A Knitter’s Dictionary

Knitting Techniques, Methods, and Styles

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Aran knitting is a regional type of knitting originating in the Aran islands off the Scottish coast, probably in the early 1900’s.  Aran knitting is characterized mainly by cables, often in light, natural colors.  This is frequently used for warm sweaters, and it is said that you can tell how the economy was based on the amount of cables and bobbles in a sweater.  Since Aran knitting uses so much yarn, when times are hard, they use fewer cables! 

Argyle

Bead knitting is one of several techiques in which stitches are decorated with beads.  Beading as you go is the method that I like to use which is done with a crochet hook, placing each bead seperately in an exact location.  A second approach is to thread beads on the yarn in advance.  There are several methods to knit these beads into place.

Bias knitting

Bias knitting is a method that skews the grain of knitted fabric at a  angle by decreasing on one side and increasing on the other. In sewing "bias" refers to the diagonal between the weft and warp threads.  Scarves and shawls are poplular bias knt projects.  The French couturier Madeleine Vionnet is widely credited as the "inventor" of the bias technique— cutting or knitting an item on the diagonal, or at a 45 degree angle to the grain of the fabric. 

Bind Off

A bind off is the edge on the final row which is secured such that it will not come loose.  Some bind offs are designed to be stretchy, while others are decorative, such as the picot bind off.  There are many ways to bind off.  One popular way is to knit two stitches, then slip the first stitch over the second stitch.  Knit another stitch, and again, slip the first stitch from your right hand needle over the second.  Repeat until only one last stitch remains.  Cut the yarn and pull it though the loop of the last stitch.  Crotchet bind offs are popular as well.

Bind Off In Pattern

Binding off in pattern is a small detail, but adds a professional touch. You will generally see this instruction when you have been knitting using a stitch pattern instead of plain stockinette or garter stitch. Work the next row of the stitch pattern, knitting and purling just as in the previous rows.  However, as you complete each stitch you will also be binding off.

After you have completed knitting your project, or a separate piece of your project such as a sleeve, it is always best to block your work.  Blocking is a finishing step that can make a huge difference in the final appearance of your work, particularly with lace.  There are many blocking techniques, but the most common is probably wet blocking. 

Gently wash your project by hand, and then squeeze the water out on a towel (do not wring).  Lay the work on a blocking board, ironing board, or foam mat.  Smooth it out, and guide it to the proper shape.  With most projects, you will not stretch the knitting out; however, with lace, you must actually pull the work so that the lace pattern opens up.  Pin the project down, and allow it to dry.  Finally, remove the pins, and your knitted piece is done (or ready for seaming).

There are many other blocking techniques.  I will have a longer article on my website explaining them here.

Bobble   

A bobble is a group of stitches knitted together to form a raised bump.  There are many ways to make a bobble but they all use the same principle. Multiple stitches are knitted into single stitch, creating a small bump.  Bobbles are usually decorative and are often arranged in a pattern.  Bobbles can be also used much like a built in button.  The notation "MB" in knitting means "Make Bobble." 

Buttonhole

Cables are made by crossing one stitch over another. A wide variety of designs can be created by varying the number and size of the cables.  Adding stitches and varying the direction of crosses makes the possibilities near endless. 

The abbreviation “C” is used to denote cables, but this typically has other letters and numbers as well.  “C4F” means slip the next two stitches to a cable needle and hold this to the front of your work.  Then, knit the next two stitches from your regular left hand needle.  Finally, knit the two stitches off your cable needle.

Cables range from a simple one cable serpentine to five cable braids sometimes called Celtic princess braid and six cable braids called Saxon braid..  The Saxon braid is a large motif, and is often used for a centerpiece in Aran sweaters.  A adventurous knitter could probably use as many braids as they could handle.  Entire books are devoted to cables. 

Casting On

The first step in all knitting projects is casting on.  It is how a project is started.   There are many methods, including the ubiquitous long tail cast on, the cable cast on, knitting on, Estonian cast on, etc.

Circular

Circular knitting is often called knitting in the round.  It is different than knitting flat in that you knit in a circle using circular or double pointed needles.  You do not knit in one direction, and then knit back in the other direction.  You usually only see the right or public side.  This technique is used for round pieces like socks, hats, and my favorite, doilies.

Combined knitting

Combined knitting or Combination knitting twists stitches in one row only to untwist them in the next while purling.  Combined knitting works for all knitted fabrics.  However, many knitting patterns are not written for combined knitting so conversion may be needed by the individual knitter.

