I’ve read some tidbits here and there about twisted stitches and crossed stitches. Are they the same, or different? And if so, how?
Thanks so much.
Twisted and crossed stitches the same?
I think they are different things. Twisted stitches are usually stitches that are sitting on the needles wrong. As they face you they should have the front leg to the right.
Crossed stitches could mean that they are crossed as in a mini cable or it could just be a couple stitches that got crossed by accident.
Yes [I]twisted[/I] sts sit on the needles backwards and have a twist in the individual stitches, and sometimes you do that on purpose. There are also [I]twist[/I] sts that are like mini cables. These are usually 2 sts that cross over each other.
ArtLady, thanks for the videos! Yes, when I said “twisted stitches” I meant “traveling or mini cables”…so it seems that twisted stitch knitting also means crossed stitch knitting, right? It seems that she used those terms interchangeably? I like the fact that they are mini cables, since I haven’t haven’t wandered into cable territory yet! Thanks much.
Remember, this is for Continental knitting. For people who knit Combined or Eastern, this is not the case with twisted stitches.
Continental and english style mount their sts the same way while Eastern and combined are different.
Ok, I knit English, so does the above information about twisted (mini cable) and crossed stitches being the same thing apply to me? I just wanted to know if twisted (traveling) and crossed stitches are the same thing, but 
just different words…
Yes, it’s all how the sts are mounted. When you wrap the yarn in a standard style, the front leg is also the closest to the tip of the needle. Eastern and combined wrap ‘backwards’ so the [I]back[/I] leg is closest to the needle. Either one is okay as long as you work the sts into the leg closest to the tip to prevent the individual ones from twisting. With eastern or combined, the decs - k2tog and ssk - need to be swapped out. Some patterns for mini cable twists will have a k2tog then knit into the first st again so someone who knits western (english/continental) there’s no adjustments that need to be made.
I’m currently knitting my husband a sweater, and this pattern calls for twisting stitches, but it’s not the normal way of just having them mounted differently on the needles. For example, to twist right you knit into the back of the second stitch on the left needle, and then knit into the back of the first stitch on the left needle. To twist left you knit into the second stitch on the needle through the front, and then knit into the front of the first stitch on the left needle. It makes a traveling stitch pattern. And, the stitches remain properly mounted on the needle. 
Ahhh yes, but you have the definitions backwards… The direction of the twist or travel is where the top stitch lies. When you knit the 2nd st from behind then into the first st the top stitch leans left. When you knit into the from the front, the top stitch leans to the left.
Ah, you are right! LOL! I did have that backwards…thankfully not backwards in my knitting though! :^)
The stitches that are on the needles are shaped like upside down horseshoes. In English and Continental knitting, the open face of this horseshoe will face to the left, or left oriented. We Russian, Combined, and Eastern European knitters have the open horseshoes facing the right, or right oriented. Some Eastern knitters like to call their style Eastern Uncrossed. I’m not trying to confuse you, but that’s a term you might see once in a while. The first part of this Eastern European instruction video shows the orientation of these styles, or how the stitches face.
I’m an Eastern European knitter
How can they be upside down horseshoes and face left or right? The open end of the horsehoe faces down.
I think a better explanation would be that the stitch has 2 legs over the needle one to the back and one to the front. In the eastern/combined style, the one in back is closest to the tip of the needle (the right leg). In western - english/continental - style the front leg is closest to the tip.
Ok, I just knit a swatch with a crossed stitch/twisting stitch pattern, and it looks great! It’s from a knitting pattern book with lots of other type stitches and I want to try them all now!
I knit English style, but I didn’t realize there are so many styles to knit besides English and Continental. Thank you all so much for all of your information.