Twice Knitting
Twice Knitting creates a beautifully dense fabric and is typically worked on needles at least 2 to 3 sizes larger than what is recommended. Our Twice Knit Stockinette Stitch tutorial video is below, but the same technique can easily be applied to garter stitch or other knit purl combinations.
Twice Knit Stockinette Stitch
Here is how to do the key technique used in Twice Knitting. We’re using Purl Soho’s Line Weight yarn on great big needles for a light and airy effect.
Twice Knit Stockinette Stitch Worked in the Round
The free pattern for our Crosshatch Cowl will give you lots of practice working this stitch in the round, and you’ll have an extraordinary cowl to show for it!
Twice Knit Stockinette Stitch Worked Flat
Thinking scarf, rather than cowl? Here’s how to work the Twice Knit Stockinette Stitch flat…
Cast on any number of stitches.
Row 1 (right side): *K2tog dropping only the first stitch off the left needle, repeat from * until one stitch remains in the row, k1.
Row 2: *P2tog dropping only the first stitch off the left needle, repeat from * until one stitch remains in the row, p1.
Modifications
Twisted Twice Knit Stockinette Stitch
You’ll notice the Twice Knit stitches slant up and to the right. If you instead work the stitches through their back loops, aka Twisted Twice Knit Stockinette Stitch, the stitches slant up and to the left. And if you combine the two, you’ll get….
Herringbone Stitch
Work one round (or row) in Twice Knit stitch and one in Twisted Twice Knit stitch, and you’ll get an incredible herringbone pattern, like our Big Herringbone Cowl pictured here!
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our free knitting patterns and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!
you girls are ALL so talented. I am going to tackle the classic cowl. my daughter, Robyn Jo, likes scarves, as I do, so she copied your flat knit for me…I am going to use the ice blue yarn I bought from you….I am knitting the cuff hat for Robyn out of the ice blue and studying your video for the classic cowl stitch. never too late to learn new things….thank you for your beautiful yarns and all your tutorials and patterns…..this is like being back to my ballet years….
Hello Josephine!
We’re so glad that knitting and crafting is opening up your mind to new things! Keep up the lovely work and we hope your daughter loves the hat you’re working on! Best of luck! -Alyson
Is there a way to use this stitch for a hat? How do I knit the decrease?
Hi Jean,
Thanks for writing in! I’m sure that it’s possible to do a hat in this stitch. I don’t know exactly how you would decrease, so you might have to swatch it. My suggestion is to K2tog, SM, SSK. You’ll want to decrease an even number of stitches during your decrease rounds. Best of luck!
-Adam
Could you please do a video for how to pick up dropped stitches for this type of stitch?
Hi Shyloh,
Thanks for writing in! We will certainly keep your request in mind for future videos!
Best,
Cassy
I have no idea what that would look like. Do you have a video?
Also, do you have directions on reading a knitting chart. I always was taught the 1st row was knit from right to left and the second, usually purl, is from left to right. The pattern I have the first row is from left to right and the 2nd is right to left. I do not understand.
Thanks.
Hi Maureen,
Thanks for writing in! For twice knitting, we do have a video that is embedded above!
As to directions on how to read a chart, we do not have a tutorial for that technique as we do not have many charts in our patterns. Traditionally, right side rows on charts are knit from right to left and wrong side rows are knit from left to right. There are also many different symbols used in charts and some designers may opt to create their own symbols. Some symbols may mean one thing if it is a right side row and another if it is a wrong side row. It may be helpful to reach out to the designer of your pattern if the chart seems to differ from the information that you can find on how to read charts. I find that knitters are generally happy to help!
I hope that this helps and happy knitting!
Cassy
Does casting this on the opposite way of the cowl (vertically vs horizontally) change the drape of the finished fabric?
Hello Pufferfish,
Thank you for reaching out! Knitting this stitch in the round verses flat will change the direction of the pattern, but will not effect the drape of the fabric.
I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any further questions!
-Marilla
This looks lovely, and very feminine, I can not wait to try it.
Would it be crazy to knit a baby blanket in this pattern? I’m thinking same yarn/needle size.
Hello Laura,
Thank you for reaching out! You could certainly knit a baby blanket out of this stitch pattern. To knit this pattern flat you will need to adjust the pattern.
Right Side: *K2tog dropping only the first stitch off the left needle, repeat from * until one stitch remains, k1.
Wrong Side: *P2tog dropping only the first stitch off the left needle, repeat from * until one stitch remains, p1.
Please note… When worked densely, an interesting, not untidy edge forms. When worked loosely however, (like here, using fingering weight on nice big needles) the edges become quite a bit messier. This is one of the reasons, at this gauge, we decided to make a cowl rather than a wrap or scarf.
Unfortunately it’s going to be hard to find an edge stitch that matches the row gauge of this twice knit fabric. so I think I would probably work the piece flat just in stitch pattern and then go back and pick up along the edge doing an attached iCord. That way you can pick up as many as you need to ensure the piece doesn’t pull or pucker.
I hope this helps and happy kitting!
-Marilla
Is there a way to do a twice knit ribbing? Looking for a way to keep the same density as the twice-knit fabric but add a ribbed section for stretch and shaping. Thank you for any guidance you can provide!
Hi and thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately we do not have instructions for adapting twice knitting to ribbing, and I haven’t been able to locate any similar stitches – I’m so sorry about that! However, this could be a great opportunity to experiment and perhaps come up with a new stitch to introduce to the knitting world!
Best of luck, and happy knitting!
Julianna
I actually have the book from the 70s that introduced twice-knitting. It’s a very small book, but it covers all of the variations of twice-knitting, and it has a few patterns, including a hat and a bikini!
Hi Christina,
Thanks for reaching out! That is so neat! What is the book called? We would love to know!
Warmly,
Gianna