Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
This week we have a new stitch in the Fancy Stitch Combo series called the Bead Stitch.
And I don't think bead stitch is the best name for it, I would call it lattice stitch
or something else.
But I don't name these! I just show you how to work them.
If you need -- not if you need. The instructions for this are in the video description below,
and I give you instructions for both knitting this flat and in the round.
The instructions are also on my website.
This is a four row repeat, and kind of a complicated stitch.
So I encourage you to keep close count of your rows and where you are.
Let's go ahead and take a look at the stitch.
Here's the stitch in a fuzzy wool and alpaca roving yarn.
And the different yarns and gauges you use make different parts of this pattern more
prominent.
Here is this, very pretty.
And here it is in a cotton yarn.
I wanted to see how the drape on this was in a cotton yarn.
And it is quite different, this is a bit lacier, a bit looser gauge.
And I left this in, this lifeline in, to remind you that it's a really good idea to use a
lifeline with this stitch.
And when I say lifeline, I mean running some thin yarn in a contrasting color through all
of the stitches on the needle, and then continuing and leaving this in the work.
So if you make a mistake, you can rip back to that lifeline, and have all the stitches
easy to pick up.
There are so many increases and decreases in this work, it's really hard to rip out
and get the stitches accurately back on the needle without the help of a lifeline.
So.
Here is the stitch in the loosest gauge I knit.
And you can see how different parts of the design are more prominent in this.
This is much lacier looking.
A DK weight yarn, and I think size 10.5 needles.
And for comparison, here's the denser sample again.
And the lacier sample
And the wrong side of this work looks like a wrong side.
There is definitely a wrong side to this work.
And that's why I thought it was important to give you instructions for working this
in the round.
And here is a little sample I knit for in the round.
Because there is such a wrong side, this won't make the greatest scarf in the world, but
it is a pretty alternative for whatever the pattern has for maybe a cuff on a sleeve,
or some other accent somewhere in a sweater.
You can't see the design as well in this color, but you can see it is a very pretty stitch.
Okay.
So following the pattern for this, the instructions for this, this is a four row repeat.
Using a multiple of seven stitches.
And I have already cast on 14 stitches here, and worked Row 4 of the pattern.
And that's because I want the pretty side of the cast on to be the right side of my
work.
And if you don't care one way or the other, you can just start out with Row 1.
I have the instructions right next to me here.
To start Row 1 I'm going to knit one, knit two together.
That's simple enough.
And then yarn over.
Which means pulling the yarn forward between the two needles and back again, to give us
a wrap on the right hand needle.
Now I just had a question yesterday, a continental knitter, someone who holds the yarn in their
left hand, was having a difficult time with a pattern because she wasn't getting the yarn
overs.
If you hold the yarn over here, the yarn over here.
You want to yarn over by really wrapping the right needle.
You want to consciously put a wrap on the right needle, and that's your yarn over.
You can hang on to that wrap with your right index finger as you go into that next stitch.
Okay, back to the pattern.
I knit one, I knit two together, I'm going to yarn over.
And knit one.
Yarn over again, and ssk.
And to work the ssk, I'm going to slip one as if to knit, slip a second one as if to
knit, then take the tip of my left needle and put it into the front of those two stitches.
Then I'm going to wrap the back needle, and pull it through.
Sharp needles are helpful for this, because we do have a lot of decreases going on.
Okay, that was the setup.
Now I actually go into the pattern repeat.
Everything between the asterisks is a pattern repeat.
I'm going to knit two, knit two together, yarn over, knit one, yarn over, ssk again.
Slip one as if to knit, slip one as if to knit, put the left needle into the front of
those two stitches, wrap the back needle, and pull it through.
And you'll repeat that part all the way to the end of the row, you're left with one stitch,
and you knit one.
Okay.
That was Row 1.
Row 2 -- I'm going to make sure my count is on.
Very good.
Row 2 starts purl two together through the back loop.
I wanted to be sure to show you the wrong side rows on this because they're not straight
purl rows.
Now, purling two together normally would just be putting your needle through the two stitches,
as if to purl.
To purl two together through the back loop, we're going to do a crazy thing.
We're going to line -- the easiest way to get to this is to line your needles up like
this, and come at the two stitches from the back, like this.
Okay.
So you're going to purl through the back loop.
Purl those two together, and then we're going to yarn over.
And since we're already on a purl row, we'll yarn back, and yarn forward again.
That was the sloppiest yarn over. Let me do that again.
Yarn over, which means to pull the yarn back over the needle, and forward again.
Purl three.
There are little breaks of easy parts.
Yarn over again, back and forward, and purl two together.
And we repeat that again.
Well, you're going to repeat that all the way across.
So we start by purling two together through the back loop.
So we purl these two stitches together from back here.
Oh my goodness.
You want to aim low.
I could have used sharper needles for this, I suppose.
Yarn over.
Purl three.
Yarn over again, and purl two together.
Okay, you can see now, just after those rows, why a lifeline might be important here.
Okay, Row 3 is things we've already done before.
Knit one, yarn over, ssk, slip, slip, knit.
Knit one.
Knit two together, yarn over.
And then the pattern repeat.
Knit two, yarn over, ssk.
Knit one, knit two together, yarn over.
And that's the pattern repeat, you'll repeat it until you get to the last stitch, and then
knit one.
Okay, Row 4 is the last row of this, and there's one more interesting stitch I want to show
you.
Purl two.
Yarn over, and purl three together.
And this is where the sharp needles are really going to come in handy.
Because you want to put your needle -- at least it's not purl three through the back
loop!
You want to put your needle, right needle, through all three stitches as if to purl.
Wrap the front needle and pull it through all three.
[laughs]
That's a big decrease!
Yarn over, purl four.
Yarn over, purl three together again.
And you'll repeat that to the last two stitches, where you purl two.
Okay, this is the most complicated stitch that I've ever demonstrated in Fancy Stitch
Combos!
But even in this enormous gauge, you can see how pretty this is, and how the pattern's
already coming through.
And that's it, the bead stitch, good luck.
[whooshing sounds]
[music]