half double crochet but knit ♡
my first attempt to test this out was on a machine knit swatch following the umbrella girl graph in my vintage kitchen sweaters pattern
a lot of people have recreated my colorwork designs with knitting, and I get questions all the time such as, “will you release a knitting pattern?” “can this be knit?” “I wish I knew how to crochet” “I wish this was knit instead”
hold onto your fibers, folks! with this technique, any of my half double crochet graphs can be worked while knitting, or added later with duplicate stitch for embellishments or to upcycle a thrift fail
my half double crochet colorwork graphs are designed on a slightly taller grid than a perfectly square one, while. knit graphs are usually a little shorter than a perfectly square grid
to make up for this height difference when translating a HDC graph, you must place 2 knit. stitches on top of each other for every HDC square, keeping the horizontal stitch count the same for both
to knit a full garment and add the graphic to the center, you will likely have to swatch to check your measurements, calculate how many knit stitches x rows you will have (either based on your preference or to match up with the dimensions of my sweater base)
you will then calculate how many stitches by rows the graphic will take up (and plan where to place it on your garment if needed) remember: knit stitch count & row count = HDC stitches & HDC rows x2
free sloth graphic 13 rows of 35 hdc so that’s 26 rows of 35 duplicate stitches
with worsted weight yarn at a similar gauge on both projects, my knit dupes came out about the same size as the crochet colorwork version!
choosing to do this with duplicate stitch can be an option for people who don’t actually knit! it is very easy to learn and duplicate stitch is less permanent so you can upcyle any thrifted knit. or maybe you want to make a little goose wall hanging for your kitchen but with a new sweater for every holiday
to do a duplicate stitch, come up at the bottom of the “v” of the stitch, bring the needle behind the v above it while following the yarn, and then go down into the bottom of the v, repeat once more above/below to equal the full height of a half double crochet stitch
WATCH THE YOUTUBE TUTORIAL: https://youtu.be/4k3QOITx7vE
DUPLICATE STITCH TIPS:
work loose, using a yarn weight that matches the base
use shorter lengths of yarn to avoid wear on the fibers
you need about 2 yards for every 20 duplicate stitches
work vertically or horizontally but stay consistent
work the entire row/column before moving to the next
see all my free graphics here: https://www.autumnolive.com/free-patterns/category/graphics
shop all my other graphics: https://www.autumnolive.com/shop-patterns/add-on-graphics
