Double Knitting Tips from Kraemer Yarns

Knitting can be mysterious and magical.  You start with a skein of yarn and through a series of loops, turn it into a piece of fabric. Double knitting, where you create two layers of knit fabric at the same time, can seem even more wondrous. Our Double Knitted Heart Scarf is an opportunity to practice this technique. We hope this tutorial will help you create a unique and warm accessory!

We often advise knitters to approach a new technique one stitch at a time. That applies here, keeping in mind that every stitch belongs to a pair of stitches. This pair is made up of a knit stitch of one color and a purl stitch of another color. The top layer of fabric is made up from the knit stitches and the bottom layer is made by those purl stitches. In alternating the knit and purl stitches, double knitting can feel a lot like ribbing.

We’ve cast on our stitches and are ready to begin. A handy trick to begin, is to hold two strands of the main color and cast on the number of paired stitches. If the pattern were to call for casting on 50 stitches for the project, that’s 25 pairs of stitches, so you would cast on 25.  

Knit into the first stitch with the main color, Perfection Worsted in Kiss Me.

The next stitch is going to be a purl stitch. We’ll need to attach the contrast color, Perfection Tapas in Lollipop, and bring both colors to the front before actually purling that second stitch. On the right needle you can see that first knit stitch in the Kiss Me, the second purl stitch in Lollipop.   

As we continue these first few rows of the chart, we will move both yarns as one forward and back between each stitch! The photo above shows Row 1 completed. 

Row 2 is a “wrong” side row, meaning the knit stitches in contrast color will be facing you. To work across this row, we knit with the contrast color and purl with the main color, always moving the yarns together between each stitch! 

The first few rows of the chart allow you to relax into the rhythm of this technique! Notice that each side shows stockinette fabric. The hearts are formed with simple changes, where the contrast color is used for the knit stitch on the right side, and the main color is used for the knit stitch on the wrong side. 

The two sides of double knit fabric are mirror images of each other. Each time you change color, the two layers become locked together. 

Don’t let double knitting intimidate you! Practice with a project like our Double Knitted Heart Scarf will build your skills! 

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