TECHknitting

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Double knitting by transformation 2: Color Patterns

Plain stockinette fabric can become double knitting by the process of "transformation."

Today, that same trick makes color patterns.

This scarf started as two rectangles, one purple, one green. It was transformed into double knitting by dropping columns, then latching them up again. The color patterns form by alternating the draw-up from front or back.

In a previous post, this scarf displayed an example of double-knit edging by transformation, but, in fact, on the entire scarf, every colored pattern was made by dropping columns, then hooking up the ladder rungs in pattern, first on one fabric face, then the other.

If you think about it, this is just a variation on a theme. Instead of transforming widely-spaced columns to form baffles, like in the last post, or transforming edge columns for alternate color edging, today's trick transforms nearly every column.

The multi-colored pattern comes from transforming different-colored ladder-rungs within the columns.

--Back stitches are latched to the front for a certain height.
--Just above that stack, front stitches are latched on the front.

Stacking colors within the columns forms a pattern based on the interruptions.

WHY double-knit this way? For MACHINE KNITTERS, this is a way to transform stockinette yardage into a whole new category of knitting you can't get on a home knitting machine.

For HAND-KNITTERS, the answer might be curiosity to make an all-over pattern like the sample scarf, but a more practical use is instead to use this for patterns here-and-there. Double knitting by transformation would be an easy way to add a little flower or motif in double knitting, right in the middle of an otherwise plain blanket or scarf. For example, here's a Greek Key motif spanning 18 columns over 26 stitches, which isn't so very many to stop and transform in the middle of, say, a long scarf or a lap robe.

HOW-TO

This earlier post has the practical how-to for dropping and re-latching vertical columns into double knitting. There's even a video. Today's post builds on that skill by bringing the dropped columns closer and interrupting the latching pattern into different colors. Consider reviewing the earlier post before going on.

Greek Key Motif

This pattern is numbered internally to make counting easier as various rungs are either "jumped over" to bring contrasting color rungs forward, or "re-latched" to work main color rungs as part of the pattern.

Greek Key chart. Click here for large free-floating version,
click here for printable black and white version.

This example is just a little square to practice on.

Start with a provisional cast on, and needles large enough to give a fairly loose fabric. The chart adds two extra rows at the top in gray. Those extra two rows prevent the top edge getting shop-worn through handling. If this isn't knit in the middle of something bigger, those gray rows are pulled out at the end.

To knit this chart from two separate pieces of fabric, make one piece 24 stitches wide by 34 rows high, the other same width but one row shorter: 33 rows high. Work the edges as a chain selvedge, this is prep for the edging to come. Remove the provisional cast on, then place the live bottom stitches on needles.

The provisional cast off has been removed and those live stitches transferred to knitting needles. The top live stitches are held on stitch holders.

Graft the bottom edges using the color which was knit one row shorter. Once you've attached the two pieces of fabric, whichever color you choose for grafting adds back the missing row.

Both pieces grafted together

If you hate grafting, substitute a continuous strip which changes color in the middle. However, this short-cut leads to the weird property that folded knitting has a half-stitch offset between fabrics laddered out from different directions. So maybe for a first project, either don't take this particular short-cut, or add extra side columns to disguise the offset. There's more about this effect in the previous post.

A third alternative: begin the second fabric by starting it through the loops at the bottom of the first. This makes a purl-looking cast on, but is structurally identical to a grafted fabric (no offset.)

Attach the fabrics along one long edge by dropping the chain selvedge stitches, using the transformation trick for making beautiful alternating edges. This makes a reversible pocket-shape closed on two sides, smooth (knit side) out, purl sides back-to-back.

Bottom and one side attached. Red will be the "front fabric."

Next, drop two ladders: one each on each color fabric, the same number of columns away from their common edge. Below, a red ladder released, a yellow ladder behind it.*

Ladders released, front and back, in corresponding columns, on stitch holders

In this (and every!) column, don't ladder out to the very bottom. Always stop the same number of stitches up from the bottom. On the chart, three rows are always left unworked along the bottom edge.

Once you've released two ladders in corresponding columns, the fabric facing towards you is the "front fabric" (here, red). The other (here, yellow) is the "back." Arrange the fabric so that the two ladders are exactly one behind the other. (The "exactly behind one another" part is what you have to fudge if using a folded fabric.)

Now comes the trick: to re-latch the ladder, you draw up a rung through the bottom loop, in the ordinary way of re-latching except that, where you want a contrasting color (cc) stitch, you draw up a rung from the back fabric.

On the chart, the first loop over the crochet hook at the bottom of a front column is in row 3. The corresponding loop on a stitch holder at the bottom of a back column is also in row 3. The first rungs drawn forward or back would be in row 4.

