Sequence knitting: introduction
Sequence knitting is nothing new, as you will realize as I go on explaining its meaning later on this post. But recently Cecelia Campochiaro studied this simple idea in depth and wrote a much acclaimed book on it. In the book she demonstrates the amazing potential of this very simple idea. Unfortunately it is difficult to buy the book outside the US, but that is only motivation for us to follow on Campochiaro's footsteps and do some research of our own.
So what is sequence knitting? I will use Campochiaro's words to explain it:
The most simple examples of this method are well known to even the beginner knitter. Here are some trivial sequences we all know extremely well :
The examples given in the table above assume flat knitting. As any knitter knows, different results are obtained when knitting in the round. In parenthesis the requirements on the number of stitches in the working row are given [for stockinette, the row must have n stitches and kn(pn) means knit(purl) n stitches].
The examples above may be trivial, but already some questions arise: what stitch patterns are obtained if, on the last example, instead of a multiple of 4 you have any other number of stitches? And, what patterns result from the even simpler sequence k2, p1? Here the fun begins, as you begin to consider less trivial sequences and you start to realize that the possibilities are endless and that even very simple sequences can result in very interesting textures.
Obviously, sequence knitting is not limited to knit-purl combinations (many lace patterns are examples of sequence knitting). Cecelia Campochiaro admits that her inspiration for the book was a well known pattern: the one row handspun scarf by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, which uses the sequence k2, ktbl, p1 (multiples of 4 plus 2, restart the sequence at the beginning of every row).
In the one row handspun scarf, the sequence is not perfectly repeated, because after the last two stitches of every row are knitted, the sequence is interrupted and restarts fresh at the beginning on the next row (as the name of the pattern suggests). There are many similar one row patterns that are well known. This inspires me to think that there are two different ways to think of sequence knitting:
So what is sequence knitting? I will use Campochiaro's words to explain it:
The concept of Sequence Knitting is simple: take a sequence of stitches and repeat them again and again. Depending on how you repeat them, different fabrics can be created. While a few of these fabrics are familiar, many are new to the knitting world.
The most simple examples of this method are well known to even the beginner knitter. Here are some trivial sequences we all know extremely well :
| Sequence | Stitch pattern |
|---|---|
| k1 | garter |
| kn, pn | stockinette and reverse stockinette (n) |
| k1, p1 | 1x1 ribbing (odd), seed stitch (even) |
| k2, p2 | 2x2 ribbing (multiples of 4) |
The examples above may be trivial, but already some questions arise: what stitch patterns are obtained if, on the last example, instead of a multiple of 4 you have any other number of stitches? And, what patterns result from the even simpler sequence k2, p1? Here the fun begins, as you begin to consider less trivial sequences and you start to realize that the possibilities are endless and that even very simple sequences can result in very interesting textures.
Obviously, sequence knitting is not limited to knit-purl combinations (many lace patterns are examples of sequence knitting). Cecelia Campochiaro admits that her inspiration for the book was a well known pattern: the one row handspun scarf by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, which uses the sequence k2, ktbl, p1 (multiples of 4 plus 2, restart the sequence at the beginning of every row).
In the one row handspun scarf, the sequence is not perfectly repeated, because after the last two stitches of every row are knitted, the sequence is interrupted and restarts fresh at the beginning on the next row (as the name of the pattern suggests). There are many similar one row patterns that are well known. This inspires me to think that there are two different ways to think of sequence knitting:
- sequence is repeated independently of row turns;
- sequence is interrupted at the end of every row and begins fresh at the beginning of the next.
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