How to do a Twist Back and Twist Front

How-to Questions
1

Hey I’m an 18 year old knitter who’s still kind of a beginner and I’m trying to follow this pattern from the 1970s. The patter says to tb, tf, (which stands for Twist back and Twist front). I don’t know if this should be part of a cable? And when I google it, it tells me to twist back 4. Some help on twist backs and fronts would be appreciated :slight_smile:

2

Hi and welcome to the forum. What’s the name of the pattern? Is it online maybe? If not, is there a picture you could share of what it’s to look like? This might be left twist and right twist, sometimes called baby cables. There might be a section where stitches and how to do them are described.

3

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thanks for responding! Here’s a picture of what I’m trying to make

4

Hello
Is there a part of your pattern which describes these stitches perhaps?
Some patterns have notes near the beginning (which I often forget are there!) - maybe have another look through your pattern just to check?

As GrumpyGramma said it could be more commonly known as right and left twist. The right twist is worked through the front of the stitches. The left is worked through the back of the stitches, so it would make sense to be right/front and left/back.

Unfortunately the photo is not super clear on what the stitches look like but perhaps you have a clearer image you can zoom in on?
Here’s a video which shows right twists worked on top of each other in a column which does look like it could be that straight up cable on the photo. It also shows right twist worked on stitches gradually moving right, producing a diagonal line, again could be the diamond shape diagonals of your pattern. The video also shows left diagonal and left in a column.
Perhaps try these out with some spare yarn on a swatch and see what you think, it might make sense on the needles as the pattern develops and you may see the stitch pattern is the same.

If this is not it please do ask again, there are many helpful people here. Perhaps type one or two lines of the pattern which could help us to identify where the twists are taking place and which they might be.

Good luck

5

Thanks for the photo. It makes a world of difference. I found this for you. There will lots of other videos. Looking for Bavarian twisted stitch might help too.