It is very, very easy to grab the wrong rung, especially when you first start and there are no cc stitches alongside to use as reference points. For the sample square, it's no big problem to count up from the bottom. But in the middle of a plain piece of fabric, it's hard to count up from the bottom. Instead, create a reference point. Baste a line of thread along a row to act as a reference mark, or use a "disappearing ink" quilt marker. (Test first on a swatch to be sure it'll completely fade.) If you like to plan ahead, knit in a horizontal stripe: that's what I did on this seat cushion.

HOOKING UP CONTRASTING COLOR STITCHES

a.k.a "jumping over" to bring back rungs to the front

Working from the front, and, starting upwards from the bottom, reach OVER the first (bottommost) loose front rung. Insert the hook to the back of both fabrics, and draw through the first loose bottom rung of the ladder in the back fabric.

Jump the hook up and over one (and only one!) front rung as you reach to the back to draw up the next-highest back rung. It's super-easy to jump over two, especially when you first start.

Working from the front (red) side. The yellow loops come from the fabric back.

The yellow column to right is a column which has already been worked.

Step-wise progression...

A yellow back-rung, labeled 1, has already been drawn to the front. It is the loop around the crochet hook.
Next, the hook is jumped over the next-higher front (red) rung, labeled A. This pushes A behind the crochet hook.
The hook inserts and draws the next-higher yellow rung from the back fabric, labeled 2.
Once yellow back-rung 2 is drawn down through yellow stitch-loop 1, yellow-2 becomes the stitch-loop around the hook, as yellow-1 slips off--it's now a fully latched-up stitch.
Red-A (the front rung which was jumped over) is parked on the back of the fabric for now, trapped in place by latched-up stitch-loops yellow-1 and yellow-2.
Once yellow-2 has been drawn through yellow-1, the hook next jumps over red front-rung B, to grab yellow-3.
Once yellow-3 is over the hook, it will be drawn down through yellow loop-2. This parks red front-rung B on the fabric-back, trapped in place between latched-up stitch loops yellow-2 and yellow-3 .

Steps 1-7 basically boil down to reaching over the next-highest (red) front rung to grab the next-highest (yellow) back rung, then drawing through that back rung, then repeating.

This continues until all the back (contrasting color) rungs required to be worked by the pattern are in a tidy column on the front of the fabric. Just such a stack of latched-up yellow back-rungs is to the right on the photo.

When all the contrasting-color (back) loops required by the pattern have been latched up, turn the fabric over, and, working from the back, hook up all the red front rungs. They're easy to see and easy to hook, because they have been forced to the back of the fabric in stacked order, trapped there as the yellow stitches were previously worked in that column.

Once all the front rungs are worked to the back, flip the fabric and again set off working on the front. Except that now you are ...

HOOKING UP SAME-COLOR STITCHES

a.k.a. "re-latching" to work front stitches as part of the pattern

Suppose the next stitch to transform is red stitch "X" in the column with the arrow.

There are now three front (red) rungs to draw through. So this time, DON'T step over the lowest front rung. Instead, grab it and draw it through the (yellow) loop on the hook. The chart requires two more red stitches above the X, so draw through the two next highest front (red) rungs as well.

Three front rungs in red have been worked. This time, it is the yellow back rungs which are parked on the back fabric, waiting to be worked. Flip the fabric, and draw the three waiting back-rungs through on the back fabric. Then flip the fabric, ready to start off from the front (red) side again.

Continue in this way, always working from the front fabric first, then back, drawing through whichever kind of loop the chart requires, either front red or yellow back.

As the work progresses, the design takes form.

Design developing: view from back.

If knitting a small square, then when all the columns are transformed, close the remaining side, same way as the first. Now all that remains to be done is to finish the square at the top. Rip out the extra rows, remembering again that whichever color you choose to graft with will have an extra row added back, so pull out one extra row in that fabric. A grafted bottom edge or a folded one is matched by a stockinette graft. If you used a purl-looking cast on, match it with a purled bind off. Once the top is closed, it's a reversible fabric, identical top and bottom, side and side.

The result is completely indistinguishable from traditional double knitting--here are both sides of the finished square.

Back (yellow background) and front (red background).

If working a motif in the middle of a blanket or such, stop knitting when a few rows above where the top of the motif should end. Transform the fabric, then knit further. This saves having to drop down so many rows.

Again: for machine knitters, this is a way to do something quite different with the acres of stockinette a knitting machine easily churns out. For hand knitters, it's a way to add reversible designs in the middle of a scarf or lap robe--items which are, more or less, also acres of stockinette. However, the purple and green scarf (opening photo) was transformed in every single column, and it didn't actually take me longer than double knitting would have. Perhaps novelty made the time pass quicker?

