How do you like this double knitting side edge?
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| 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.
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| This is the default curl-on-curl edging for double knitting. The red-framed photo shows what the borders of three side columns in blue and in white look like when they are peeled apart. The edges are are unconnected, yet they are 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: purl stitches instead of knit. This transforms plain stockinette into ribbing.
--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.)
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| Dropping edge stitches? WHAT? Hopefully this close-up encourages you to go on reading |
Anatomy of a chain-edge stitch
Loose chain-edge stitches scare a lot of knitters. It sure used to scare me when an edge stitch came loose by accident. It took me a long time to figure out why a loose edge stitch makes a giant waving loop, unlike dropping a regular stitch. But the answer did come eventually, and 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 twenty rows high each. 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 bottomThis 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.
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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. I did the actual unlatching by using a small dpn to gently pull the lower stitch up and off from where it originally lay around the neck of the upper, working gently and not tugging. c: Both fabric faces have had their 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, you may wish to pin the layers together with a straight pin before transforming the edge. |
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.
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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.
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.Then, the next loop in line is released from the opposite fabric face and immediately transformed.
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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 unlatched and transformed. |
Parting shot and preview
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Transformed edges are beautiful in double knitting. However...it's not just edges which can be transformed! |
Stay tuned. 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