Is this the year that you challenge yourself to learn a new knitting skill? A couple weeks ago I asked on Instagram what techniques people really wanted to try to learn and received some really excited responses.
Looking to get started on your knitting goals? Whether you have a technique in mind or you’d just like to learn about a few more advanced techniques, here are three things you could try learning about:
Brioche
Brioche is a beautiful stitch type that combines slipped stitches and yarn-overs to create lovely lofted patterns.
The Basics of Two-Colour Brioche: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY9-qT8Lxnw
In this tutorial, Sosuknits shows the basics of knitting brioche, including brioche knit stitches (brk), brioche purl stitches (brp), slipping a stitch and doing a yarn over at the same time (sl1yo).
She also shows how to do two-stitch and four-stitch brioche increases (brkyobrk & brkyobrkyobrk), plus right and left leaning brioche decreases (brRsl dec, brLsl dec) and a four-stitch decrease (4st br dec).
Colourwork
Colourwork is a beautiful technique for creating colourful patterns and designs in your knitting using multiple strands of yarn. It’s recognizable for its intricate patterns from knitting traditions around the world but despite its detailed appearance, it’s relatively easy once you get the hang of it.
The Difference between colourwork and fair isle knitting.
Introduction to Stranded Colorwork Knitting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGWpqyjnL9c
In this video, ChemKnits Tutorials shows the basics of stranded colourwork with two yarns and how to twist the yarns together behind your work to prevent the floats from getting too long.
Cabling
Cables are an iconic knit design element. From simple cables to complex patterns, they’re a beautiful choice.
Saxon Braid Stitch Pattern with Video Tutorial:https://www.studioknitsf.com/celtic-cable-saxon-braid/
This tutorial includes both a video showing the techniques and a beginner-friendly colour-coded pattern.
Steeking
Steeking is when a column of extra stitches is used to bridge two edges of knitting; it makes it possible to knit projects like an entire sweater in the round without having to switch to knitting flat.
Learn Something New: Steeking: https://www.interweave.com/article/knitting/learn-something-new-steeking/
Interweave’s introduction to steeking is quite comprehensive and does a great job of explaining the techniques and their purpose.
How to Steek / Cut Your Knitting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXH_2XNojR4
River City Yarns put together this fabulous tutorial explaining the steeking process and showing an example; plus introduced it with a great explanation.