I'll end with another trick of fascinating structure.

Transforming a single piece of stockinette knit in alternating-color one-row-high stripes

Once you figure out that all you need to transform a single fabric into a double-knit is an equal proportion of loose ladder rungs set next to one another, you realize any method of filling this condition works as a set-up for transformation. So, you could start with a fabric knit of one-row high stripes in two different colors.

A single-layer fabric of alternating one-row stripes. The purple at the bottom is waste yarn to be removed at project end.

Releasing a single column at a time yields ladder rungs of two different colors, one atop the other. Now latch up all the stitches of one color from the "front" of the fabric, and all the stitches of the other color on the "back" of the fabric and it becomes a double knit fabric made of two layers, back-to-back. Varying the order in which you pick up the rungs yields color patterns. Here is the one-row fabric being transformed--the work is on column 10 of the above chart.

Pretty weird, huh?

The fabric shortens because stitches originally atop one another in stripes transform to snuggle back-to-back in a double-thick fabric. That's why the original fabric was knit so long: twice as long as the finished work.

The finished fabric from this trick is similar to, but not structurally identical with, double knitting. The color motifs are connected through the thickness of the fabric only where there has been a change of color along a vertical column, but not at a horizontal change.

A few tips: This trick must be started with a provisional cast on of several rows of waste yarn--purple in the above illustrations. The column is run all the way down to the bottom, then the base stitch for each column is anchored in the waste yarn, meaning, the waste yarn is the first loop over the hook. Finding an anchoring spot is tricky: two columns--one for the back fabric, one for the front fabric-- must be anchored for each one stitch of waste yarn released. You've got to poke around with the crochet hook, anchoring the extra column through the waste fabric through loops drawn up at random. It all comes out OK because when the waste yarn is removed (carefully! one stitch at a time! ) the loops are waiting to be picked up, regardless of where anchored.

Once released from the waste fabric, the bottom loops are caught up on a knitting needle. The two fabric faces are grafted together top and bottom. The sides are attached as for the first trick, by an alternating latched-up chain made from the released edge stitches.

As to speed, this trick actually goes faster than the first. All the rungs to grab are in plain sight, rather than being hidden on the fabric back: less fishing around with the crochet hook.

It's a fascinating piece of yarn topology, but I'm not sure of a practical use for this trick? If used in widely spaced columns, it could maybe ruche up vertical gathers across a garment front? In a one-color fabric, this would create quite a mysterious structure. Something to try some day...

--TK

*The chart shows 3 edge columns, this sample has only 2. The chart is correct.

Saturday, April 11, 2026

Hey Reddit

Could you pretty-please stop cut-pasting my illustrations to the knitting subreddits? Not calling anyone out but the problem is...

Even if you properly attribute the pic, AI's scrape Reddit all the time and AI's do not properly attribute.
That puts my copyrighted pictures out there for reproduction without attribution or context.
Next thing is, I could totally lose control of them and have my pix enter the public domain.
which would make me sad because...each pic takes a long time to draw.

So, instead, please just drop a link to the relevant post?

Many thanks--TECHknitter

Friday, April 3, 2026

Double knitting by transformation 1: vertical baffles

In original concept, creating double knitting means working stitch-by-stitch to create a two-faced reversible fabric. At the end, each smooth stockinette face displays the same color-work design, but with colors reversed. You'd think a trick this slick couldn't be topped, but you'd be wrong. Here is a trick called "double knitting by transformation."

In today's piece of knitting magic, you start with one kind of fabric and "transform" it into another by latching down a column of stockinette into ladders followed by re-latching the ladder back up. Re-latching transforms the ladder-rungs, returning them to being stitches in a column. However, by today's trick, that column now appears on the opposite fabric face!

This intro to double knitting by transformation shows how two separate pieces of stockinette can be easily transformed into a simple, baffled, double-knit fabric. But this is just the beginning. Follow-up posts are set to demo re-latching into more complex fabrics with colored designs, structurally identical to knit-as-you-go mirror image double knitting.

VERTICAL BAFFLES BY TRANSFORMATION

For a start, a real-life project for proof of concept. More about this project after intro & how-to.

This chair cushion was made by transforming evenly-spaced columns of flat-knit stockinette fabric into double-knit fabric with vertical baffles. Working by transformation was quicker than work-as-you-go double knitting, and with better tension, also.

INTRO

Haven't we seen vertical baffles before? Yes, but...

