Alasdair Post-Quinn’s Double Knitting Tips for Beginners

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Double knitting has long been considered one of the higher peaks of advanced knitting — and why not? Even to experienced knitters, it seems like magic. Double knitting allows you to do complex colorwork using charts that would be impractical in any other colorwork technique, and at the same time, creates a flexible fabric, similar to stockinette. And there’s no wrong side: the opposite side mirrors the facing side in opposite colors. But at its simplest, it’s no more complicated than 1×1 ribbing.

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Above: Fir-Cone Sachet by Alasdair Post-Quinn

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Over a decade of teaching this “esoteric” technique, I’ve striven to find ways to help people understand that double knitting need not be frightening. For a long time, I assumed that the best way to impart that knowledge was to begin by explaining the structure of the fabric and how it’s constructed. That way, when you started double knitting, you’d understand as much of what you were doing as possible. But that method of learning may not work for everyone. After all, you don’t need to understand how a fuel-injection system works in order to drive a car. Sometimes, it’s enough to sit behind the wheel, turn the key, put it in drive and go forward.

Related: About Alasdair’s Double Knitting Approach

To start, I’m going to boil standard double knitting down to simpler terms. If you remember these tips, you need never be afraid of this technique again.

Alasdair’s Double-Knitting Tips:

• Start with a double-knitting project that’s in the round. In the round, the side of the work facing you is always going to look like the chart you’re working from and the opposite side will create itself. When you work flat, every other row is reversed in color and orientation, not to mention the challenge of clean edges. You can work plenty of things, large and small, in double knitting in the round — cowls, headbands, wrist warmers, cup cozies and the sachet pillow shown here, for example.
• Begin with whatever cast-on you like best, holding both yarns together. This way, you’ll end up with twice as many stitches as required, but they’ll be in pairs. You want them in alternating colors, so by pulling the occasional pair one through the other, you can rearrange any pairs that are out of order as you work the next round. Once you start working in double knitting, half the stitches will create the front fabric and half will create the back fabric — the doubled fabric that makes it double knitting!
• To join in the round, just bring the ends together and begin double knitting. There’s no need to switch first and last stitches or do any other special preparation.
• Every stitch is a component of a k1, p1 pair; the purl is always the opposite color from the knit. Each square in the chart signifies one pair, but only shows you the color of the knit stitch.

Tips for Reading a Double Knitting Chart

As you read the chart, when you come to a square in MC, bring both yarn ends to the back and k1 with MC; then bring both ends to the front and p1 with CC. Similarly, when you come to a square in CC, bring both ends to the back and k1 with CC; then bring both ends to the front and p1 with MC.

Above, there’s an example from the Fir-Cone Sachet, with a newly worked row held up against its corresponding chart row. If you look carefully, you can see that the chart squares always correspond to the live knit stitches on the needle and that the purl stitch is always the opposite color from the knit stitch that immediately precedes it.

Related: The Basics of Double Knitting

Tips for Finishing Your Project

To bind off, you can use the standard method, except instead of knitting all stitches, you’ll continue with a double-knit row, knitting and purling in alternate colors as you did on the final charted row while binding off. When you have one pair left on the needle, break your ends and pass both ends through both loops.

Hide your ends inside your fabric. Double knitting is mostly hollow, except where the faces lock together at a color change. Especially when your yarn is grippy, you’ll be able to weave your ends inside your fabric with very little effort.

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As with any other new skill, double-knitting proficiency is partly about building muscle memory. As you work, you may find that your hands sometimes remember what to do before your mind does and once your mind catches up, you’ll get that “aha!” moment. After you have that foundation, you’ll find it much easier to learn flat double knitting, shaping and more advanced colorwork concepts.

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Originally published in Interweave Knits Gifts 2014. Posted to web 11/14/2014. Updated 6/10/2022.

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Alasdair Post-Quinn is the author of three books about double knitting. He has created dozens of original double-knitting designs that explore combining double knitting with a variety of other knitting techniques, and is a frequent instructor at events like Interweave Yarn Fest.

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Double-Knit Projects to Try