Double knitting

I tried double knitting and LOVED it! But my edges were open. WTF???Can anyone help?:knitting:

Thatā€™s normal. If you twist the yarn before starting a row, you close the edges. You have to bring the second strand (the one youā€™re going to knit in second place) over the one youā€™re going to start to knit with, then knit over it (like with a lifeline).

If you donā€™t do that, youā€™ll end up with open edges, or, if you just double knit without changing yarn position, you end up with two distinct pieces of knitted work.

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Blueā€™s got you startedā€¦

twisting the yarns on first stitch will close edge. (and consistant right (or left) twist will give you a nice edge.

alternately, you can:
pick up stitches on each edge, and make a cross knit band

begin each row with simple double knitting (K1, s1) in a single color (this will give a single color edge)

begin each row with a selvage of 2 to X (5? 7) stitches of garter, worked with double yarn (both colors held together)

there are other optionsā€“some much more complex (and prettier!) than these.

are you on Ravelry yet? there is a double knitting group there and you can check out shared projects and see other ideas (and read about them on their blogs)

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Best double knitting info Iā€™ve found.
Not overly active but a lot of knowledge.

I posted about a blanket I M making for a friend, it is double knit in the middle
its about making a pregnant woman cry, if you wanna see pics

ecb

Thanks for the info everyone. no iā€™m not on ravelry. To tell you the truth I could never really figure out what ravelry is. It sounds like something I would like.Could someone explain it to me?

Itā€™s a site where members can enter their yarn and FOs, search for patterns made with specific yarns, or yarns used in specific patterns. It has forums, at least a gazillion, but you donā€™t have to participate in them. Go to ravelry.com to sign up; I believe the wait list to get in is only a few days now.

ravelry is what you want it to be, what you help it to be.
[B]
Its social network[/B] (if you wantā€“there are hundred of groups, and forums)

[B]its a pattern resourse [/B](and Point of sale for your patterns!)
[B]
itā€™s an idea book[/B]-- got some yarn? just 2 (or 3 skeins) donā€™t know what to do with it? --look up the yarn and find hundreds of completed projects --(a small percentage will just use 2 or 3 skeins!)

[B]Like a pattern[/B]ā€“but not the the suggest yarn?

Look up FO-find hundreds of examples of the patternā€“knit in everything from red heart acyrilic to silkā€¦ youā€™re bound to find an example in a yarn you like and can afford.

[B]want to meet other knitters in your neighborhood?[/B] Ravelry will help.
[B]
have an (semi) obscure interest? [/B](for me, double knitting)ā€“find hundreds of others with the same interst.
[B]
wondering if you should buy a book?[/B] find many samples of garments knit from patterns in that bookā€¦ (do you like them? buy the bookā€“hate them? skip it!

Ravelry works best when members ADD info. so be prepared (at first) to add FO, Yarn Stash, Favorite patterns, Books, and other infoā€¦ (the more EVERYONE adds, the more useful ravelry is)

but your info is a drop in the bucket!
[B]
thinking about knitting a clapitos?[/B] see not a few samples but thousands (in every color, every yarn, every size!)
[B]Knit a Clapitos? [/B]add yours to the mix! (its still uniqueā€“and it will give others inspiration.

[B]Ravelry at first is work[/B]ā€¦ (you have all those pictures to take, all that info to add.) but the payback is enormous!

I am a little confused about double knitting. If it is to knit 2 socks at the same time, why not just put two seperate socks on the circular needles side by each. How is this double knitting thing fun? If I am correct in my understanding you are knitting two socks hanging off the needle on top of each otherā€“is that right? Then how do you manage the yarnā€“2 seperate yarns yes?

Why use a circular to make socks at all?
You can knit a tube on straight needles using double knitting techniques. Iā€™m sure itā€™s possible to do some kind of heel that way.

How you manage 2 yarns is personal preference.
I like carrying them both in my left hand, the front yarn on my index finger and the back yarn on my middle finger, both wrapped around my pinky. Click this, scroll down and you can see a picture of how I manage the yarns for ribbing socks.
Some do that but carry them on the same finger and use something to separate the yarns.
Others knit Continental for one strand and English for the other.

2 Socks at once is only one thing you can do with double kitting.
With that type of double knitting you can also knit 2 sweater sleeves at once. Anything you need 2 copies of can be double knitted the way that 2 socks are done (technically you can do as many copy layers as you wanted).
If I did one sock at once I would never finish the second, and since I like DPNs I couldnā€™t fit 2 socks side by side on them. If I did them side by side Iā€™d be tempted to only work on one at a time.
Plus all those DPNs impress people enough, then you pull out the center sock and show them youā€™re knitting 2 socks at the same time and theyā€™re in awe of your knitting greatness. (My niece said, ā€œThatā€™s waaayyy too many needles.ā€ So I said, ā€œWell look at this, itā€™s also too many socks.ā€ She shook her head and said that my sister didnā€™t pass that gene onto her.)

