double knitting workshop

On Saturday, I tutored a two-stranded double knitting workshop for the Blue Mountains group of the Knitters’ Guild of NSW.

Double knitting can mean one of three things:

1. a term for the weight of yarn; in US it’s called DK (double knitting), here in Australia we call the same weight 8ply
2. using two yarns together to knit is sometimes, incorrectly, called double knitting
3. a technique whereby a two-sided fabric is produced

It is the latter technique which was the subject of my workshop.

This is the sample I designed and knitted in DK pure wool (unblocked); the participants were given this pattern in the workshop. The finished size is 10.5cm x 12cm (4” x 4.5”) so it could be used as a coaster.


Below are the other samples I have knitted. The first is also in DK wool. I can only take credit for the knitting of this one; it was designed by Elizabeth Evans (Ravelry link). Ravelry tells me that I knitted this back in 2010.

The other side is a beige teapot on a blue background.

The second sample was designed by Laura Ponce de León as the Cubic Scarf (Ravelry link) but I felt it was too thick to wear as a scarf here in Australia. Perhaps in climates where it gets very cold, one could wear it as a scarf. Also my knitting created a very dense fabric which didn’t have the drape I prefer for a scarf. I intended it to be a bib for Older Grandson (who had not yet been born when I started it in 2010) but being 4ply (fingering) acrylic it had zero absorbency, something I soon realised was needed in a bib!

I also showed the workshop participants this teeny pincushion/needle-holder I knitted as a prototype in December 2012. It is knitted in the double knitting technique but in a single strand of sock weight yarn on 2.00mm (US 0) needles.
 
I am thinking I will make a bunch of these (perhaps a little bit bigger) for my classmates Christmas gifts in 2013. Don’t be fooled by the size of the photo. That is a Size 8 embroidery needle.This one is a perfect size (4cm – 1.5”) to fit into my embroidery kit which is contained in this cute little tin, which itself is about 10cm x 6cm (4” x 2.5”).

Now I’m hooked on the possibilities of double knitting – a reversible hat, a bag, and a drapey scarf.

Would it be possible to do it in entrelac?
What  about lace? The decreases may be an issue!

So many ideas – so little time! So many UFOs/WiPs to complete!

double knitting workshop

Today I tutored a workshop on double knitting at our Guild meeting. DD, of course, was not there - seems she found something more important to do!! LOL

My first article for the workshop was a sock I knitting in the round on straight needles for the sock workshop I tutored last year because double knitting in one colour results in a tube and that, after all, is what a sock is - a tube with a closed end.

So, in further preparation for the workshop I started this:

It began life as a scarf, just like the pattern on Ravelry. But it soon became obvious that this knit, in 5ply acrylic, was too firm to be a scarf. And it was way too slow to knit a scarf in thin yarn in this technique - so what you see will shortly become GS#1's first knitted bib. Thanks to Laurita who is encouraging me to knit a bib from her scarf pattern.

Wanting to show an article that would be interesting enough for the participants to want to know how it was done, I knitted this pot holder / heat pad. The pattern can be found on Ravelry.

Then it was time to design an article of my own for the workshop and write up the pattern. Here it is. Next time I would make it four inches wider but it is just big enough to be used as a coaster and if knitted in thinner yarns and repeating the motif it could be a bookmark.

 I had many nice comments about the workshop and people were amazed that something that looks so complicated could actually be so easy. Thanks to all the participants and to Merrin, our group convenor and Vicki, the workshop  coordinator, for continuing to have faith in me and allowing me the joy of tutoring in a hobby I love.