let me explaiKnit

Expanding on a theme

One of the aspects about increasing that many people find tricky is doing it in a pattern, and incorporating the new stitches into the pattern stitch. We'll talk about how it works generally, and then look at the specific cases of ribbing and seed stitch since those come up frequently.

It's going to simplify the following discussion if we first look at how successive increases affect the structure of the fabric. Typically, patterns will call for successive decreases to be done at the same place in relation to an edge of the fabric -- that is, you'll be asked to work 1 or 2 stitches, do an increase, and then work to the same distance from the other edge and do an increase, on each of several increase rows. This means that your second increase is going to be between this fixed edge stitch and your first increase, and so on. This is going to affect your choice of stitch for each of the increased stitches as you incorporate it into the pattern.

A second concept that's helpful to understand is that you will be temporarily out of pattern as you work your initial increases. A well-crafted pattern will have a number of increase rows that's a multiple of the number of stitches in your stitch pattern; for instance, a pattern where you're increasing in seed stitch, a 2-stitch pattern, should have an even number of increase rows, while a pattern in K2P2 ribbing should have a multiple of 4 increase rows. This will enable you to work your way back into the pattern, but being off during the interim is inevitable.

So, let's look at how this works, using seed stitch as an example. Let's say that we're working on a seed-stitch sleeve, and our pattern tells us, "Increase 1 st on each end every 8th row, 6 times." Let's further say that the pattern is well-written, and therefore we have a stockinette selvedge of 1 stitch (to make seaming clean and easy), and an even number of stitches in seed stitch (so that after doing our easy seam, the pattern will flow smoothly across the seam, rendering it invisible); therefore, the RS row directions are "k1, (k1, p1) to last st, k1," and the WS directions are "p1, (p1, k1) to last st, p1." Now, as we've already discussed, a KFB type of increase is the best choice for seed stitch, and it can be placed on the second stitch in from each edge; as to the specific type, we'll choose between KFB and PFB based on the type of the stitch that the increase will be done on, and do a mirrored version for the increase at the left edge so that the new stitch appears before the stitch where the increase is done and not between that stitch and the edge stitch.

Let's briefly review the mirrored front-and-back increases. These are done like so: slip a stitch knitwise and put it back on the left needle with its left leg in front; work (in either knit or purl, as appropriate for the original stitch in pattern) into the left leg and let the old stitch go; pick up the old stitch again using the tip of the left needle; work (in either knit or purl, the same as used for the first stitch) into the right leg of the stitch. This gives you your twisted stitch with the bar around it first, and your untwisted stitch with no bar second, which is the exact reverse of the standard front-and-back increase.

Looking at the first increase row, we'll knit the selvedge stitch, then do the increase on the following stitch, which is a knit, so that will be a KFB. We'll then work in seed stitch as established, doing (p1, k1) across until we reach the 2nd stitch from the end; this one is a purl, and we want to have the new stitch appear first, so we'll do mirrored-PFB here, and then knit the final selvedge stitch.

Now, let's look at the first WS row after this increase, which is where you have to make the decision for the first time on how to work that new stitch into the pattern. We'll purl the selvedge stitch, then purl the first stitch of the seed-stitch pattern, and the next one is the new stitch. Subsequent increases are going to come in between these two stitches, separating this new stitch from its "parent" (I'm going to use that as the term for the stitch that the increase was done into), but it's always hereafter going to be adjacent to the stitch that follows it. Therefore, you want to work the stitch as the type of stitch that should be adjacent to that following stitch, rather than the type that the pattern says should be adjacent to the parent stitch. The following stitch is going to be knit on this row, and therefore the new stitch should be purled; this does, temporarily, give you two purls in a row, but that's okay. You'll then (k1, p1) until you have 3 stitches left in the row, which are the other new stitch, its parent, and the other selvedge; by the same reasoning as above, you will knit the new stitch and also knit its parent, and then purl the selvedge stitch as always. The other WS rows between this row and the next increase row will be worked in exactly this same manner; RS rows will be "k1, k2, (p1, k1) to last 3, p2, k1" (yes, I could have said "k3" at the start -- but I think this makes it clearer). You are slightly out of pattern for the 7 rows between the two increase rows. However, since what you have is a 2-column strip of garter stitch on the edge of your seed stitch, it's not at all obtrusive; you can take my word for that, or you can swatch it up and see what it actually looks like.