This series on double knitting already shown a simplified way of making vertical baffles, via my new four-needle double knitting trick. BUT! today's trick is not related EXCEPT that the resulting fabric is IDENTICAL: the same fabric by a different technique. And actually, this is EASIER (which is why the vertical baffle post suggested waiting for this post before starting a vertical baffle project!)

In this method, all the knitting is done as pure stockinette (perhaps with strategically placed texture patterns, such as cables--more on this below). Transformation to baffled vertical fabric takes a fraction of the project time that it would take to double knit the entire fabric in the first place, regardless whether by the classic two needle method, or my new four-needle method. It is especially faster if you have a knitting machine to quickly churn out yardage of stockinette fabric. (Hello machine knitters!)

The idea is to start with two independent fabrics. A ladder is let down in both fabrics. Holding the fabrics back-to-back, you hook up the rungs of the back fabric onto the front fabric, and those of the front fabric onto the back fabric.

HOW-TO

This swatch is actually the one left over from the previous post. As described there, the swatch was made of two stockinette fabrics, joined at the bottom. Then, the previous post shows how the side was latched up in the into a "transformation edge."

Now, that same process--transformation--is going to be applied to the interior of the fabric.

In these photos I have dropped the fifth column from the LEFT edge on the front (purple) fabric, and the matching column (fifth column from the RIGHT on the back (green) fabric. The ladder stops a few stitches from the bottom, so it doesn't tangle with the cast-on.

I've named the purple "front" and the green "back."

In real life, either face could have been called "front."

The loop immediately below the bottom purple rung gets a crochet hook inserted. The loop at the bottom of the green ladder gets a stitch holder.

Transformation set to begin
Front fabric gets a crochet hook, back fabric gets a stitch holder
(Both these bottom loops are marked in blue in the next set of photos)

Transformation is now set to begin. Hold the purple fabric face (front) towards you. The idea is to hook up the green back ladders onto the front purple fabric face. When this is done, the fabric is flipped and the purple ladders are drawn onto the green fabric face.

By this switcheroo, the two previously independent fabric faces are connected through the layers, to become one two-faced double knit swatch, just as if they had been double-knit that way in the first place.

Step-by-step

The cycle begins by inserting the hook through both ladders. In the photo below, you cannot see the hook-head, because it now comes out on the green side.

The purple bottom loop (blue dotted line and arrow) stays on the barrel of the hook.
The hook in inserted to "jump over" the bottom PURPLE ladder-rung, marked with a purple dotted line and arrow, but under the next higher rung, which is marked with a brown dotted line and arrow.

Sandwich front---crochet hook "jumps over" before heading to the back fabric face.
Click here for super-enlargement

Now we must direct the hook to catch the bottom GREEN ladder rung on the other side of the fabric. That rung is marked with a green dotted line and arrow. But first, we have to find it. Therefore, flip the fabric sandwich over so the hook shows, then grab that rung as shown.

The hook is NOT catching the loop on the holder which is marked in blue . That loop just stays on the holder, keeping out of the way for the time being. Instead, the hook is catching the lowest LOOSE rung.

Sandwich back
Click here for super-enlargement

Once the green rung is caught, flip the fabric sandwich back to the purple side. The hook now draws the green rung to the front and slips it through the purple loop. Now the hook is wearing only one loop--a green one. Note: Sometimes, the loop gets twisted in the draw-through (as you'll see in the below video). However, the problem is obvious and not hard to correct: just one more thing to look out for!
The cycle begins again when the hook again inserts through the ladder, again "jumping over" the next higher purple ladder rung, and grabs the next lowest green rung.

Once the first few opposite color loops are established, you may find that flipping is no longer necessary. You will be able to see the opposite ladder rungs right through the fabric, called the "see-though" method. See-through has the advantage that the loops are harder to twist, easier to grab and much faster.

A third alternative for rung-grabbing is called "open book." You'll see that the fabric layers can be separated. By this method, the entire back fabric is displayed, making it easy to see the next lower back rung to grab. Open-book is basically foolproof--you'll always grab the correct rung--but it is slower than see-through.

Here is video showing the entire process with all three techniques in order: flip, see-through, and open book. It also shows what to do on the OTHER side of the fabric.

Just going to say it again: regardless which way you choose to find the next-lowest rung of the back fabric, you ALWAYS have to insert the hook to first "jump over" the next higher rung of the front fabric.

