Stitch of the Week: Trinity Stitch

Back in the day when my About site was young, I worked a swatch of some common knitting stitch almost weekly. (You can find them in my stitch pattern glossary.) I guess I got busy and had covered so many of the common ones that I started accidentally repeating myself, so I got out of the habit of doing it.

I also had a really bad camera back in the beginning, so some of these need to be reworked, or at least reshot if I could find the old swatches. Which maybe sharing them with you will inspire me to do.

In any case, I think it’s inspiring to look at different stitch patterns and see what people have done with them, so that’s what this stitch of the week post is for.

First up, trinity stitch. This is not an easy one to start with, because there are lots of similar stitch patterns that go by different names. You might also hear this one called blackberry stitch, bramble stitch, cluster stitch and I’m sure other things I’m forgetting right now.

To form it, you work three stitches into one stitch, then purl 3 together. Purling 3 together is rather a pain. Pointy needles will help.

Still, I like this bumpy stitch pattern, and once you get the hang of it, it’s not too much trouble. I’ve actually used it in two projects: a headband and a baby-sized prayer shawl.

Some other free projects that give you a chance to try this stitch include the Trinity Stitch Hat from BreadnBadger and Rag Lana’s Blackberry Street No. 1 scarf. And for a variation on trinity stitch that looks pretty much exactly the same, check out this post on Not Trinity Stitch at the Knitting Fiend/Diet Diary.

Have you ever used trinity stitch? I’d love to hear what you used it for.

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Many times when I write these posts I will say something like “you can use any yarn you want” or “this would be a great stash-busting project.” That’s just how my mind works. And my stash, too, since I probably have sweater quantity of two or three yarns at most, but tons of singles and odd balls and leftovers.

Blankets are generally a really good way to use up those bits, but in this case, I think you’re going to want to plan it out a bit better.

Looking at photos of the Color Study Blanket from Purl Soho, it looks like it’s made with two yarns held together, and that block in the center is worked with one of each color from the adjoining sides to make a mixed up color.

But that’s not actually how it’s done. This is three separate colors (four, really, with the neutrals in the corners) chosen form a yarn with an expansive palette so they play off each other. The project calls for a worsted weight superwash wool, which is a great choice for a blanket that’s both warm and washable.

This pattern was originally designed by Laura Ferguson and was updated by Hiromi Glover. It is worked in one piece in garter stitch intarsia, which is a great way to learn the intarsia technique if you don’t already know it. It comes in crib or throw sizes.

Despite the introduction to this post, I am going to go ahead and say that, yes, of course you could do this blanket with scraps or odd balls or even just choose five colors that don’t blend together so easily. But I really do love the look of the color play, and I think it would be worth your time to find colors that play well together to get a similar effect.

This pattern is available for free from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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