Now, let's see what happens on the second increase row. Again, you're going to place the increases on the second and second-to-last stitches of the row, and since those stitches haven't changed, these are going to be a KFB and a mirrored-PFB respectively. Therefore, this row will be "k1, KFB, (k1, p1) to last 2 stitches, m-PFB, k1." On the following WS row, you'll purl the selvedge stitch and purl the parent; the stitch that follows the new stitch is the same one that was new during the first increase, and was purled on the WS rows, and therefore the new stitch for this row should be knitted on the WS to be compatible with that, and just like that, you're back in pattern. Continue on across the row, and end by purling the new stitch between the two knits over there. You're now completely back in pattern until the next increase row comes along. You'll continue in this fashion, getting out of pattern on the odd increase rows, and back into it on the evens, until you've done all the increases.

Increases in ribbing are similar. Let's look at a 4-stitch pattern instead of a 2-stitch one, and just to make it a bit different, let's suppose we're doing a ribbed sleeve in the round. Let's say that our rounds are set up so that the beginning of the round is in the middle of a knit rib, so that our ribbing directions are "k1, p2, (k2, p2) until 1 st remains, k1," and that our increase directions are "Inc 1 st at beginning and end of round, every 6th round, 8 times." Since we're working in the round, there's no need to maintain a selvedge for seaming; an increase can be done in the very first or very last stitch of the round, and therefore we can do a KFB in the first stitch, and a mirrored-KFB in the last stitch, on each increase round. As with the seed-stitch example above, each successive increase will appear between the "parent" stitch and the prior increase, so the new stitches should be worked in pattern with the stitch outside the increase. Therefore, on the first and second increase rounds, the new stitches will both be knits, and you'll have a band of first 4 and then 6 knits up the inside of the sleeve. On the third increase round, however, the new stitches will be purls, so you'll have a single purl rib separating your new 2-knit ribs from the original center rib, and then after the 4th increase round, you'll have a 2-purl rib on either side of the original center knit rib, and you'll be back in pattern; the 5th through 8th increase rounds will just be a repetition of the first four.

So far, we've only looked at cases where the parent stitch is always a member of the same column, so the second and subsequent increases are spawned between the parent and the prior increase. This is by far the most common placement. You can, however, have cases where the parent column changes from one increase row to the next, with subsequent increases being done from the column which was new in the prior increase, and this has two effects which are different from what we've looked at so far: first, each increased stitch will stay adjacent to its parent, rather than being pushed away by the following increase, so it will need to be "in pattern" with respect to its parent, rather than with respect to the stitch beyond; second, because the parent column is different every time, the type of increase used will vary, rather than staying constant as it's done in our prior examples. This is a somewhat related concept to the concept of strong and feathered decreases, which either have a single surviving column or a change of surviving column each time.

A place where these "feathered increases" might be used to good effect would be in the thumb gusset of ribbed mittens or armwarmers, so let's look at some very simple knitted armwarmers as an example -- these will be just a tube with a thumb, and since they're totally lacking in fingers, the thumb can be placed right at the side, with no adjustment for left and right hands. Let's suppose a fingering-weight yarn, and a cast on of 48 stitches in k2p2 rib. After working to the desired length for the wrist, our first increase row will be "mKFB, KFB, place marker, p2, (k2, p2) to end"; subsequent increases will be "increase in 1st st of round and last st before marker, every 3rd round, until there are 18 sts before marker."

Here's how this works out. On the first increase round, you're doing a mirrored KFB into the first stitch of the round, which is a knit stitch, and a regular KFB into the second stitch, which is also a knit stitch, and then you're placing a marker, and finishing the round. On the following 2 work-even rounds, the stitches that were increased will be purled, since a purl stitch is what should be adjacent to each of the parent stitches. On the second increase round, you're going to be doing the increases into the columns that were new last time, and since those are both purls, the new increases will be a mPFB and a PFB. Those stitches will also be worked as purls on the work-even rounds, since you want a 2-purl rib on either side of the 2-knit rib you started with, and the increase on the 3rd increase round will also be mPFB and PFB. For the work-even rounds that follow this increase, you'll be knitting the new columns, and then the increases in the 4th increase round will be mKFB and KFB.

By now you should be seeing how this works; you'll have a total of 8 increase rounds, increasing 2 purls, 2 knits, 2 purls, and 2 knits, on either side of the original 2-knit rib you started with. This produces a very interesting gusset, with the new ribs starting sort of from nowhere rather than seeming to spawn off of another column as they would if you did strong increases.

If you'd like to actually knit up some armwarmers like this, I've written up a pattern for them, and you can find that right over here. If you're on Ravelry and want to add it to your queue, here's the link for that.

That should give you a pretty good grasp on the basics of incorporating increased stitches into a pattern. I do have a bit more to say on the topic -- in particular, I want to talk about how one works increases into a lace pattern -- but I think I want to do it in a slightly more generalized way, looking at the decreases also, so I'm going to do that separately. Stay tuned!

Warm hands, warm hearts

Just a quick announcement: there's a new pattern over in the sidebar.

