The Weekly Swatch: Bubble Knit Stitch Tutorial

 

After some time away from the blog, it's time for another not so weekly, weekly swatch. 

Today, I have prepared the bubble knit stitch. The texture of this simple stitch is achieved by slipping stitches with yarn held in the front of the knitting (wyif) and at the back (wyib). The stitch requires a multiple of 8 plus 4 stitches and is knitted over 16 rows. 

The Weekly Swatch: Irish Moss Diamond Knit Stitch

For today's weekly swatch, I have prepared a simple textured knit stitch, which just requires knit and purl stitches. 

The stitch incorporates Irish Moss stitch diamonds, which are framed by a background of stocking stitch. The stitch motif is knitted over 16 rows on a multiple of 14 plus 8 stitches. 

The Weekly Swatch: Bud Lace Knit Stitch Pattern / Knit Stitch Tutorial

After a series of more involved knit stitch motifs over the past few weekly swatches, this week I have prepared a very simple lace knit stitch, the Bud Knit Stitch. On the right side, the stitch pattern produces what appear to be staggered columns of bud- or droplet-shaped motifs. 

This stitch is knitted over twelve rows on a background of reverse stockinette stitch and the texture on the wrong side has a nice look and feel, too - making this a good candidate for a reversible stitch motif.  

The Weekly Swatch: Lattice Cable Knit Stitch Pattern / Knit Stitch Tutorial

It's been absolute ages since I last worked on a cable knit project and only one of my weekly swatch posts features a cable knit stitch. High time to address this absence of cable knitting and so I have decided to prepare a cable knit swatch for this week's weekly swatch post. 

I have chosen the Lattice Cable Knit Stitch, a classic and simple cable knit stitch, which is knitted over 10 rows (once the set up is done, 7 rows) on a multiple of 6 stitches.

The Weekly Swatch: Hourglass Eyelets

 

This week's swatch is the hourglass eyelet knitstitch, and whilst preparing my swatch sample, the stitch reminded me indeed of ladies' hips. 

It's a simple stitch pattern and the texture of the stitch motif is achieved through a combination of knit and purl stitches as well as standard in- and decreases. The stitch is worked over 8 rows on a multiple of 6 plus 1 stitches. 

The Weekly Swatch: Little Laurel Knit Stitch

 

Little Laurel / Coin Knit Stitch

The Little Laurel Knit Stitch is another super simple knit stitch. The appearance of little laurel wreaths is achieved through a combination of knit and purl stitches only. The pattern is worked over 8 rows and the sample in the images is worked on a multiple of 4 plus two stitches. 

The Weekly Swatch: Clove Knit Stitch

The Weekly Swatch: Trinity Knit Stitch

 

Trinity Knit Stitch

The Weekly Swatch: Snowball Knit Stitch

 

Snowball Knit Stitch

The Weekly Swatch: Knotted Box Knit Stitch

Knotted Boxes Textured Knit Stitch

The Weekly Swatch: Pucker Cable Knit Stitch

This week I have prepared swatches showcasing the Pucker Cable Stitch. Despite its name, to knit the pattern you will not require a cable needle. The delicate texture is achieved through simple in- and decreases, the remainder of the stitches are either knitted or purled. 

This uncomplicated stitch works well with all types of yarns, even fuzzier, fingering-weight Mohair blends, as can be seen in the pictures below. 

Pucker Cable Stitch

The Weekly Swatch: Bramble Knit Stitch

Bramble Knit in DK and Sock Yarn

Requiring a multiple of 4 plus 2 stitches, the Bramble Knit Stitch can be easily memorised and, once you have gotten to grips with knitting and purling repeatedly into the same stitch, there is nothing scary about this stitch sequence.

The Bramble Stitch is a little less 'bobbly' than the Gooseberry Stitch and ideally suited for garments with a dense texture. The pictures show swatch samples in both sock (Araucania Botany Lace) and DK yarn (Wendy Merino Double Knitting), highlighting the different effects you can achieve depending on the choice of yarn.

The Weekly Swatch: The Honeycomb Stitch

Honeycomb Knit Stitch

The Honeycomb Knit Stitch as featured above is an uncomplicated stitch motif (no purling, just knitting!), resulting in a dense, yet flexible, texture, which is ideal for a wide variety of wintery garments and accessories. These tend to be designed to retain heat, whilst remaining breathable; and the Honeycomb Stitch fulfils these design requirements perfectly. 

Honeycomb Knit Stitch Sample

Cartridge Rib Stitch in the Round + Cat = Cat Leg Warmer

Cartridge Rib Stitch in the Round + Cat = Cat Leg Warmer

The blog seems to have received a number of search queries for instructions to the cartridge rib stitch motif knitted in the round. This is potentially the result of an earlier entry, in which I posted the stitch sequence for the basic cartridge rib stitch. This is available here.

Catridge Rib Stitch Sample in the Round

The Weekly Swatch: The Basket Weave Knit Stitch

The Basket Weave Stitch sequence is an uncomplicated stitch motif, imitating the texture of woven baskets as the name implies. Many stitch combinations, which will produce a similar texture, exist. To achieve the below sample a multiple of 10 plus 3 stitches are required. These are either knitted or purled. The Basket Weave Stitch is extremely beginner-friendly and an organic stitch motif for knitted bags, cases or pillow and cushion covers.

The Weekly Swatch: The Star Stitch

Star Lace Knit Stitch

The Star Stitch is a simple lace stitch. All of the in- and decreases are worked on the wrong side, i.e. the purl-side. The right side rows are knitted throughout. 

This stitch motif produces a meshy texture, making it an ideal stitch for summer garments and accessories. 

Star Stitch Swatch Sample with Araucania Botany Lace Sock Yarn

The Weekly Swatch: Fisherman's Rib Stitch

Fisherman's Rib is one my all-time favourite stitches. Primarily used for thick and stretchy garments, the motif can either be achieved by picking up yarn and wrapping it round the needle followed by decreasing; or by knitting into the stitch directly below the knit stitch and purling the following stitch. For the sample below, I used the latter method.

Fisherman's Rib Knit Stitch

The Weekly Swatch, Part 4 - The Drop Stitch

Drop Stitch 

I'm currently swatching for new projects and seem to have developed a preference for the drop stitch motif. The drop stitch effect is achieved by working a succession of multiple yarn overs into the knitting. On the following row the yarn overs are simply pushed (or "dropped") off the needle, creating a rather loose fabric, which is ideal for scarves and other flowing garments.

For the sample below I used Stylecraft Kon - Tiki - a blend of 50% cotton and 50% acrylic. Kon - Tiki has a very soft feel to it and I enjoyed knitting with the yarn. That's why I was surprised to see that it has primarily been used for knitted dishcloths on Ravelry. Let's see whether I can put the balance right and find a slightly more appealing project for my stash of  Kon - Tiki.

For all knit stitch patterns and weekly swatch posts, please follow this link to my knit stitch library.

Drop Stitch Swatch (Yarn: Stylecraft Kon - Tiki)

The Weekly Swatch, Part 1 - Cartridge Rib Stitch

I have been toying with the idea of creating a swatch / stitch library on the blog for quite some time, but never gotten round to actually doing something about it. As I have more time on my hands at the moment, it appears a good time to get started and commit. I can't guarantee that this will become a weekly thing, but the good intentions are there. (She says.......)

For various reasons, I am currently into simple stich motifs. When designing my own knitted objects, I found that simplicity is a good starting point. From a practical viewpoint, simple motifs make it easy to knit whilst doing something else.

Cartridge Rib Stitch