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Direct You-Tube link: https://youtu.be/I2Ddma3cCow

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Tips:

At least for the first time, choose NON-SPLITTY pure WOOL, the stuff off a sheep's back. In my experience, most superwash is splitty, so consider using non-superwash. This is because split stitches ruin the smooth look. If you're still having trouble with splitting, consider using a latch-hook instead of a crochet hook.
Made with synthetic or any slippery fiber, the dropped ladders want to slide and may even start to disappear. That's why wool is better for this trick: it is naturally sticky.
Unlatched ladders in wool are kinky, so lightly steam the wool til the kinks fall out. Easier to re-latch smooth ladders.
Make sure you're starting with same number of released rungs on both fabric faces, and that the fabrics are stockinette, held back-to-back.
Call one fabric the "front," and the other the "back," then work this order consistently. If you switch up, the fabrics get one row off because you'd be jumping over a stitch in a different row in different columns.
Count the same number of stitches in from the edge before unlatching, so matching columns get transformed.
On the reverse, the front (purple) ladder rungs sit nice and neat, waiting to be picked up, per video. They were pushed into position when "jumped over" earlier. However, sometimes, a jumped-over ladder gets pushed down or sideways so it hides between the fabric layers. If one ladder-rung seems to be missing, this is usually why. Hunt around to hook that loop out of its hiding place.
On a very long column, work in batches: maybe 10 or 15 rows, then catch up on the other side. Check to make sure you aren't missing any hook ups by counting the rungs still remaining above--there should be the same number both sides at the end of each batch. More on this below.
This swatch is small and narrow. On a larger fabric, or one which will get a lot of transformation (like in the next post), it is easier to leave the bottom OPEN, then attach afterwards--more on this below.
It is easiest to start transforming the first stitch or two of each column via the flip method, or the open-book method. However, no matter what method you start with, if all you're doing is hooking straight columns, you'll probably revert to the "see-through" method pretty quick. Nevertheless, occasionally still flip the fabric over to make sure of not skipping rungs by accident.
With deeper projects, if you are right handed, it's easiest to attach the fabrics at the left edge, then start column one in the leftmost corner of the front fabric, with each subsequent column starting to the right. This lets you "open like a book" to investigate if things don't seem quite right. If you start at the rightmost column, you can still open like a book BUT it will be awkward because it is against your handedness. If left handed, do the opposite: start at the rightmost column then work leftwards.

At the top, stop latching opposite colored rungs when you are two or three rungs from the top. Latch those last three rungs in the SAME color. This gives you the same "frame" at the top as you got at the bottom--recollect that you don't latch all the way down on the front to avoid tangling with the cast on.

Close up: a purple column on a green background, a green column on a purple background.

Transformed double knit column

Geek note: as you see by the top stitches on the double-knit column, it is possible to switch from purple to green rungs when latching up (and vice versa). Intra-column color-switching gives rise to many opportunities: that's the next post in this series.

By transforming further columns, you get stuff-able vertical baffles. Here, the parallel baffles are stuffed up with Bernat "big blanket" chenille yarn. (There's lot more about stuffing at the knit-in vertical baffle post--remember, although these are completely different METHODS, the make an IDENTICAL fabric.)

Double knit sample with vertical baffles created via transformation, stuffed up with jumbo chenille yarn. Normally, that loop would be cut off before fastening the top--it's left that way because if it were cut, the stuffing would be inside where you couldn't see it...

Couple of other things to note:
--The leftmost column was worked first, then the next column was worked to the right of that.
--Note the three-stitch "frame" top and bottom.
--The simplest way to finish the top is to graft it shut.

Vertical baffles by transformation IRL: seat cushion

Overview: The project was started with a provisional cast on. By the time this photo was taken, that cast on had been removed and the stitches put on a circular needle as a holder. Also, one ladder had been let down (red arrows) and the rungs steamed to relax their kinky ways.

This project was knit as a single piece of fabric. Being in a single piece makes an easy bottom: simply fold up. However, the fold makes it harder to work the columns in the lower left corner. It's a balancing act between which you prefer: 1) latching up more easily with an open bottom, but then you have to graft the bottom shut, or 2) having an easy bottom to make by simply folding the fabric, but latching up from a congested corner.

Folding over also makes an unusual situation with stitch count--the fabric will have one less stitch on the provisionally cast on edge. This is because one fabric is laddered down from the stitch "heads," and the other from the "tails." One solution is to add one stitch in an inconspicuous spot, two rows above the cast on. Be aware and don't add stitches where a ladder will later be let down. Another solution (which I used on the seat cushion) is to simply live with the differential stitch count.

Being a stitch off means that the two fabrics are offset by 1/2 stitch. This is most visible where laddered-out columns run close together. The offset would prove an awkward thing to work around if each column had been dropped all the way to its bottom, so leave margin of at least three stitches each side of the fold line, to avoid this. At the side-edges, this situation also shows up as a half-stitch offset. It's not a structural issue. It isn't a visual issue either, as long as you leave a bottom margin as shown when laddering down, and isn't visually apparent at the sides unless you go hunting for it. (And again, none of these problems arise if the project being latched up started as two independent fabrics.)

