Sunday, January 30, 2011

Twisted Stockinette


Add a little kick to your stockinette stitch!  Twisted Stockinette stitch is very simple to do; the only difference from regular stockinette stitch is you will be knitting the stitches through the back loop to twist them.  Like regular stockinette stitch though, your fabric is going to have some curl to it.  You can help the curl a bit by adding a border.  A simple garter stitch border will do the trick nicely.  Seed stitch will also work.  For a border, just work a few rows in garter or seed stitch before you begin knitting in twisted stocking stitch, then the same number of rows again in garter or seed before binding off; add extra stitches to the beginning and end of each row as well to be worked in garter or seed stitch.  This probably won't eliminate the curl completely, but it does help.  

I will show you two different versions; the pink yarn is what I learned as Twisted Stocking Stitch, but it is also known as Zig Zag or Crossed Stocking Stitch.  The one knit with purple yarn is given in Barbara A. Walker's First Treasury as Twisted Stocking Stitch.

Both versions are worked on any number of stitches.

For the pattern shown in purple yarn:
Row 1: Knit all stitches through the back loop
Row 2: Purl all stitches through the back loop

Repeat these two rows for pattern

For the pattern shown in pink yarn:
Row 1: Knit all stitches through the back loop
Row 2: Purl all stitches normally

Repeat these two rows for pattern

Here is a video showing both of these versions.  Happy Knitting!



1 comment:

Unknown said...

When i first started knitting this is the stitch i did. The main reason is because I am a lefty and had to teach myself.. but the stitch is more even than regular stockinette.