But that is just one thing you can do. You can also make double sided fabric.
It can be reversible where you used 2 colors of yarn and the one side is the mirror of the other side. That makes nice warm winter wear.
If you use more than 2 colors or you make a non-reversible color pattern your carries are hidden between the fabrics. (I have a hat in the planning stages that is red flames on one side and blue ice cubes on the reverse with the black backgrounds linking them together.)

If you only link the fabrics together around the edge you have a ready made pillow that just needs stuffed before you finish it.

Thereā€™s a lot more you can do with all the varied double knitting techniques (and I didnā€™t cover them all, because I donā€™t understand them all).

Double knitting is fun for me because itā€™s a challenge at first. It impresses people. It makes items that are double thick and have mirror imaged patterns and colors.

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  		[B]I Don't understand[/B] 			
  	 		 		 		 		I am a little confused about double knitting. If it is to knit 2 socks at the same time, why not just put two seperate socks on the circular needles side by each. How is this double knitting thing fun? If I am correct in my understanding you are knitting two socks hanging off the needle on top of each other--is that right? Then how do you manage the yarn--2 seperate yarns yes?

Double knitting isnā€™t the same as knitting 2 socks at the same time. Youā€™re knitting a fabric that has knit sts on both sides, with a little pocket in the middle. Itā€™s usually joined at the CO and BO edges to make a double thick item, like potholder or scarf.

Double knitting socks is still double knitting even if youā€™re not making a double knit fabric.

Your definition of ā€œa fabric that has knit sts on both sidesā€ is only one of many methods of double knitting (and is what most people think of when they think ā€œdouble knittingā€). ā€œof troyā€ had a good post on some of the different methods considered double knitting a while back.

Double knitting socks is still double knitting even if youā€™re not making a double knit fabric.

Iā€™ve never heard of knitting 2 socks at once referred to as `double knittingā€™ though.

Here you go, http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall06/FEATextreme2in1.html

Socks were my primary reason for taking up the needles. And I knew how I am for not finishing things if I can put them off so when I saw this article I knew 2 at once was for me.

Same technique but you donā€™t want to get the strands mixed up or twisted.

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I am addicted to double knitting (I kind of figure if Iā€™m knitting it I want it thick and warm, so if one layer is good, two is better) and you can do almost anything with it. Thereā€™s tubes, two socks/sleeves/whatever at once, and fabric that is the same on both sides. You can also do different on each side, cables, and fair isleā€¦ I just learned entrelac single knit so soon will be working that double too (yay no ugly back side!). Not sure how lace would work plus lace still perplexes me, but generally: double knitting has nearly infinite applications IMO.

Thanks for all the posts everyone. i will go to ravelry and sign up. That was very helpfull. Suzeeq, i also have never heard of knitting two socks at once as double knitting.

double knitting, like many knitting terms covers a lot of different styles --all with some similarity!

there is [B]simple double knitting-[/B]-
cast on even number of stitches, (any style cast on)
R1: K1, bring yarn to front (as if to purl) slip 1, bring yarn to back (as to knit)

there is 2 items at once double knitting
Classicly, the sock with a sock --2 yarns, 2 items (and yarns never ā€˜crossā€™

there is 2 yarn "jacquardā€™ (interlocking double knitting)
2 yarns, that cross, interlocking both sides together (the finished object (singular!) has fair isle type color work, on both sides, with one being a possitive image (red heart on whiteā€“all in stocking knit)and one being a negative image (white heart on red background)ā€“and the negative side is also all stocking knit

there are 2 color 'stitch patterns"ā€“fair isle and knit and purl, --one has a form of ribbing that results in Vertical stripes on one side, and horizontal stripes on the otherā€¦

twinned knitting (that goes by a scandinavian name i canā€™t begin to remember how to spell) is also sometimes called double knittingā€¦

(finally there is weight of yarn that is called double knitting(its close to worstedā€¦ but not quite)

It can be confusingā€¦

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ā€œbegin each row with simple double knitting (K1, s1) in a single color (this will give a single color edge)ā€ -

Oh, I love this idea - but I canā€™t figure out how to switch from two colors to single color (or vice versa)ā€¦?

I have a double-knitting question and canā€™t figure out where else or how to ask. And of all the questions and YouTube demos I donā€™t see an answer to my question, so here goes. Just learning double-knitting and concentration is ruff. I am a thrower. Looks like a good time to learn continental but need to get more comfortable with the double knitting first. Also, decided I want to knit both rows at same time. Question: if I just throw both yarns back and forth and pick one to knit or purl with, the yarns can get twisted. If that any big problem? Instructions seem intent of giving methods of keeping yarns separate. So Iā€™m not sure if a little twisting is a problem.
Any comment much appreciated.

Welcome to KH!
There are so many pretty patterns and great graphics for double knitting. Iā€™m glad youā€™re enjoying it.
If you want to keep the two panels separate with an empty space between them, donā€™t twist the yarns. If you donā€™t care if they are joined here or there, then the twisting wonā€™t be a problem. I find that dangling the project while holding the yarn balls lets the strands untangle easily and makes the knitting easier.