Stitch Up Different Kinds of Herringbone Stitches

A few months ago I wrote a post all about horizontal herringbone stitch, an admittedly kind of weird stitch pattern that has a very cool woven look to it. At the time I mentioned that there are lots of different things in knitting that use the term “herringbone,” and I meant to get back to that before now, but here we are. Let’s check out some alternative herringbone knitting patterns.

I love the Welcome Home rug from THNLife, which is sort of a cross between chevrons and herringbone. Whatever you want to call it, it’s pretty, and easier to make than traditional herringbone because the pattern is made with slipped stitches. This particular pattern uses three strands of worsted weight cotton yarn held together for a rug that’s as durable as it is pretty. Not sure I’d make it in white, though.

The Herringbone Rib Socks from A Busy Life on Etsy uses a combination of slipped stitches paired with yarn overs and passing the slipped stitch over to make the design in the ribbing. This is a pretty straightforward sock pattern with a slip stitch heel flap and grafted toe (which she worked in a contrasting yarn but you don’t have to if you don’t like that look here).

Or try the Soft Washed Herringbone Mitts from Churchmouse Yarns. This pattern has a couple on interesting things going on. The herringbone design here is made by bringing the yarn to the front, slipping stitches and then taking the yarn to the back to make that woven look. They’re knit flat and seamed, but they’re also made with the intention that you will felt them in the washing machine. (I would probably do it by hand because you want these to fit your hands when you’re done and it’s easier to stop when you need to if you’re watching the felting happen.)

Who knew there were so many different ways to get a similar look?

For the past few years I’ve taken part in a Christmas in July blog hop that encourages people to get a jump on their making for holiday gifts.

I love to use yarn I already have for these projects in the hope that people will consider what they already have that they can use to make projects for themselves or to give as gifts.

This year it was a couple of knit baskets made using partial balls of yarn left in my stash from other projects.

They use the same basic pattern but the first one is made with two colors of bulky yarn, and the second used two strands of worsted weight yarn held together, which made the gauge about the same, but I cast on fewer stitches to make a smaller version.

The bottom of the basket is square, though you can make them rectangular if you’d rather. Then I just knit up the sides in rounds until I was about to run out of yarn. This gave both baskets rather short sides — maybe more like a tray than a basket — but you can keep knitting as long as you like to make the sides of your basket as tall as you want.

They’re worked in seed stitch, which keeps the edges from curling and adds a nice texture to the baskets.

Of course this also allows you to use even more odd balls from your stash. I’d love to make a big one someday combining lots of different yarn. I mean, I’d probably use it to store more yarn, but that’s a fine thing to do.

As it is, these little trays are great for sitting on your desk or bedside table to hold little things that always seem to appear there. I like to use one to hold the supplies for whatever project I’m working on, things like little scissors, my tape measure, a crochet hook, etc.

And they would make good gifts on their own or as a container to hold some other goodies if you like.

You can find the free pattern for these stash busting baskets over at Our Daily Craft.

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