There is only a single stitch arm (1/2 a stitch) between the columns of the two released stitches. Click here for enlargement .

So...what is actually going on behind the scenes when you unlatch + re-latch? I've already shown how to make an edge by transformation, and this makes a very pretty alternating edge. It turns out, that same alternating structure is created inside the transformation column. This short video illustrates the alternating criss-cross of loops from one fabric face to the other. (This is also the structure created by double-knitting as-you-go, whether by the classic two-needle method or by the new four-needle method.)

To make the top match the bottom, the top of this cushion was grafted shut in knit (stockinette).

Matchy-matchy top and bottom: fold-over edge below, knit (stockinette) graft above

Grafting in stockinette differs from the instructions so far in this series. The default bottom for double knitting, introduced here, is to pick up the second fabric through the cast-on loops of the first. This makes a purl-looking bottom edge. Then, the top is separated onto two needles for front and back if they aren't separated already, then grafted shut in purl. This makes the default of top and bottom with a purl row-match. By contrast, on this project, the match is achieved by the simple folded bottom paired with a knit-grafted top.

This cushion was knit in Drops Karisma, a DK weight yarn. It was worked at a gauge of 5 sts/in and 7 rows/in. This is a slightly loose gauge for this yarn. The latching process draws yarn out of the fabric, so a looser gauge makes latching easier. However, too loose and the stuffing shows. Another reason to swatch for transformation projects.

Puffy stuffed baffles

The baffles vary in width from 9 columns at the top to 11 columns at the bottom. Each column is stuffed with a doubled-over strand of Bernat Big Blanket chenille yarn. A method for stuffing blind (dead-end) baffles is described here.

Adapted for clothing, this combo of yarn and stuffing would make a heavy jacket. It would be similar in weight to a melton wool jacket (think: pea coat) although puffier, stretchier, and less "hot," due to being less wind-resistant. If the sleeves were stuffed, it might bring to mind the Michelin Man: might be best to leave sleeves un-stuffed, or anyway, lightly stuffed. Another use: a chunky puffer vest which would be good under a wind breaker for outdoor use. For indoors, a vest would be good for a cool office (sitting still) or chilly warehouse/greenhouse (moving) but probably too warm for a well-heated house. In any kind of garment, the shoulder seams ought to be stout: vertical baffles make a heavy, stiff fabric.

The fabric was knit in stripes on the "front" side, and this makes latching up easier. There are nine blue or green rows between each rust-colored contrast stripe, so I batch-latched in groups of ten on each side: easier to keep track.

Knitted-in vertical stripes also gave this cushion a matching look to one I made earlier--another striped cushion, knit-as-you-go by my new four-needle double knitting technique, made with horizontal baffles. Here are the two, side by side, variations on a theme.

Left cushion was knit as-you-go via four needle double knitting in horizontal baffles

Right cushion is in matching colors, also striped, but in vertical baffles by transformation

Transforming with texture

This swatch shows transforming into vertical baffles with texture. This project started with two fabrics, the darker with a 6-stitch wide texture (cable) panel. (However, there's no reason not to put cables on both sides!)

Cables are usually knit with purl columns alongside to make them pop: the receding purls stand the cables taller by contrast. However, when transforming, cables are knit plain across, meaning, no purl offset columns. Instead, the offset is created afterward by a contrasting color column, which is transformed in the adjoining column where the purls would ordinarily be.

If you stuff the baffle with the cable panel while leaving the baffles alongside flat, you get a really juicy cable, standing higher than with any purl offsets you could ever knit.

...a really juicy cable, standing higher, like a real rope running down the middle

Stuffed transformed vertical baffle fabrics would ordinarily be too stiff for a neck scarf, but! If you transformed a long fabric and left all the baffles unstuffed EXCEPT for a central cable, that would be a beautiful and wearable scarf with an unusual design feature, as if a real cable (rope!) ran right down the middle.

Geek notes:

-- Vertical baffles by transformation is yet another example of the relationship between independent fabrics and double knitting. More on this subject: Double knitting + working independent layers.

--Suppose you want a quilted look in a transformed project, as from discontinuous columns, below. In this case, stop the knitting to drop the columns at the top of each discontinuity. Alternatively, this might be a situation where knitting baffles as-you-go would be just as easy.

--As to stuffing, experiment on your swatch to see which is easier: stuffing discontinuous columns as-you-go, or weaving the afghan hook through the S-shaped baffles which discontinuous latching leave behind, drawing through the stuffing-yarn afterward.

