops will be sloppy. This is because you’ve just attached yarn. You can pull on these to tighten them. 2) Because I’d just attached the yarn, I couldn’t hold the camera, firm up the yarn, do the operation and take pictures all at once. )

Finish row 1: Work an “ssk” as follows: Slip purl-wise, slip purlwise, place both stitches back on left needle, so the work appears as shown to the right. Now wrap the yarn knit.

The purpose of the “slips” is to reseat the stitches. If you examine the work you’ll notice the decrease “leans left” and the stitch on the right hides the stitch on the left. Also, if you compare your first SSK to t he picture, you’ll notice you will working two dark blue stitches together when working row 1. You’ll work a light blue stitch with a dark blue stitch on all later rows. Over time, you’ll notice this forms a ray of blue stitches crawling up along the dark blue. Forming that “ray” is the purpose of working the “ssk” instead of some other decrease.

You have finished row 1. There are three stitches on the right hand needle tip. Turn the work. Now, p1, k1, p1. You’ll run out of stitches.

Row 3: Begin with a “kfb”, that is a “knit front and back”. The purpose is to increase a stitch and establish the “k1,p1″ pattern. Here’s an illustration:

First, knit into the first stitch normally, but don’t drop the stitch off the left needle tip; see above left. Then, insert the right tip into the stitch you already knit into, but insert through the back loop as illustrated above left. Now wrap as to knit and create a knit stitch. Now, drop that first needle off the left tip. You’ll have 2 stitches on the right needle, both are “knit” stitches.

(For clearer pictures and a fuller explanation of “kfb”, see Knit into Front and Back Loop. )

Continue row 3: Purl 1, SSK. The SSK will involve a light blue and a dark blue stitch.

You will now have 4 light blue stitches on the left needle tip. Turn the work.
Row 4: P1, k1, p1, p1.
Notice on row 4: You are working “k1 p1 rib”, except for the last stitch. What will happen on all future even number rows is this: Work k1, p1 rib, up to the last stitch, then purl it.

The purpose: you want to work rib. However, you *also* want that last stitch to sit nice and flat. That makes it easier to work the “kfb” or “knit and purl into same stitch” when you turn.

Ok, so now what:

Row 5: Knit and purl into same stitch, k1, p1, ssk.
Row 6: P1, k1, p1,k1, p1.

Row 7: Kfb, p1, k1, p1, ssk.
Row 8: P1, k1, p1, k1, p1, p1.

Notice the pattern is established. Begin row 5, 9, 13 etc with “k and p into same stitch”. Begin row “3, 7, 11 etc. with “kfb”. Always SSK when you reach the dark blue stitches. Always end with a purl.

Eventually you will run out of dark blue stitches, and the work will look as shown to the left. Then you’ll be ready to pick up — very much like I showed earlier! (I’ll answer some of the questions people had about the pick up method tomorrow. There are many ways to pick up, so many of the answers are “That way is right too.”)