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.

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long.

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders.

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well.

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn.

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table.

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter.

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.

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