--The sides on the seat cushion project were joined afterward by the "zig-zag" method, to be shown in a future post. The cable swatch was worked with an open bottom, and both bottom and top were later grafted together, matchy-matchy.

Next post: color patterns by transformation

--TK

Questions? Feedback? Contact me at

Blue Sky @techknitter.bsky.social or talk to me about this post on Ravelry TECHknitter forum

This is one in a series on Double Knitting. The series so far:

Grafting in purl using knitting stitches and a knitting needle--a background info post

Double knitting intro: basic methods for getting stitches on and off your needles + working side edges

Double knitting, the what and the how: History(ish), Theory, How-to demos

Double knitting + working independent layers: useful trick for projects with lots of one color backgrounds

Four needle double knitting: new ways to double knit via "slide-by" and "picking

Four needle double knitting in the THIRD DIMENSION part 1: Horizontal baffles

Four-needle double-knitting vs. four double-pointed needles: DISAMBIGUATION

Double-Knit Cables: Vertical baffles via Four-Needle Double-knitting, part 2 of a series

Reversible legible words in double knitting--uncoupling stitches via the "ping-pong" technique."

Side edges in double knitting, part 2: Transformation edging

Double knitting by Transformation 1: vertical baffles (this post)

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Side edges in double knitting, part 2: Transformation Edging

How do you like this double knitting side edge?

Double knitting with Transformation Edging
Click here for super-enlargement

This edge is made by "transforming" the default curl-on-curl edging introduced earlier (part 1 of edging). So, before you can have this kind of an edge, you have to start with that kind of edge.

Default edging: curl-on-curl

In curl-on-curl edging, the three edge stitches on both sides are always knit in the same color, creating a sort of frame around the color pattern. Color-switching double knitting only starts in column four.

To make the edge stitches more attractive, they are knit using a chain selvedge. This means slipping the first (or last, doesn't matter) stitch of each row, creating an edge stitch which spans TWO rows.

This basic-yet-elegant edge harnesses the powerful force of stockinette curl to permanently snug together the three loose columns edging the front and back fabric faces. The white-framed photos show this curl-on-curl edging in its curled up natural state. The red-framed photo bottom left has the edges peeled apart. See for yourself: the fabric edges are not actually connected.

This is the default curl-on-curl edging for double knitting. The red-framed photo shows the borders of three side columns in blue and in white when they are peeled apart. The edges are unconnected, yet permanently held together by the strong force of stockinette curl.
The actual edge stitches in each color are worked as a chain selvedge. The bottom photos show the inside and outside of the chain selvedge in detail, and especially how each edge stitch spans two knit rows.
Click here for super-enlargement.

Though elegant, curl-on-curl edging is plain. Sometimes you want fancy. This is where transformation edging comes in.

Transformation, a form of "after-knitting"

"After-knitting" is where you mess around with already-knitted fabric, to make it into something else. The particular kind of after-knitting we want today is called "transformation." Transformation is where you ladder down stitches, then pick them up again. Examples include...

--dropping a ladder to fix an error like a miscrossed cable. The stitches are "transformed" into ladders, the ladders are pulled from under the miscross, and then transformed back into stitches again.

--dropping a ladder to latch the stitches up in a different orientation: knit stitches instead of purl. This transforms plain stockinette into ribbing
(or even cable-etts).

--dropping a ladder and picking up the stitches standing on their heads. These re-latched upside-down stitches are the basis for infinity loops--a new way to knit distortion-free Celtic knots.

In today's trick we'll also ladder down, but now we are operating on the edge stitches. These will be laddered down, then picked back up, but now arranged alternately--first one color, then the next. This makes the beautiful edging. Again, transformation is a form of after-knitting, so this trick is worked as part of the finishing process. (But! Try this on a swatch before you risk dropping edge stitches on a completed double knitting project.)

Dropping edge stitches? WHAT?
(It'll be worth it for this pretty edge)

Anatomy of a chain-edge stitch

Loose chain-edge stitches are scary when they come loose by accident. Why do they make a giant waving loops, unlike dropping a regular stitch? The anatomy of a loose chain stitch is illustrated in this post on fixing accidentally dropped edge stitches. Strongly suggest reading that post before proceeding.

Practice swatch

Below is a simple practice swatch consisting of two separate fabrics, joined at the bottom. This is a stand-in for an actual double-knit project. There are 20 stitches of each fabric, knitted 24 rows high each, counted above the cast on. The swatch is in stockinette, arranged so the purl sides can be folded together.

Geek note: For more information about the relationship of back-to-back flat fabrics and double knitting, read this post. Or, just take it on faith that that this set-up is equivalent to an actual double knit project for the purpose of practicing edging, as long as that project was knit with each fabric face bordered by chain selvedges all in one color--the default curl-on-curl edging described here.

