Knitting perpendicular

Why? – you may ask me. Well, it might come in handy some day!   I used this technique for my new pattern which is coming out before the Harrogate Knitting & Stitching Show. I know you will all love it

When you want to knit perpendicular (out of fabric or 3D knitting), normally you would pick up stitches afterward (fig. 1). If you want to pick up stitches exactly straight across the row, this can be a little tricky especially if you didn’t mark the position (yes, I have done this so many times).

Fig. 1

When I was a university student, my lecturer used to say to us “be prepared for anything”. Since then my life is all about preparation and I have devised an alternative method for perpendicular / 3D knitting.

ADVANTAGE:

• It prepares the stitches before hand (so you don’t need to pick them up later)
• It gives the stitches at an exact position precisely without picking them up later. This will reduce the risk of picking the wrong stitches.

POSSIBLE DISADVANTAGE

• You may not know how many stitches you would like at the time.
• You would have to rest the stitches until they are used.

INFORMATION: I have 20 sts and I would like to knit the centre 10 sts perpendicular (i.e. have 5 sts on either sides).

You are at a row which you would like to knit perpendicular later on (in my case after 10th row). If you are knitting flat, this should be at WS row. If you are knitting in circle you can do this on the RS.

Work up to a stitch where you will be knitting in perpendicular (in my case p5) (fig. 2).

Fig. 2.

For flat knitting, *p1, p1tbl into the same st (fig. 3). Repeat from * for a desired number of stitches (in my case 10 times).

For circular knitting, *k1, k1tbl into the same st. Repeat from * for a desired number of stitches (in my case 10 times).

Fig. 3

You should now have double the amount of sts to knit perpendicular (for example, I want 10 sts to knit perpendicular so I now have 20 sts) (fig. 4).

Fig. 4

Turn the work. Knit until you encounter the increased sts which you have made in the previous row (in my case k5).

For flat knitting, knit this stitch as usual (fig. 5) then thread the waste yarn into the next stitch. Drop this stitch (it will not unravel because there is a waste yarn through it (fig. 6).

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Repeat this process again: *k1, thread the next st with waste yarn and drop this stitch. Repeat from * until you have worked all the increased sts (i.e. in my case 20 sts). You can now see that you are back with the original number of sts and the increased sts are transferred onto the waste yarn (fig. 7).

Fig. 7

Note: You will always have to knit the stitches made tbl and thread the ordinary stitch onto a waste yarn. So for circular knitting, this means you would have to thread the stitch first, then knit the next stitch.

Continue to work up to the desired length. Cast off.

When you are ready to knit perpendicular, insert the needle into the loops and pull the waste yarn away. If you are knitting with a pair of knitting needles, insert the needle from the left (fig. 8).

Fig. 8

Join yarn and continue knitting perpendicular. Tidying the end is easy. Just thread into the WS of the work and tie a knot (fig. 9).

Fig. 9

I have made a video tutorial of this if you are interested…(don’t like hearing my own voice tho!!).

SUGGESTED USE:

Plush – e.g. bird’s wing, animal ears…

Decoration on a jupmer

Flaps on a glove etc.

Enjoy!