I found an afghan pattern I really, really liked. It took me a while to track down the out-of-print source, but I did. And I ordered the book.
The pattern was a “reversible double knit.” More than half a century of knitting and I still hadn’t tried this. But I loved the look! I still haven’t made the afghan from that pattern (it’s still on my list) but I decided to design and knit a different one for my son-in-law for Christmas. (Yes, I always start my Christmas knitting in February.) It’s the one in the picture, folded back so both sides are visible.
Both sides are knit at the same time, on one very long cable needle. I worked from a graph; each square represents two stitches, one color knitted for the front, the other color purled for the back (the reverse). That meant that I had to change my definition of pattern and background color with each row. That was a little confusing; it meant I had to pay very close attention. There was nothing automatic about the star part.
So,what did I learn trying this new-to-me technique? Well, it’s not at all hard to learn if you can already do a few things.
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Can you do both English and continental methods? I learned English, as most people do in America. But I’ve migrated to continental because of the ease and speed. If you can also crochet, you’re more than half way there.
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Can you do colorwork? This is where I use both methods, with the background color in my right hand for English and the design color in my left hand for continental, alternating stitches. If you are this far, you’re ready.
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My cast-on technique for this: Using a needle 2 or 3 sizes larger than I will use for the main body, I cast on only enough for one side. This prevented the flare at the edge from too many stitches. I used the darker color because I like the way it frames the design. Then attach the second color for the first knit row and knit-purl both into each stitch with the needle I wanted for my gauge. I need a very long cable needle if I am making anything of any size since I will have doubled the number of stitches. For this afghan, I used well over 300 stitches. For subsequent rows, although I will still be referring to one square in the chart for two stitches, they will be separate stitches. It’s darned near impossible to see the pattern develop on each row since the two sides are mixed on the needle, so I try very hard not to make mistakes. Correcting them is pretty hard to do afterwards! A hint: If I have three stitches of the same color in succession, I did something wrong.
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There are several ways to handle the side edges. The one I used here gives the look of one blanket resting on top of another. There are ways to make the sides look like barber pole twists but I didn’t want that for this project. So I always brought the back color over the front one when I turned the work, then after the first stitch on the new row, I pulled the yarns tight.
Will I ever do this again? Well, not with this yarn, for sure! It’s a good, dense blanket with appropriate drape. If Adeel ever wants to sleep outdoors, in Alaska, in winter, he’s covered. But I foolishly used bulky weight yarn. Oh, the weight! It pulled on my fingers horribly. The heavy fabric was miserable to hold until it got long enough to rest in my lap, and then it was just bad. Some people work at a table to support the project, but they’re also smart enough to use the aptly-named DK (double knit) weight yarn. (For people using the English names, your DK is what Americans call worsted. What we call DK you would call 8 ply.)
It took me seven weeks of steady work to make this blanket, about 45”X 60”. I really enjoy all kinds of colorwork, but next time I do a large double knit project I’m using a more reasonable weight yarn. I have since made more than 20 small squares using a light worsted. This is truly a fun and satisfying technique.
I would very much like to hear from people who’ve said they don’t like afghans. There have been a couple of them here on DKos. How does this look to you?
So. . . Has anyone else tried this technique?