How to Increase and add new stitches….

When your knitting starts with a smaller amount of stitches, and then widens with many additional stitches, you will use this type of increase.   For instance, if you want to go from say 10 stitches to 30 stitches in the next row, how do you do this? Actually it is quite simple to do.   This addition of stitches can be all on one end of the existing knitting or added to both ends.

Example:   In the Men’s Cabin slippers, this type of increase is needed.   Another example is the Bold Stripe Sweater.

Let’s say that you have been knitting with 10 needles and you  have one loop on each needle and you want to go to 30 stitches in the next row.  You are increasing 10 stitches on each side to have a total of 30 stitches.   You will Cast On 10 new stitches at front of knitting and 10 new stitches at back of knitting.

• First,  cut the yarn of your 10 stitches of the current knitting.
• Make a loop knot in yarn supply, and place loop on the needle 10  to the  left of your knitting, on board farthest from knitter. (This is like starting from the beginning)

• Weave the yarn around the bare needles in pattern.    When you get to the cut end of yarn at beginning of current knitting, tie the new yarn to the cut tail of yarn.    Weave across the existing knitting and  continue for 10 additional more needles.

• Weave back, to finish your circular over all 30 stitches.
• Hook over the 10 stitches in the middle (they have 2 loops on each needle.)  Place   an anchor yarn  over the 2 areas where you just started new stitches.   These are new Cast On stitches.   They have only 1 loop at this time.

• Weave another circular over all 30 stitches and hook over all.    You now have 30 stitches on your board.   You will want to Bind Off the new stitches for a finished edge once piece is completed.
• This process is used on sweaters where the sleeves are knit into the front and back of the sweater.   The entire piece is one continous piece of knitting.   If you’re doing stripes, you can always do the increase in  different color for next stripe.

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CrissCross Stitch vs Box Stitch?

There seems to be some confusion on these two stitches-Are they really pretty much the same?   Well, the simple answer is yes.   However, there was enough of a difference that made us decide to give the new weaving process a new name.   We didn’t want to go into any pattern done in Crisscross and change it suddenly, so we called the new procedure by a different name.

CrissCross Stitch   -2 weave patterns.   The first is starting on needle #4 and down to #3.

  Then the next row was starting on needle #3 and down to #2.

What this does is shift the yarn over to the next needles with the same angles.   We received a lot of questions about how to keep track of which weave you completed and which weave was to be done next.  

So, we played with it and asked some other knitters how they accomplished the same type of stitch.   The Box Stitch was the answer:

Box Stitch - First row starts with needle #1 to #4 and weave every other needle.

The next row starts with needle #1 to #3, then weave consecutive  #2 down to  #5 and then every other.

This is easier to keep track of because both rows start out on needle #1.

Both shift only 1 needle on both rows, but the Box stitch is a larger stretch from #1 to #4 compared to the crisscross which stretches from #4 to #3.   The difference is a more bold box effect from the box stitch than in the crisscross.

So, not a lot of difference other than more definition in the depth of the look of the stitch and its a little easier to keep track of where you are.   They are both great stitches and may not look too different.   so, we figure everyone will pick the one that they enjoy doing the most and stick with it.   They are certainly interchangeable in any pattern.

PHOTO OF BOX STITCH (blue)   CRISS CROSS (gray)

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Putting a design in your knitwear

I am going to   explain how to graph your design and put in your knitwear. A great benefit of double knit is  the ability to create a design and have no backside. The design is actually on both sides.

I am going to explain how to incorporate a “CIRCLE DESIGN” in your knit. it is best if you use a   bulkier yarn so that you don’t see your in-between row.

First of all you want to get graph paper like the paper below. Draw your design and then put “X” in the spots that are contained in the shape you are creating. I put in the X’s to make my circle.

• 1st row – knit  with 4 stitches of the circle
• 2nd row- knit with 8 stitches of the circle
• 3rd row – 8 stitches
• 4th row – 10 stitches………

Then you continue each row until you finish with 4 stitches on the 12th row.

This is the 9th row – 8 stitches of circle, looping every pin back and forth.

 The you take the opposite color yarn (brown) and weave every other in the same pattern skipping the needles already wrapped.

1st weave…

 Return weave…

Now every needle is covered and you just loop over. And then you start your 10th row ( another 8 stitches).

I hope this helps with graphing your design.

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“NEW LOOPY STITCH”  

“CRISS CROSS”    ”OPEN RIB”                            

SO much has been going on lately here at the Knitting Board Company.   Ok, where to start……  

First of all our new yarn has had another small delay, but I assure  you it is going to be awesome. I just had to see another sample adding  a little new fiber which took several days. So I guess it is my fault but I want it to the perfect combination.  

We are still looking at all the names so if you still have more name ideas please leave them in the “COMMENTS“. We will keep it secret until yarn  is  presented.    

We now have NEW STITCH instructions. Hopefully these will be helpful. The instructions have a lot of photos to make learning the stitches very easy. We have included the LOOPY RIB which is a brand new stitch from Brazil. It is a  cool one for ponchos or shawls where you want a nice “loose look”.  

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Zig-Zag stitch simplified.

This is one of my favorite stitches.   We have been working on some new rugs and I decided to use this stitch for the edges.   It works so well, and  gets the thickness off to a great start.   So I wondered how many others were finding this stitch to be a great one for a nice tight edge.   Sometimes the edges seem to be what ‘befuddles’  many new knitters. So, I thought I should talk about it since it sounds complicated to describe, but really isn’t–and it is a lot of fun.  

It is one stitch that does not do a full circular, only one pass of the board. It weaves across the two rows of needles at an angle of needle  1 to needle  3.  Every needle gets covered.   The tricky part of it is, at the beginning of a row and at the end.   Because we are weaving needles 1 to needle 3, we have some bare needles and need to cover them.   So we do this by first weaving the first 3 needles and then starting the diagonal weave.   Same at the  end of the row, we cover the bare needles by weaving the last 3 front to back.   So, some overlap occurs and that is where we get the thick and thin issues.   So, what thoughts or questions are there for this stitch.   It’s not hard, just confusing when you first start it, but I think its worth the effort.

 ZIGZAG STITCH Details

The Zig Zag Stitch is on the bottom of the vest, the last three stitches. It really is a great finishing stitch.  

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