How to Add Duplicate Stitch to Knitting Patterns

I write these posts up to a month in advance, so I hope by the time this post goes live it won’t be a lie to say I recently finished what was probably the most intense knitting experience of my life so far (at least in terms of an individual project; books are way more intense): knitting an argyle vest.

(As I write, I just need to sew the pieces together and finish the armholes and neckline, so it’s definitely possible it will be done by the time you read this!)

This project was a challenge for a lot of reasons: the pattern wasn’t well written, my gauge was a little off so I sort of worked parts of a couple of different sizes (plus eliminating most of the waist shaping and making it longer), I had for most of the body 14 strands of yarn so I could do the intarsia diamonds.

And once the knitting was finally done, I had to do a ton of duplicate stitch to make the second part of the diamond pattern.

Mistakes aside it looks amazing, and I’m super proud of it. One of my goals for the year was to do some projects using skills I’ve never done before, and an intarsia project of this scale was definitely something I’ve always wanted to do (proof: I’ve had this yarn, the exact yarn and colors used for this project in the book I got it from, since 2008).

But it also gave me a great opportunity to write up a tutorial on how to do duplicate stitch, which is useful for so much more than making diamond shapes. It’s great for fixing mistakes in colorwork, adding little details like facial features or a small area of color you wouldn’t want to work while you’re knitting. You can also use it for bigger motifs, say, if you don’t want to do intarsia but want to add a design you can’t do with stranded knitting. Say you wanted a big heart on a hat worked in the round, which wouldn’t be easy to do as stranded knitting or intarsia. Duplicate stitch to the rescue!

If this is a technique you’ve used before, I’d love to hear how you used it and if you have any tips. And if it’s new to you head over to Our Daily Craft to see how its done.

Next Pattern:

Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts.

Next Pattern:

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