my favorite slow-going color-inverting knitting technique, double knitting
The topic for this month’s Bearblog Carnival is “your favorite ______ in your niche hobby.” I’m a knitter and throughout the decade or so that I’ve been knitting, I’ve tried an impressive amount of project types, patterns, yarn weights (the classification of the thickness of a strand of yarn is called its ‘weight’), and techniques. By far, my favorite technique that I’ve come across is double knitting.
Currently, I am knitting a scarf that is entirely double knit. This scarf has designs to look like "Japanese virtual pet" characters - we're avoiding copyright infringements, okay?
The designs on one side of the scarf are inverted on the other side. How is that? Double knitting! Each side of the scarf is 50 stitches across, but while I'm knitting each row and following along with the charts of the pattern, there are 100 stitches on my needle. That's because I am knitting both sides of the scarf simultaneously.
How am I knitting both sides of the scarf simultaneously? Knitting is composed of knit stitches and purl stitches. If a swatch of fabric made up entirely of knit stitches is facing you and you flip the fabric over, you will have a swatch of purl stitches facing you. See below:
Image from Nimble Needles.
This is because a purl stitch is just a mirror-inverted knit stitch!
Here are some earlier progress photos of when I was working on my scarf.
If you look closely, the stitches at the very top (resting on the needle) are really packed close together. I am knitting with such small needles that the fabric I'm creating is more dense, perfect for a warm scarf with intricate designs.
This pattern is designed by Katharina Kuntz, and she has a wide variety of double knit scarf patterns available. I'm already planning a Legend of Zelda - I mean, a Hero of Generations - scarf for my boyfriend.
One final thing I like about double knitting is that once you're a few rows in, it comes along pretty mindlessly. I'll knit and follow along with the pattern's charts while watching Star Trek in the evenings, or while listening to music. It's a pretty slow process, but I'm in no rush, and the rhythm of the project feels relaxing to me. I chose this scarf as my first double knitting project, I began working on it at the end of January, and I am about 45% through with it.
Before I end this post, I will leave you with a more recent photo of my scarf's progress:
Thank you to Kami for hosting this month's Bearblog Carnival!