The Weekly Swatch: Spine Knit Stitch

 

If you love creating rich texture with simple knit and purl stitches, the Spine Knit Stitch should be a staple in your repertoire. 

The rich texture of this stitch is created by passing the needle behind and in front of the first stitch on the left-hand needle, knitting the second stitch before knitting the first stitch and letting both stitches slip off the needle after both stitches have been worked. The stitch requires a multiple of 2 stitches and all wrong side rows are purled throughout. 

The Weekly Swatch: Herringbone Eyelet Knit Stitch

 

Time for simple lace knitting. In this week's instalment of the weekly swatch, I have prepared samples of the Herringbone Eyelet Lace Knit Stitch

It's a relaxing lace knit stitch, which is knitted over twelve rows. All right side rows are purled and the lace motif is created over six rows with each lace row being repeated three times on the wrong side rows. 

Herringbone Eyelet Lace Knit Stitch

The Weekly Swatch: Faggot and Chevron Rib Knit Stitch

 

Another simple lace knit stitch motif to add to the collection, the Faggot and Chevron Rib Knit Stitch. The stitch requires a multiple of seven stitches and is knitted over two rows.

Faggot and Chevron Rib Knit Stitch

The Weekly Swatch: Right-Slanting Turkish Rib Knit Stitch

Some ten years ago, I featured the left-slanting Turkish Rib Stitch in a weekly swatch. Today, I am finally following up with the stitch pattern for the right-slanting Turkish Rib Stitch. 

The Turkish Rib Stitch creates a rich diagonal rib texture and, depending how stretched the fabric is, almost gives the impression of lace openwork. The stitch requires a multiple of two plus two stitches and is knitted over four rows, excluding the set-up row. 

Right-Slanting Turkish Rib Knit Stitch Pattern

Free Knitting Pattern: Cascade Lace Choker (One-Piece I-Cord Version)

- These are the pattern instructions for the one-piece i-cord version of the Cascade Choker. The pattern for the Cascade Choker with attached / grafted i-cords is available here. -  

I recently finished another Cascade Choker and rather than attaching i-cords to the choker after knitting the body of the choker, I decided to knit the i-cords directly at the beginning and at the end of the project to achieve a more organic look. 

This lace choker can be completed in a day or two, including the time it requires to block the finished piece (blocking is absolutely essential to open up the lace). 

The choker requires approximately 5g of Scheepjes Maxi Sugar Rush mercerised cotton yarn and is worked on 2mm - 2.5mm double-pointed needles (dpns). Though it is possible to knit the choker on wood or bamboo needles, I recommend the use of pointy, metallic dpns, especially if you are opting for the use of mercerised cotton yarn with this pattern. This will make the knitting experience much more enjoyable. 

The length of the choker can be adjusted easily for different neck circumferences and I recommend you check the fit whilst knitting. Altogether, you should ensure that the body of the choker covers around 80% - 85% of the neck. 

The choker is secured with the help of two i-cords, which each measure approximately 20cm in length. These will be tied to a bow. Beads can be attached to the ends of the i-cords for a more sophisticated finish.

The completed piece should be wet-blocked (to open the lace detail) and left to dry over night. 

If you decide to substitute the mercerised cotton with another type of yarn, the number of lace repeats will differ. As you can check the fit whilst knitting, this should not be a major issue, making this project ideally suited to using up all types of yarn leftovers.

The Weekly Swatch: Leaf Edging

 

New Year, new weekly swatch. 

For this post, I have prepared a simple leaf edging (and tested a new skein of Araucania Botany Lace sock yarn). The edging requires a multiple of 8 stitches. As a result of in- and decreases, the stitch count will vary when knitting this edging.

Leaf Edge Knitting Pattern

The Weekly Swatch: Diagonal Zig Zag Knit Stitch

I am in love with the texture of this diagonal zig-zag knit stitch. 

Knit and purl stitches are all you need to create these diagonal zig zags and the resulting stitch motif is fully reversible. 

A perfect match for chunky cotton yarns and knitted dishcloths. 