Everybody's Squooshy Mitts are a pair of simple fingerless mitts, designed to be (a) a quick knit that (b) will probably fit your recipient even if you can't measure in advance and that (c) serve as a nice showcase for yummy but complicated yarn that would overwhelm a more complex pattern.

They're knitted top down (to let you use up all your yummy yarn without guessing a cuff length), with a gussetted thumb (and if you've never done a top-down gusset, I assure you it is Not Scary At All), in two sizes to fit almost everybody.

The path to my heart

In the past several posts, we've learned about the parts of a sock, and what the available choices are for each of those parts. Now, I'm going to show you how to use this information to come up with your own unique socks, by walking you through the decision process as I put together the pattern for my own next pair of socks.  The description of this process probably won't give you quite enough information to recreate these exact socks for yourself (in particular, I'm not posting the chart for the heart lace yet), but as soon as I've finished knitting the first sock, to make sure there aren't any unexpected quirks in the process, I'll put the pattern together in a more polished form, and post it for download.

It just so happens that the next pair of socks I want to make is going to be a pair of pink anklets, with turned down cuffs.  Pink looks good on me, and I wear a lot of it, but I happen to have very few pink socks, and none of them handknit; this situation obviously needs to be rectified.  What's more, as if bright pink socks aren't sufficiently inherently girly, they're going to be on the frou-frou side, with eyelet hearts on the turned-over part of the cuff.  And a ruffle.  If that's too much for you, I'm afraid that's just too bad; these are the socks I want to knit.  And coming along for the ride should be instructive, even if you never ever want to knit these.  I'll have some more subtle patterns another time.

Any sock yarn will do for these socks, although the detail will show up more clearly in a solid or very slightly variegated yarn than in something that's got more going on.  For my own pair, I'm going to use DMC Senso microfiber/cotton, which is a crochet yarn; I've used this before, and it's nice for a cotton blend, although I like the wool/cotton a bit better than the microfiber/cotton.  It's also available at craft stores, which is nice for those who don't have a convenient LYS, and quite inexpensive (around $2.15 per 25g ball -- I expect to use 3 for these socks, including swatching).  Most importantly for my current purposes, it comes in a great vivid pink, which is just what I was looking for.

As with any design project, I begin by swatching.  I like my socks to be tightly knit, so I'm going to knit these at 10 st/in, which I can get with a size 0 needle. However, for the formal pattern, I'll take pity on you; it'll include instructions for 8 st/in as well.  My feet are 8.25" around at the ball, which means in a wool yarn I usually go down to 7.5" or so, but this yarn doesn't have too much elasticity, so I'm going to stay with the 8" that's a common default for women's socks.  At 10 st/in, that gives me 80 stitches to work with.

Now, let's think about direction. I want two design elements on the cuff: the ruffle, and the lace hearts.  The ruffle I've got in mind is a bell ruffle, which has triangles of knit stitches separated by narrow strips of purls; the straight strips of purls make the wide end of the triangles flare out like a bell.  It can be done from either end, but doing it from the wide end to the narrow involves a lot of decreasing, which I happen to particularly like, and doing from the narrow end to the wide involves a lot of increasing, which I don't.  The lace pattern for the heart would actually work either way, but the decreases frame the heart a little bit more clearly than increases do.  So that's two factors that lean toward starting from the cuff, and I'm inclined to go that way anyway; I can do toe-up socks just fine, but I like the elements of a cuff-down sock a bit better.  So this sock will start from the cuff.

The cuff on this sock is going to turn down, and of course I want the heart and ruffle elements to face out when they're turned over.  That means that in relation to the rest of the sock, they're going to be on the inside of the tube.  However, I really don't want to knit them from the wrong side, sentencing myself to purl decreases.  Therefore, I'm going to use a nifty little trick, and change the directionality of my knitting; I'll knit the outer part of the cuff with those elements facing out, and then I'll push the whole tube through its own center, turning it inside out, and change my direction of rotation.  Changing direction in this way leaves a little gap, just like the turns on short rows do, but this can be compensated for in exactly the same way as one compensates for short-row gaps; in this case, I'll do a YO as the first stitch of the first round in the new direction, and then work that together with the last stitch of the round, and that will close the gap up beautifully.

So, let's start plotting this out. I've swatched out some bell ruffles, and the ruffle I'm going to use will have 3 columns of purl between the knit triangles, and the triangles themselves will start at 11 stitches and decrease to 1, so for every 4 stitches at the top of the triangle, I need to have 14 at the bottom; 4 goes into 80 twenty times, so I need to cast on 20 x 14 stitches, or 280.  This is the disadvantage of a ruffle -- it takes about a million stitches at the outside edge -- but the decreases do bring the number down quite quickly.  Now, normally I'd do a twisted German cast-on for cuff-down socks, for the stretch, but I don't need it here, since the lower edge of the ruffle will never be stretched completely; instead, I'll just use long-tail, which I find attractive, easy to do, and easy to work from.  So, I'll cast on my gazillion stitches and do my ruffle, and then I'll work a few rows plain to give me some separation between the ruffle and the heart lace.