Continental knitting

This is a style of knitting in which the working yarn is held in the left hand and "picked".  It is also known as German knitting, European knitting, or left-hand knitting.  It is often said (and is true in my case) that crocheters who learn knitting will enjoy this style best, as the movements are very close to crocheting. In any case, Continental knitting is generally preferred by professional hand-knitters because it requires the least hand motions per stitch.  Because Continental style knitting is associated with Germany, it fell out of favor during World War II.  Elizebeth Zimmerman is often given credit its renewed popularity in the United States.

Corrugated Ribbing

A decrease in knitting is a reduction in the number of stitches that is used to shape a garment.  This is usually done by by knitting stitches together or by slipping the stitch to be decreased over another stitch.  There are many common decrease stitches such as knit two together.  Another common decrease is slip one, knit one, and pass the slipped stitch over.  All decreases share one thing in common:  you combine two or more stitches into one. 

If decreases or increases are bunched together the knitted piece will bunch together as well.  In most cases that is not desirable.  So to have smooth transitions, decreases and increases are usually spread as evenly as possible in a row.

A dip stitch is an increase made by knitting into a stitch or the space between stitches of another row.

The most common type of dip stitch is to knit into the row below, which may be used for visual effect or to increase the number of stitches (a lifted increase). Long dip stitches can be used to draw yarns from an earlier row into a narrow V shape.  Dip stitches are often used to make flowers, leaves and fans

Double knitting

Double knitting or Shaker knitting is a knitting technique in which two fabrics are knit simultaneously with two yarns on one pair of needles.  The two fabrics may be inseparable or they can be two unconnected fabrics that are usually separated after completion.  If kntted together the fabrics are interlocked and are very thick and warm.  We would not wear it here in Florida!  

Drop-stitch knitting

Drop stitches can mean at least three different things.  It can be an error when you are knitting and accidentally drop a stitch, forgetting to knit it.  This creates a run like those in pantyhose or tights.  Very annoying! 

Sometimes you may want the run for visual effect.  When you bind off your project, you may drop every Nth stitch, to create a pattern that looks like runs.  When done in pattern, it actually looks nice. 

Another techique, is to knit yarn overs in one row, and then drop them when you come to them on the next row.  This creates elongated and loose stitches.

Duplicate Stitch

Duplicate stitch is a form of colorwork that is similar to embroidery.  The knitter embroiders a contrasting yarn directly over the V shaped knit.  Duplicate stitches are made after knitting is complete and cover existing knit stitches so that it looks like original stitch work.  It is, however, a duplicate knitted stitch meant to embellish an existing project. It is frequently done with contrasting colors and is very useful to personalize or add finishing touches to a knit project.  Names are often added using duplicate stitches.

English knitting is a style of knitting in which the working yarn is held in the right hand and "thrown". 

Entrelac

Faggoting

Faggoting is a style of lace work in which almost every stitch is either an increase or a decrease.  Faggoting produces very open and elastic lace like netting.  It is often used for lace garments like scarves.  Turkish stitch is an example of faggoting.

Fair Isle

Fair Isle is a form of stranded knitting where stitches are knit alternately in various colors, with the unused colours stranded across the back of the work.  The term "Fair Isle" refers to the characteristic patterns of the Scottish Shetland Islands.  Stranded knitting refers to the technique of stranding loose ends in the back of the fabric where they are not seen. Traditional Fair Isle patterns usually have about five color and use two colors per row.  They are usually knitted in the round.

Felting/ Fulling

Fulling and felting are often used interchangeably.  Felting is the process of agitating, abrading, and/or heating fabric until the fibers become intertwined.  It works much better with animal fibers because the scales on the fibers tangle more. Felted or fulled garments wear longer and resist unraveling when damaged.  They are also very warm because the gaps between stitches are filled with interlocking fibers. 

Felting has been practiced for thousands of years.  The early methods of felting were very labor intensive often involving agitating the cloth using human feet.   Today knitters can felt their work in a washing machine.  If you choose to use this method be very careful, the fabric usually shrinks and the result is permanent.

Finger knitting

Finger knitting is knitting using only the hands and fingers.  No needles are used.  Yarn is intertwined about the fingers, and one stitch is slipped over the other. Frequently, finger knitting is taught to children before they learn to knit with needles.

