Double Knitting: There’s Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself

Double Knitting. The words strike fear into the hearts of many knitters from beginners to advanced. Looking back on my first double knitting class I remember feeling like a fish out of water. Before the class I had never attempted this technique before, and everything about it felt unnatural at first. I walked out the class with a head full of information, and for the first time in my knitting life, I felt like a technique had beat me. It probably didn’t help that I had started with an advanced class right off the bat, and didn’t give myself the cushion of some basic lessons before hand….but we won’t talk about that.

After sitting down with my knitting and allowing the information to sink in I began to double knit again and realized the technique was rich with possibilities. One of my favorite techniques that stemmed from double knitting is the tubular cast-on I use regularly for most of my sweater designs. Who knew that simply slipping stitches could create such a perfect edge? Which brings me to Heather Zoppetti’s new workshop, Advanced Double Knitting, where she promises and delivers double knit techniques from basic to advanced in a clear, knitter-friendly way. I’m sure if I had this workshop by my side when I first started it would have saved me a lot of tears and headaches.

The workshop comes with the Duplice Hat pattern, which cleverly begins with simple, two color double knitting to get you started and moves on to more advanced cables and decreases. I personally love double knit cables—I’ve had dreams of designing a long open cardigan with edging in double knit cables so when the garment flips open the inside edge is just as beautiful as the outside.

Double knitting opens up a world of possibilities, but its significance is that it makes better knitters of us all. Just from my own experience, it has allowed me to design more intelligently, to fix problems, and to think outside the confines of basic knitting. I urge any knitter to try this technique and see where the road takes you—Heather would love to lend a helping hand along the way.

Get Advanced Double Knitting with Heather Zoppetti today and begin your journey.

Until next time,

Meghan