Knitting Techniques

Looking for some more complicated knitting techniques?

Once you have gained a bit of experience as a knitter, you might want to experiment with some more complex knitting styles or techniques.

Aran Knitting

Contary to popular belief Aran knitting is not a knitting style that is centuries old, but was in fact created in the early 1900s in the Aran Isles.

Although the various patterns and cables usually incorporated into an aran jumper do not have any historical or symbolic meaning, aran knitting is a beautiful and unique style of knitting that is popular all over the world.

Fair Isle knitting

Fair Isle is a traditional knitting technique used to create patterns with multiple colours.

All of the knitting is plain knitting (stocking stitch) but two or more colors are used to create a pattern in the knitting.

Fair Isle Knitting was developed in the Shetland Islands (where my family originally came from a couple of generations ago!)

Lace Knitting

Lace knitting is a style of knitting characterized by stable "holes" in the fabric arranged to create a pattern.

Lace knitting is generally not as fine as other forms of lace. But it is better suited for garments and baby shawls as it is softer and much faster to produce.

True knitted lace will have pattern stitches on both sides of the work (both the knit and purl rows) and are fairly complex. Most knitted lace is knitted using a very fine wool, usually one or two ply.

Definitely not suitable for a beginner!

Lacy Knitting

Lacy knitting is considered easier than true lace knitting as you only need to do pattern stitches on the right-side or knit row of the work.

Although eaiser to do that some of the other knitting styles, lacy knitting can be very effective and is often used for garments made for women and children.

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