What's going on?
Shakespeare asked "what's in a name?"
Around here, the answer is "confusion."
To explain...
TECHknitting is in the middle of a series about DOUBLE KNITTING.
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| ...a two-faced fabric, completely reversible |
Double knitting makes a two-faced fabric, completely reversible, like the practice squares above.
Classical double knitting uses one set of needles--TWO TIPS --one left, one right. These are arranged in alternating stitches.
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Classic double knitting: alternating stitches worked on one set of needles, meaning TWO needle tips --white stitches are knit, creating the white fabric face --green stitches are purled, creating a separate green fabric on the back Stitches for both layers lay side-by-side Stitches for each layer are always interrupted by stitches for the other. |
TECHknitting recently introduced a new and different way to work double knitting with two SETS of circular needles, meaning FOUR TIPS--two left, two right.
To distinguish this new trick from the classic (TWO-needle) method, this new method is called FOUR- needle double knitting.
"FOUR needle double knitting" tells you that this new trick differs from classic (TWO-needle) double knitting.
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Four needle double knitting: four needles in hand, two operational at any one time.
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However, having "FOUR" in its name unfortunately leads to confusion of a different kind.
Confusion!
The words "four" and "double" and "needles," have knitters writing to ask whether
--> four-needle double-knitting <--
is like sock knitting on
--> four double-pointed needles <--
The answer is NO.
Same words, it's true, but in different order with different meaning.
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| same words, different order, different meaning |
The set-ups and results are different. One is...
--reversible fabric via four-needle double-knitting on two sets of circular needles
while the other is...
--knitting little items like socks on four double-pointed needles (dpn's).
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| Similar names, different set-ups |
But, it can get even more confusing. "Double knitting"does mean the reversible fabric and the process for making it, BUT it also refers to a weight of yarn.
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| More confusion with "double knitting" |
Whew. No wonder there's confusion!
DISAMBIGUATION
Four-needle double-knitting is a new and easier way of creating two-sided fabric with reversible designs on both sides, using two sets of circular needles: it is not double-knitting weight yarn, nor knitting little items like socks on four double-pointed needles._____________
Where we've been, where we're going
In this series on double knitting, the previous post is about four-needle double-knitted horizontal tubes called "baffles." These are knit via the "picking" method of four-needle double knitting and can be stuffed like the baffles of a puffer jacket. The following post covers four-needle double-knitted vertical baffles. See you there.
--TK
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