This month is all about creating amazing surface textures with the magic of grab stitches. This is a really fun technique that, I’m willing to bet, is new to a lot of our readers. There are several really cool things about this technique. First, the texture grab stitches create is really amazing! Second, grab stitches make a reversible fabric that looks great on either side. That reversibility is on full show in this month’s Confident Knitting pattern by Jimenez Joseph, the Saturnus Cushions. The light blue sample shows off grab stitches on the stocking stitch side of the fabric, while the orange sample features single grab stitches on the “wrong” or reverse stocking stitch side. Finally, once you get the hang of the technique, it’s something you can really run with, unleashing your creativity and creating unique textures.
This month’s Confident Knitting designer Jimenez Joseph has been exploring the possibilities of what she’s coined as grab stitches for some time. The technique involves “grabbing” a stitch from several rows below and knitting it together with your live stitch — think of it as a cousin of the dip stitch! There’s lots of scope for variation, both in terms of how many rows down you grab from, and how many grab stitches you work in a row. For the Saturnus Cushions, Jimi has explored variation that happens when you work a grab stitch on its own (a 1x4 grab stitch), shown in the orange sample, versus working several grab stitches consecutively (4x6 grab stitch) to more dramatically manipulate the fabric.
In this video tutorial, Jen takes you through working both the 1x4 and the 4x6 grab stitch. Give it a watch and you’ll soon be grabbing with confidence! (If you’re reading on our email service, you can view the video tutorial on YouTube here.
And don’t forget, you can hover over the time bar of the video to see section breaks, making it easy to navigate straight to the bit of the tutorial you need!
We’re celebrating all things grab stitches in our January Confident Knitting KAL over on The Knitalong Hub. If you’re planning a cast on, we’d love to see you there! And of course, you’ll find the pattern for Jimenez Joseph’s Saturnus Cuhsions, as well as stepwise photo tutorials for this month’s techniques, in Confident Knitting. This month’s pattern is knit up in gorgeous hand-dyed yarn from Third Vault Yarns and is currently available as part of our Confident Knitting Winter Kits.
All Photos © Jesse Wild.