Transformation edging for double knitting

There are two ways to latch up the edges: starting at the bottom or starting at the top.

Transforming from the bottom
This is the easiest to understand. Simply drop all the edge stitches to the bottom on both fabric faces so there are open loops along both front and back fabrics. Then, starting at the bottom, latch up these stitches alternately.

PRACTICE SWATCH

a: Showing the chain selvedge stitches before they are dropped. The swatch is folded purl sides together.

b: The green chain selvedge stitches have been unlatched from top to bottom. Unlatch by using a small dpn to gently pull a lower chain up and over, lifting it from around the neck of the one above, working gently and not tugging.

c: Both fabric faces with chain selvedges unlatched, then parked for safekeeping on dpn's

Geek note: This swatch was HEAVILY steam blocked to lay flat for these photos. You haven't done it wrong if your swatch curls like mad, that's what stockinette does. To tame, straight-pin the layers together before transforming. Remember: in an actual double knitting project with a curl-on-curl edging, the pattern stitches starting in column 4 would be holding the fabrics together: only the edge columns would curl.

On this small practice swatch, dropping to the bottom was no problem--the loose loops were easily parked on dpn's for temporary safekeeping. But on a longer project, you might like to drop and re-latch the edge stitches as you go along--every 10 or 20 rows, for example.

The latching itself is done with a crochet hook, the colors drawn alternately from front and back fabric face. When parking, catch each unlatched stitch on its dpn UNTWISTED. Same when latching: draw the loops through UNTWISTED. Here, I inserted the hook into each loose loop from the bottom, catching from left to right for the green top fabric, and from right to left for the purple bottom fabric. Another way of saying this is the loops are always drawn from the outside to the inside. Consistently catching the loops the same way is the key to beauty.

a: Latching up alternately with a crochet hook, taking one loop at a time from the parking-dpn's

b: The transformed edge. The last loop (green) gets put back on the top needles, awaiting closing of the top.

If you are latching as-you-go (every 10 or 20 rows) remember to protect the stitch count by returning the loops of BOTH color stitches to their working needle.

At the end of the last re-latching, only the last (top) loop goes back on the working needle. To keep the stitch count even between front and back fabric, start transforming one edge with a loop of one color, then transform the other edge starting with a loop of the opposite color. This "eats" one stitch of each color out of the total stitch count, giving the same number of stitches of each color when the time comes to close the top.

Transforming from the top
With this trick, the not-yet-unlatched stitches are parked on a dpn and you only unlatch the very stitch you're about to transform. This released loose loop is immediately transformed by drawing it through a loop of the opposite color waiting on the crochet hook, while the unlatched stitch below it is immediately parked at the bottom of the holder dpn. The cycle starts anew when the next loop in line, from the opposite fabric face, is released from the holder dpn and immediately transformed.

TRANSFORMING FROM THE TOP

Arrow 1: dpn holding stitches not yet unlatched

Arrow 2: crochet hook holding most recently transformed stitch (purple)
Arrow 3: this unlatched green stitch on the parking dpn is next in line for transformation--it is waiting to be pulled through the purple stitch on the hook .
HOWEVER, it must first be unlatched by dropping it off the parking dpn, so that the next lower green chain selvedge still in the fabric can be picked off from around its neck.
Arrow 4 points to a small dpn inserted into this next-lower stitch, and this small dpn will lift the arrow-4 stitch off the neck of the arrow-3 stitch.
Once unlatched, the arrow-3 green stitch is transformed by drawing it through the arrow-2 purple stitch on the crochet hook, while the arrow-4 stitch is slid onto the parking dpn BELOW the (as-yet-unlatched) purple stitch on the parking dpn.
The cycle starts again when the purple stitch on the parking dpn is un-parked, unlatched and transformed.
Click here for super-enlargement.

The advantage to top-down transformation is that a long line (like along the edge of a neck-scarf) can be safely transformed without much risk of edge stitches going astray. The disadvantage is, you wind up with a loose loop at the bottom of each side, loops which have to be squirreled away somehow. (Possibly by fastening them down on the inside with a dangling tail left over from starting the project?)

As with transforming from the bottom, start the transformation of each edge with a loop of different color. This keeps the stitch count equal between front and back fabric faces when the time comes to close the top.

With the different techniques, the stitches point in opposite directions. Top-down points ⋀ up, bottom-up points ۷ down.

Parting shot and preview

Transformed edges are beautiful in double knitting.

However...it's not just edges which can be transformed!

The very next post takes the idea of transformation in double knitting even further. Maybe keep the practice swatch handy for more new tricks coming up.

Til then--TK