Frogging

In knitting, a gather refers to any method that draws stitches closer together within a row.  Some common methods of gathering include binding, clustering and smocking.

Guernsey

Guernsey is an old style of sweater that gained popularity among fishermen in the British Isles.  It is a simple wool sweater that is warm, comfortable and durable, just the sort of thing that fishermen would favor in cold wet conditions. Worsted and spun multi ply yarn and high stitch densities are commonly used.  Gussets are normally employed under the arms and on the shoulders to improve the fit.

Grafting

Just as the name suggests, in knitting grafting means connecting two pieces together.  There are several ways to graft.  Essentially all of the methods stitch pieces together creating a seam. One of the most well known methods of grafting is the Kitchener stitch. 

Gusset  

In pattern is a pattern instruction that simply means to repeat an established pattern for a defined area.  Anything can be in pattern, not just a bind off.  Common references to “in pattern” are casting on or binding off.

Increase

In knitting, Increase means to create additional stitch(es), increasing the stitches per row. The additional stitches cause the row and the knitted fabric to get larger.  An increase is the opposite of a decrease. In order to have smooth transitions smooth, decreases and increases are usually spread as evenly as possible a row.  There are many different increase techniques.  For most lace knitting, you will use one of the easiest, the yarn over (abbreviated YO).  Yarn over simply means that you lay the yarn over the right hand needle in a counterclockwise direction, and then continue with your knitting.

Intarsia Knitting 

Knit

Lace

Lace knitting creates a fabric that is usually fine and includes yarn overs.  The yarn overs produce holes that give lacework its distinctive look.  Because lacework has so many yarn overs, you must also include decreases, or your work would become unstable and very large!

The pattern rows (rows with yarn overs and decreases) may be worked on every row or every other row, with either a straight knit row or straight purl row in between. Patterns worked with a garter stitch background are reversible, while those with a stockinette stitch background have a clear front and back.  Many knitters prefer that every other row be plain, as it can be difficult work if every row has complicated lace work.  I like to count stitches on the plain rows.  In this way, if I make an error, I know about it pretty quickly.

Increases and decreases are often paired next to each other in the pattern, but a series of increases can be followed later in the row with a series of decreases (or vice versa), which will make a scalloped or slanted edge.   This is done with the very common Feather and Fan (also called Old Shale) stitch.  The order in which the increases and decreases are worked can cause the fabric to bias -- increases made before right-leaning decreases make a fabric that biases to the right, while working the yarn overs after left-leaning decreases will make the fabric lean to the left.

There is sometimes a distinction made between lace knitting and knitting patterns that are made with yarn over stitches, such as Feather and Fan. Technically patterns that do not include increases and decreases at least every other row are not lace, but many people consider just about any pattern made with yarn overs and decreases to be lace.

Additionally, some sticklers for tradition make a distinction between "lace knitting" and "knit lace," saying that lace knitting is what you get when you have pattern rows only on the right side of the work, while knitted lace has pattern rows on every row. It's sort of like the distinction between felting and fulling: technically true but all but removed from common usage.

Long Tail

Long tail, also called Double Cast On, is a method of casting on that involves using two ends of the yarn to form the stitches on the needle.  Long Tail gets its name from the "long tail" of yarn you have to pull out in order to make the stitches.  The long-tail method of casting on is popular because many knitters feel that it is quick and easy.

If you must cast on many stitches, it can be difficult to be sure your tail is long enough or you will run out of yarn before all your last stitch.  I like to measure the amount I need, particularly if there are a hundred or more stitches to cast on.  I often do this by casting on ten stitches, then unraveling them and measuring the amount of yarn it took to cast them on.  I then multiply this to compute how long the tail must be.  It’s always best to add a little extra yarn to the tail end for insurance!

Medallion knitting is a knitting technique that makes flat knitted fabrics that are circular or polygons by gradually increasing or decreasing the radius.  The most important part of flat medallion knitting is increasing or decreasing stitches by the right number.  Since the circumference of a circle is related to its radius by the formula c = 2πr, the number of stitches n in a row at radius r must exactly equal that circumference times the stitch gauge.  If the number of stitches is too small the medallion will cup at its edges, if the number of stitches is too large, the medallion will frill at its edges.  Doilies are often made using this technique.  Medallions can aslo be square. 

This term is also sometimes used to describe any pictoral knitted work even if it is not done in the round.  I have seen both lace and cable motifs called medallions.

