I showed this swatch to Jim and he said: “I bet Dad would like a chunky sweater in that stitch pattern.” Interestingly, I had thought the same thing.
Knitting this stitch pattern requires the knitter to work “RT” and “LT” (right and left twists.) They are fairly easy, and I’ll demonstrate after providing the basic instructions.
Wickerwork Pattern.
- Cast on a multiple of 8 stitches.
- Row 1: P1, * k2, p2; repeat from *, end k2, p1.
- Row 2: * K1, p1, RT, LT, p1, k1; repeat from *
- Row 3: * P1, k1, p1, k2, p1, k1, p1; repeat from *
- Row 4: * k1, RT, p2, LT, k1; repeat from *
- Row 5: P2, *k4, p4; repeat from * end k4, p2.
- Row 6: Knit all stitches.
- Row 7: Repeat row 1.
- Row 8: * LT, p1, k2, p1, RT; repeat from *.
- Row 9: * K1, p1, k1, p2, k1, p1, k1; repeat from *
- Row 10: * P1, LT, k2, RT, p1 ; repeat from *
- Row 11: K2, * p4, k4; repeat from * end p4, k2. *
- Row 12: Knit all stitches.
Notice rows 7-12 are similar to 1-6; they are just shifted over 4 stitches.
Insert right needle tip knitwise into second stitch away from the left needle tip as shown above and to the left. Yarn over and draw through loop but don’t pull stitches off the left needle tip. Next, insert tip into stitch closest to the left needle tip. In the photo above and to the right, you can see the right tip inserted and the loop from the stitch you just made. Yarn over, draw loop through. Now, pull both old stitches off the left needle tip.
You will see the left stitch slanting over the right stitch. You basically knit through the second stitch over before the first stitch without using a cable needle.
Guess what? You can also do this with a larger number of stitches. I’ve made 4 stitch wide cables using this techniques. (I haven’t made wider ones though. It starts to get difficult as you make the cables very wide.)
Insert right needle tip through the back loop into second stitch away from the left needle tip as shown above and to the left. (Note: If you are thinking “But if I do it like Lucia shows, that stitch will twist!” You could try to get fancy with how you insert to avoid twisting the stitch, but I don’t bother. The twisting will be hidden. Just stick the tip through the back loop from right to left — that’s the the easiest way. ) Yarn over and draw through loop but don’t pull stitches off the left needle tip. Next, insert right tip knitwise into stitch closest to the left needle tip. Yarn over (see photo), draw loop through. Now, pull both old stitches off the left needle tip.
You will see the right stitch slanting over the left stitch.
Not too hard, right?
This will be listed with other stitch patterns in stitch patterns.
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Lucia Liljegren: Copyright 2005-2007 Rights to all site content including knitting patterns, generators and haikus reserved.
It took me forever to figure out knitted twists. I actually did them wrong for years until I was in a class where we were using them, and the instructor showed me in person. Its the one technique I wasn’t able to learn from a book. Why? I have no idea. Freaky
Comment by Gail — 7/12/2005 @ 5:10 pm
These are difficult to describe in words. I hope the photos help.
Barbara Walker describes them two ways and said she prefers doing it differently from the way I describe here. But, I kept trying it following her “preferred” directions, reading and re-reading, and kept finding the front stitch on the LT was twisted — the way they are if you insert the needle the wrong way when you knit a stitch rather than slanted.) So, I ended up doing it this way; the final result looks like her photo.
Comment by lucia — 7/12/2005 @ 5:43 pm
I totally tried cabling without a cable needle after reading this. What a time saver! Lucia to the rescue! Again!
Comment by Sooner — 7/13/2005 @ 7:51 am
It works great! I should take a picture of the vest I made l_o_n_g ago with the all over right twist cables done this way. I would never have made it using a cable needle!
Comment by lucia — 7/13/2005 @ 8:17 am
I almost forgot!! Can you email me? I need to enlist your help on calculating yardage for my upcoming spun piece!!! I will publically thank and link you!
Comment by christine — 7/14/2005 @ 12:18 pm
Your site was listed on the Yahoo! Six-Sock-Knit-along as a source for clear instructions on the right and left twist. And they were right! Thank you!
Comment by Sheila Mahone — 8/3/2005 @ 6:59 am
Thanks! I should go check out what socks you people are making now. They usually are really neat.
Comment by lucia — 8/3/2005 @ 7:30 am
[...] The “ELT” is almost the as an “LT” which I described yesterday for “Wickerwork”. To begin insert right needle tip through the back loop of the second stitch away from the left needle tip as shown to the left. Wrap the yarn pull the loop through (just as to knit a stitch), but don’t drop the stitches off the left needle. (So far, exactly like the LT.) [...]
Pingback by The Knitting Fiend » Blog Archive » Twilled Stripe — 2/18/2006 @ 11:02 am
Help with a stitch, beginner me. I guess it’s kind of a twist stitch. The directions are: Line 3; K1 C2F, C2B, * K2, C2F, C2B, repeat from * K1. Do you offer help with this kind of problem? This stitch is defined as: (Cross 2 back or 2 front) K into back or front of 2nd stitch on needle, then K 1st stitch, slipping both off needle at same time. For the life of me, I can’t figure out how to do it.
Comment by Marjorie Garrick — 11/12/2006 @ 1:51 am
My answer to Post 9: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you – love you, love you, love you
Comment by Marjorie Garrick — 11/12/2006 @ 1:29 pm
[...] This Aran sure has a lot of cable crossings, and I got tired of using the darn cable needle. I decided to work the crosses without a cable. That’s fairly easy to do when crossing only two stitches as for a Left Twist (LT) or Right Twist (RT) which I show for “Wicker Work”. [...]
Pingback by The Knitting Fiend » Blog Archive » Cross Without Cable Needle — 12/3/2006 @ 10:08 pm
[...] Instructions for a similar pattern can be found at The Knitting Fiend. [...]
Pingback by Share and Enjoy - » Square 10: Wickerwork — 4/1/2007 @ 9:08 pm
You are really great at knitting. I am sure “dad” would have appreciated the sweater that you did for him. Gifts that are personally made are more precious than gifts bought at the store.
Comment by Benjamin supercars — 2/26/2009 @ 8:59 am
I have the same question as 9. How do I C2B?
Comment by Courtney — 6/20/2009 @ 1:33 pm
Thanks for explaining the LT…I haven’t gotten to the RT yet but will be there in about 10 more rows.
In Barbara Walker’s “Learn to Knit”, her method #1 of the LT appears to be the same as yours, I think. I asked my forum friends on Crochetville.org for help (yes we have knitters, too!). One of them gave me your link. What I needed to know was exactly where to insert the right needle into the 2nd st. Didn’t know if I should
(1) go from the front of the work to back in between the 1st and 2nd st to knit the back loop or to
(2) go behind the work to insert the needle into the 2nd st.
Either way it seems purlwise to me. Anyway, your description looks right; the 1st st appears to be slanting to the left. In the square I’m making (#25 in the book), this is done after casting on and purling one row which for me makes it hard to tell…not enough length here yet.
It doesn’t give her preference in this book. Is it her Method 2? I haven’t tried it but knitting the 2 st together just doesn’t sound right. But surely it will work, too.
Thanks again for the help!
Comment by Jeannie — 10/3/2009 @ 11:03 am