Diagonal Zig Zag Knit Stitch 

The Weekly Swatch: Garland Lace Knit Stitch

 

With the Garland Lace Knit Stitch I am returning to simple, traditional lace in this instalment of the weekly swatch. 

The Garland Knit Stitch is a simple beginner lace knit stitch. The motif is created over sixteen rows, requires a multiple of 6 plus 1 stitches and all wrong side rows are purled throughout. 

The Weekly Swatch: Faggot Knit Stitch

 

I have another 'no purl lace' knit stitch to add to the collection in this week's weekly swatch. 

It's the Faggot Lace Knit Stitch. 

This is an incredibly simple one-row repeat stitch motif, which creates an openwork lace mesh fabric.

More 'no purl' lace knit stitches are available here. 

Sock Knitting for Beginners - 5 Tips for Perfect, Top-Down Vanilla Socks

Taking stock of my knitting projects this year, it appears that I have been knitting rather a lot of socks over the past 11 months - 5 pairs in total so far, to be precise. Following my very first sock knitting project back in 2015, I turned my attention to other types of knitting projects and focussed mainly on lace knitting, but this year I fancied a change and focussing on sock knitting and sock knitting techniques felt just right. 

Finished Socks on DIY Sock Blockers

Based on my recent excursion into the world of sock knitting, what follows are a few recommendations for novice sock knitters, including five tips to achieve perfectly fitting, vanilla top-down socks. 

The Weekly Swatch: Loop Mesh Lace Knit Stitch

This week, I have prepared the Loop Mesh Lace Knit Stitch. Another no purl lace knit stitch to add to the collection.

The stitch motif is created over 3 rows on a multiple of 5 plus 3 stitches and creates an openwork lace mesh without any requirement for purling stitches. 

More no purling lace knit stitches are available here.

The Weekly Swatch: Sheaf Knit Stitch

 

As I said, I am catching up with the weekly swatches today and now it's time for the second swatch post of the day. 

Next up is a stitch, I have really enjoyed preparing, the Sheaf Knit Stitch. 

K2 / P2 ribbing forms the foundation of this stitch motif; and the texture is achieved by wrapping the working yarn around two stitches on every fourth row. 

Sheaf Knit Stitch

The Weekly Swatch: Double Basket Weave Knit Stitch

I am catching up with the weekly swatches yet again and for this week I have prepared the Double Basket Weave Knit Stitch. 

This stitch is a variation of the Simple Basket Weave Knit Stitch and slightly more involved. 

The stitch motif is knitted on a multiple of 18 plus 3 stitches over 18 rows and creates a gorgeous, chunky texture. 

Double Basket Weave Knit Stitch

The Weekly Swatch: Bamboo Rib Knit Stitch

I have prepared another rib knit stitch for this week's not-so-weekly, weekly swatch.  

It's the Bamboo Rib Knit Stitch - an incredibly simple knit stitch. 

The vertical columns are created by yarn overs, which are lifted over the knitted stitches. This stitch is worked over two rows on a multiple of two stitches and all wrong side rows are purled. 

For further posts on ribbed knit stitch tutorials and my knitting patterns utilising ribbed stitches, please visit this link.

The Weekly Swatch: Brioche Rib Knit Stitch Variation

 

For this week's weekly swatch, I am showcasing a variation on the ever popular Brioche Rib Stitch.

The classic Brioche Stitch is a simple rib stitch, that creates a beautiful texture, which is not only pleasing on the eye. The rich and flexible texture created by this stitch also appeals to our sense of touch. Every time I spot a garment knitted in brioche rib, I simply have to feel the texture of the stitch. 

Brioche Rib Stitch is not only an eye-catching stitch, but also easy to knit. 

Following a single set-up row on an even number of stitches, the stitch motif is created by the continuous repetition of a sequence of stitches on every following row. The first stitch of every row is slipped purlwise. Classic Brioche Rib therefore requires no purling or great effort to ensure the stitch count is correct. 

The variation of this classic stitch, as shown in the photos, shares most of the above attributes, but the resulting texture of the knitted columns is more rigid and the variation creates an interesting mesh texture when the fabric stretched sideways.