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Video Tutorial: The Seafoam Stitch

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It’s a lot of fun to intentionally drop stitches when you’re knitting. Dropped stitches open up the work without actually increasing or decreasing at all, so it’s a great skill for newer knitters who might be afraid of yarnovers and decreases. I actually just used a simple version of this technique a few weeks ago when I knit my Garter Dropped Stitch Scarf you can check out at About.

seafoam scarfPurposefully dropping stitches can get a little fancier than that, though, if you wrap the yarn around the needle more than one extra time and/or use different numbers of wraps on different stitches across the row. That’s how the Seafoam Stitch is made, and it looks like a lot of fun.

You can check out a video of the technique at Knitting Daily. The demo shows it as the edging of a shawl, but wouldn’t it make a great season-shifting scarf or wrap all on its own? For example, this really cute Seafom Scarf from Put a Sock in It?

Have you ever used dropped stitches in a pattern? Spill it!

[Photo by Put a Sock in It.]

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Comments

  2. I have made a couple of scarves using a dropped stitch. It IS fun! and creates a lovely lacy effect. Found the patterns on Lion Brand’s website I think.

Have you read?

Knits with Sheep

It felt like it had been a while since I’d done a roundup of knitting patterns involving sheep, and if search is any indication, that is true. I found a roundup of patterns for knit sheep from a few years ago, but the only one with v I could find is from 2015. So it’s definitely time to revisit this fun genre of knitting patterns.

This all started with a headband. Alyssa Kaat’s Icelandic Sheep Headband (free on Ravelry) to be specific. Ravelry showed it to me as a pattern highlight and I couldn’t resist taking a closer look. It’s worked with two colors of worsted weight yarn and alternates sheep with stars around your head.

Another great sheepy headband is this one from Loch Fyne Crafts on Etsy. These sweet little sheep are worked in bulky yarn and you can make the background look like field and sky or work it in a solid color.

Or make a headband (or a hat, cowl, or all three) covered with a flock of sheep with this set of patterns from New Age Knitting CA. These pieces also use the field/sky coloring, but you can use whatever colors of worsted weight yarn you like.

Speaking of hats, there’s also the sheep hat from Lynann Knits Designs. The sample was worked in Icelandic wool to make the sheep and the hat extra fuzzy and warm, but any worsted weight yarn will work.

There’s also the Wandering Sheep hat from Kat Hudon (on Ravelry), which features a fun collection of speckled sheep that can be worked in different yarn weights to make different sizes of hats for kids and adults.

And lest you think sheep need to be knit in traditional stranded colorwork, check out the Rebel Sheep Mob blanket by Deborah Moore. This one is worked in mosaic knitting using fingering weight yarn. In mosaic knitting you’re only working with one color per row so it’s pretty easy. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

I can’t possibly share sheep knitting patterns without mentioning the amazing Black Sheep Shadow Shawl by Mark Jamieson. Shadow knitting is a technique I want to do more of, but it involves working two rows alternating in two different colors and the pattern emerges when you look at the design from an angle. It’s so cool and the sheep on this one are amazing! It’s not a beginner project but well worth the work. You can find it on Ravelry or at the designer’s website.