Twisted Fringe

There are so many different ways to add fringe to your knitting projects, and one we absolutely love is the twisted fringe. It’s tidy and durable fringe, and has a great swing to it! Our free Pannier Wrap knitting pattern in Cotton Pure is finished with this technique, and we’ll demonstrate using a swatch of that project in our Twisted Fringe Tutorial video below!

TWISTED FRINGE: VIDEO TUTORIAL

TWISTED FRINGE: STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Prefer still photos and text? Follow along here…

Start by cutting some strands of yarn, which will become your twisted fringe. Your strands should be at least 3 times the desired fringe length. For the Pannier Wrap, we cut ours to 18 inches, so we’d end up with 6-inch fringe.

With the right side of your work facing you, insert a crochet hook from the back of the work to the front, just above the cast-on edge. Make your first twisted fringe in either corner, but once that one is done, insert the hook a set number of stitches away from the last fringe you made. In this case, we are skipping 2 cast-on stitches and inserting the hook in the third stitch from the previous fringe.

Now grab one of the 18-inch strands of yarn and fold it in half, then, using your crochet hook, grab the middle of the strand and pull the loop through to the wrong side of work.

Thread the tails through the loop and give a little tug to secure the strand.

Next, insert the hook into the stitch next to the one where you last inserted it, and  repeat those same steps to add a second strand, so that you have two fringes, side by side, each with two strands of yarn.

For the next steps, place something heavy on your work, so that you can pull on it a bit as you twist the fringe. We used a heavy cone of yarn, but a big book or bottle of water will also work.

Hold onto the 2 strands of one of the fringes, and twist the 2 strands between your fingers. We twisted them to left. You can twist left or right; the important thing is to be consistent from now until you finish your twisted fringes!

Keep twisting until you get a tight twist but not so tight that it starts to lose definition.  

Keeping tight hold of this twist so it doesn’t unravel, now twist the other fringe, remembering to twist in the same direction as you twisted the first one. Try to make your second twist look about the same as your first.

Now, it’s time to twist the twists! Simply, cross the left twist over the right one (or vice versa, if you twisted your fringes to the right), swapping the hands that are holding each twist. Repeat this motion, left over right, to wrap the two twists together into one fringe. Make sure you don’t let go of your twists as you work, or you’ll have to start them again!

As you go, pull the two sides apart to ensure the twist reaches the top of the fringe. Once you see that the twist is at least as long as the one next to it and they look similarly twisted, tie a simple overhand knot at the bottom of your tassel at the same level as the knot next to it.  

Trim the bottom of the fringe, again, aligning with its neighbor.

To make the next twisted fringe, skip the same number of stitches (for the Pannier Wrap, 2), and do it all again. Repeat across the entire cast-on edge, and then across the bind-off edge, too.

And that’s how you add a beautiful twisted fringe to your project!

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!