Muggle

In knitting jargon a Muggle is someone who does not knit.  This is similar to the Harry Potter term where a muggle is not a witch.

Mosaic knitting  

Mosaic knitting is also called two color slip stitch knitting.  It is a type of color work where only one color is used in a row, but the fabric appears that multiple colors were worked.  This is because stitches are slipped instead of knitted, which elongates them, but brings colors into play that were used in previous rows.   Mosaic knitting is often used to create geometric patterns.

Nupp

A plaited stitch is a single knitted stitch that is twisted.  Usually a 180 degree half twist is used but a 360 degree full turn or greater full turn can be used.

Public

The public side of a knitted project is the same as the right or front side of the work.

Purl  

Purling is the opposite of knitting.  There are several reasons why we may think of it in this way.  First, instead of  placing your right hand needle into the stitch from left to right, you place it in from right to left.  Instead of holding the yarn in back of the work, you hold it to the front.  Also, instead of seeing a V shape when we complete the stitch, we see a purl bump.  The familiar V shape is on the back of the purl stitch.

Ribbing is a stretchy stitch that alternates knit and purl stitches.  There is a near endless variety of ribbing, such as K1P1 (one of the stretchiest ribs), K2P2, or uneven ribbing like K3P1, etc.  You may even have cabled or lace ribbing.  Colorworked ribbing may be in stripes or other patterns.  Ribbing is often placed on the edges of knitwear, or in an area where you would like a tighter fit, such as the waist, wrists or neckline.  Ribbing does not curl.

See Corrugated Ribbing above for a colorworked ribbing.  See Knit and Purl stitch above for more information on these two stitches.

Row

Seed stitch is a very popular stitch which alternates knit and purl stitches.  Seed stitch is reversible, and does not roll.  It makes a wonderful edging.  It is sometimes called moss stitch or rice stitch.

For rows with an odd number of stitches, every row is the same:  Knit 1, Purl1, repeating until the end of the row, which will be Knit 1.  If your work has an even number of stitches, there will be a two row pattern as follows:  1.  (K1, P1) to end.  2.  (P1, K1) to end.

Selvedge

You may also see it spelled selvage.  Knitted fabric has a selvedge on each side.

In knitting, the selvage of a knitted fabric is the last stitches on the end or edge of each row.  With knitting projects such as scarves and afghans where there are no seams, you will have a selvedge.  There are many methods to create a selvdge.  Some patterns have the first and last stitch in a specific way in order to create a neat selvedge on each side with a desired visual effect.  The selvage may be used in seaming garments or finished and reinforced using crochet or other techniques.

Spinning

Spinning is the act of twisting fibers together to form a long string or cord.  This is important to knitting because yarn is made in this fashion.  The properties of spun yarn vary with the fiber used, fiber length, fiber alignment, the amount of fiber user used, and the amount of twist.  Spinning has been practiced for many thousands of years using various hand spinning methods.  As technology improved machines such as the spinning wheel and later factories replaced hand spinning.  Hand spinning using a drop spindle is a popular craft with many devotees producing hand crafted yarns.  Hand spinners can vary any of the propoerties to make custom yarn.  

Steek

A Steek is a cut bridged with stitches.  To form a steek, an object is typically knitted in the round. The opening is reinforced with extra stitches and then cut afterwards to form an opening.  Steeks are often used to make arm holes and are used in Fair Isle garments.  Sometimes a steek is further reinforced by sewing or crochet.  It can be very scary to cut your knitted work, but if you are using a nice sticky wool, there shouldn’t be too much difficulty.

Stockinette Stitch

A stockinette stitch or stocking stitch is the most common pattern.  When using the stockinette stitch to work in the flat knit all stitches on the front or right side of the work and purl all stitches on the back or wrong side of the work.  When working in the round the stockinette stitch is made by knitting every row.  While stockinette stitch is very attractive, it has a very strong tendancy to curl.  For this reason, it is often best to have a border of garter, seed stitch, or ribbing on the edges of stockinette, unless you want your knitting to curl.

Stranded Knitting

Stranded knitting or twined knitting is where two tarns are used.  Yarns are alternated and they twist or twine around each other.  Since two yarns are used the finished fabric tends to be thicker and warmer.  Fair Isle is a common form of stranded knitting. 

Tinking is a method for fixing mistakes in the row you are working or have recently worked.  Ripping out one or more stitches, one at a time, is called tinking.