How to Knit Backward

Because I shared about purling backward last week, I thought it made sense to share how to knit backward this week.

This is actually easier and feels a little more natural, but it still takes practice to get going well. I still move my hands around a lot and shift the yarn around as I am working a lot more than I would if I were knitting in the standard way.

Knitting backward is super useful when you’re working on a small number of stitches and want to be able to work Stockinette Stitch without turning the work. Yes, that means no purling!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z_dfdeYCdk&w=550&h=400]

To do it, you put the left-hand needle through the first stitch through the back loop, take the yarn over the needle counter-clockwise from the back, then form the stitch in the usual way. Check the video for more details.

I have most commonly heard of people doing this when they knit entrelac, because you’re usually only working with a very few stitches at a time and through the course of a whole project it probably does get fast enough that it rivals turning and purling back for speed.

Have you ever knit backward? I’d love to know how you used it and if you like this technique.

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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.

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