Exploring the Mystery of Double Knitting

Hat rolled in up position

Some of the ladies in my Kansas Knits group wanted to know how I double knit. This is the answer I gave. You can find the pattern at http://alison. knitsmiths. us/pattern_ double_knit_ cap.html

The designer used a bigger needle and cast on a different number of stitches, but I find 72/144 on size 5 needles works for worsted weight yarn. Your mileage may vary depending upon how tightly or loosely you knit.

Double Knitting as I Do It: Basically you are carrying two unrelated items on your needles at the same time. The only thing the two parts of my hat have in common is the cast on row. After casting on, the front and back grow independently. I just knit them simultaneously. You don't knit one row, purl one row. You do them stitch by stitch -- one stitch knit, one stitch purl.

I know -- clear as mud.

I'll describe my hat. It takes 72 stitches on size 5 needles to go around an average head. Therefore I cast on twice that number of stitches in my alternate (inside) color. 144 stitches.

After joining the circle, I begin double knitting. I tie in the primary (front) color and knit every other stitch with the primary color. I carry this yarn in my right hand and knit American with it. At the same time, I purl the off stitches with the alternate color. I carry this yarn in my left hand and form the purl stitches by Continental knitting. The switching between American and Continental knitting is not required. It just helps me keep my yarns straight.

A row works like this.

Knit one with primary color. Pull yarn to front.
Purl one with alternate color. Leave yarn in back.
Pick up primary color and form the next knit stitch.

The back side of each row goes to the inside of the hat, so it is important that you develop the rhythm for bringing your primary yarn to the front so it lays inside against the purl layer, and the alternate yarn to the back so it also rides between the layers. You don't want to wrap that loose yarn the wrong way or it will show on the outside layers of the hat. Continue around.

At first the hat seems way too big because you see all of the 144 cast on stitches. After a few rows are on the needles the two layers have separated and the hat miraculously fits a head. Half the stitches are riding behind the other half forming the inside layer of the hat.

Once you get the rhythm, it's fun to do double knit, but frustrating because everything takes twice as long to make. The last hat I made I wanted to have done for a birthday. I figured if I sat up watching a movie, I would finish it about 2 AM. I ended up watching 4 movies and saw the sun come up. The hat was finished at 8:30 AM. Expect double knit to take extra time -- oh and don't watch interesting movies. I think I lost track of the knitting in there somewhere and got engrossed in the shows. :)

Hat in down position

One comment about length. I rarely make the hat the length given in the original pattern. My son wants to roll the cuff twice over his ears for maximum warmth, so I generally have 9 inches (or more) between the cast on row and the first band of alternate color. The orange hat above is about that long. Perhaps I'll add a couple more inches next time so we cannot see the grandson make rude gestures with his mouth.