The heart lace pattern I'm using is a 16-stitch repeat, which means I'll have 5 repeats of it around my sock; the 8st/in version will have the same lace, but only 4 repeats. Now, if I've had my stitches evenly distributed for doing the ruffle -- which I probably will, since 70 is enough to cram on any one needle at the beginning -- then I'll want to rearrange for the hearts, so full repeats are together; that means 32 stitches on one needle, and 16 on the others, or if I were using 2-circs or magic loop, I'd do 32 on one portion and 48 on the other.  After completing the heart and a few rounds of stockinette after it, I'll rearrange again, knitting forward a few stitches into one of the hearts and making that both the beginning of the round, and the side "seam" of the sock, where the heel and instep will split; this rearrangement will make one of the hearts centered on the front of the ankle, and take me back to 20 stitches on each needle.

Now it's time for the turning row.  I'll turn the sock upside down, so the knitting is sticking up from the needles instead of down, and just push it right through the middle, so it's hanging down again, but the reverse-stockinette side is out.  Starting with a yarnover, I'll knit one round, knitting the yarnover together with the last stitch, and then I'll purl one full round; these two rounds of garter stitch will give me a nice break for the cuff to turn over on.

From this point on, I'm going to do ribbing; this isn't a particularly elastic yarn, so ribbing will help it stay up and fit well, and is also more interesting to knit than stockinette. I'm going to use k2p2 ribbing, which is the stretchiest for me, under the cuff, but at the gauge I'm working at, this gives me very fine lines, so for the foot, where it will be visible, I'm going to switch off to a wider k4p4 ribbing, and I'll do a transition between these, so the change looks planned and not abrupt.

I like my ribbing to be symmetrical on the foot, so I'm going to start the round with a k1, and then do p2,k2 around to the last stitch, which will also be a k1.  I'll do this ribbing until the length from the turning row is about the same as the length from the top of the ruffle to the turning row, and then I'll use about 1/2" to do a transition from k2p2 to k4p4, on the instep side of the sock only; I'll keep the heel side in k2p2 for now.  I'm going to make the k4p4 ribbing symmetrical as well, starting my rounds with a k2; this means that one of my current k2 ribs is lined up on what will be the middle two stitches of a k4 rib, and the next k2 is lined up on the what will be the middle two stitches of a p4.  I want to move those k2s that are lined up on the p4s so they smoothly join the ribs on either side to form the k4; this is a neater transition than just stopping one and starting the other.  The way I'm going to do that is by using a left cross on one knit stitch and the purl to its right, and a right cross on the other knit stitch and the purl to its left, so I split them apart and put two purls in between them; I'll knit even for a few rounds, and then do another set of crosses to move the knits over to join the others that form the k4, and move their adjacent purls together to form the p4s.  I'll work one round with the instep side in the k4p4, just to have it well-established, and then I'll split for the heel.

If I were making these to be clog socks, I'd probably keep the heel flap in stockinette, and most likely put another repeat of the heart lace pattern on it, but since I'm much more likely to be wearing these socks in sneakers, I'm going to do my heel flap in eye-of-partridge, instead. My end-of-round is at the left side of the sock, so I've just worked across the heel stitches, and I'll start my heel flap on the WS stitches.  When I do eye-of-partridge or heel-stitch, I like to set things up so I'm doing the slip-alternate-stitches bit on the WS rows, for less purling.  I also purl both end stitches on the WS rows, and slip both end stitches on the RS rows, rather than slipping the first stitch of every row; it makes staying in the slip-stitch pattern easier.  I like to end on a RS row, and then do a Dutch heel; this is the one which fits my foot the best.

After completing the heel turn, I'll pick up gusset stitches and return to knitting in the round; the sole and gussets will be in stockinette, with the instep in k4p4 rib, starting and ending with k2 so it's symmetrical on the foot.

I'm going to do a wedge toe, decreasing from 80 stitches to 32, which is a little more than a third of the width.  I'll have 48 decreases to do, at a rate of 4 stitches every other row, so that gives me 24 decrease rows; at the gauge I'm working at, that's a bit less than 2 inches, so I'll work until the sock is about 1.5" shorter than my overall foot measurement, which will give me a toe that's close to my actual toes but not stretched across them.

And now, I have to go actually knit that, and write up the pattern, so you can knit it too!  It'll be coming soon.