Double Knitting a Warp Knit

Warp knit a thick and spongy fabric by double knitting on a knitting loom! This tutorial describes one method to create a double sided warp knit on a knitting loom with two rows of pegs, and the resulting fabric looks almost identical on both sides. It's my next step after warp knitting flat, single-sided panels and tubular scarves, and here I experiment with a different way of creating a fringe and custom-made guide bars to improve efficiency.

Warp knitting is done with one strand of yarn for every vertical column (wale) of loops. My previous tutorials explain the theory of warp knitting in more detail (see links above).

• Flat knitting loom or knitting board with two parallel rows of pegs that are closely spaced
• Loom hook or loom pick
• Scissors
• Measuring tape
• Clips or clothes pegs
• Tapestry needle or other large-eyed needle with rounded tip
• Yarn (not shown)
• Optional: Guide bars
• Optional: Rubber bands
• Optional: Knitting needle, chopstick, or other stick-like object (not shown)

I knitted this project with 72 strands of yarn - 36 strands on the front row of pegs and 36 strands on the back row. While it is possible to warp knit without guide bars, due to the large number of yarn strands, I chose to make guide bars to keep the strands of yarn organised and make it possible to move several yarns with one action. The guide bars are laser cut from 4mm thick acrylic and contain slots to contain yarn, with the slots spaced at exactly the same distance as the pegs on the loom. Each guide bar comprises 2-3 layers that are held together with rubber bands; 3 layers create a guide bar with a tighter grip, while 2 layers create a softer grip. The guide bar is designed so that after assembly, the round holes of the yarn slots in each layer are intentionally misaligned to prevent the yarns from sliding through easily. When the guide bar is squeezed gently, the holes are pushed into alignment and the yarn can slide through easily. Step 2 explains how the guide bars are attached onto the yarn.

The .dxf file that I used for laser cutting the guide bars and a PDF that shows the outline of the guide bars are attached. Note that you must adjust the slot spacing to match your knitting loom's peg spacing. Guide bars with fewer slots are also easier to handle than guide bars with many slots.

Decide how many vertical columns (wales) you wish to knit. Next, since we are creating a double knit fabric that has two layers, cut two strands of yarn for every wale. For this project, I wanted to knit a piece of fabric with 36 wales, so I cut 72 strands of yarn. Tie each strand of yarn into a yarn butterfly to keep the yarn organised. I prefer to add a clip about 2.5cm (1") away from the long tail of the yarn to help to anchor the yarn when casting on.

For this project, I used 8-ply milk cotton yarn (55% long staple cotton fibre + 15% milk fibre + 30% rayon, 100g for +120m). Each strand was yarn was approximately 1.5m (5') long. My knitting loom's pegs are spaced at approximately 8mm (5/16") intervals, with a 19mm (3/4") gap between the two rows of pegs. I knitted 8 rows for the starting (bottom) fringe, 28 rows for the main fabric, and 4 rows for the ending (top) fringe. The final fabric measured 15.8cm (6 7/32") x 28.5cm (11 7/32") x 1.1cm (7/16") (LxWxH) before washing, with a 3.2cm (1 17/64") fringe at the bottom and a 2.2cm (55/64") fringe at the top. My estimate is that each double knit stitch used about 9cm (3 1/2") of yarn* while each fringe (e-wrap) stitch used about 2.5cm (1") of yarn.

If you need suggestions on how to cut many strands of yarn quickly, read Step 2 of my previous warp knitting Instructable.

*If you bothered calculating and find that my stitch length estimates result in a total yarn length that is much greater than 1.5m, the reason is because for the main fabric, half of the strands of yarn are used to knit 14 rows and the other half are used to knit the other 14 rows, forming a total of 28 rows. So for each strand of yarn, (14 rows x 9cm) + (12 rows x 2.5cm) = 1.56m, which is close to 1.5m.

To start knitting, take a yarn butterfly and wrap the long tail of the yarn (the working yarn) around a peg counter-clockwise (CCW) twice so that there are two loops on the peg. This is a CCW e-wrap. The clip/clothes peg should hang on the inside of the knitting loom. Repeat this until half of the yarn butterflies are attached to the front row of pegs of the knitting loom. Then, use the loom hook to pick up the bottom loop on the first peg and lift it over the top loop, so that only one loop remains on the peg. This is a hook over. Repeat this for every peg.

After casting on half of the yarn butterflies, repeat this on the back row of pegs with the remaining half of the yarn butterflies. Ensure that you cast on pegs that are directly opposite each other.

(In the photos, I have split apart the knitting loom so that I am only working with the front row of pegs at this stage. To differentiate the inside and outside of the knitting loom, just remember that the pegs have grooves on the outside and are smooth on the inside. If you split apart your knitting loom, check that the yarn is cast onto the correct pegs so that when the loom is joined together again, the pegs with yarn are directly opposite each other and not offset.)

If you are using guide bars, you can choose to add guide bars now. To use a 3-layer guide bar, slip one strand of working yarn into each slot of the first layer. Rotate the second guide bar layer 180 degrees, then slip the working yarns that are already threaded into the first layer into the slots of the second layer too. Repeat for the third layer. Use rubber bands to hold all three layers together. Use as many guide bars are needed so that all of the working yarns are slotted into guide bars.

The fringe is created using a CCW e-wrap on each peg so that each strand of yarn knits a separate wale of stitches.* Just like the cast on in Step 2, wrap each working yarn CCW around its peg so there are two loops on the peg, then hook over. Repeat this for every peg, then repeat for as many rows as you wish.

If you used clips to help to anchor the yarn during cast on, you can remove the clips after knitting a few rows.

*The fringe is structurally the same as a crochet chain.

To knit the main double sided fabric, pick up the yarn on the front row of pegs. Wrap each working yarn CCW around its own peg on the front row, around the diagonal right peg on the back row, and end at the front row with the working yarn lying to the left of its original peg. This will create one new wrapped peg on the back row's right corner. Hook over every peg with two loops. Pull down the fabric from below so that the loops slide towards the bottom of the peg and there is empty space at the top of the peg to receive a new wrap.

Next, pick up the yarn on the back row of pegs. Wrap each working yarn around its own peg on the back row, around the diagonal right peg on the front row, and end at the back row with the working yarn lying beside its original peg.* This will create one new wrapped peg on the front row's right corner. Hook over every peg with two loops.

If you started with 72 strands of yarn, there should now be 74 wrapped pegs on the loom. Pull down the fabric to prepare for the next row.

Repeat this step, alternating between the front and back sets of yarn and hooking over every peg with two loops.

*In the photos, I wrapped the back row's yarns clockwise (CW), with the working yarn starting on the left side of its own peg, wrapping CW around its own peg in the back row, around the diagonal right peg on the front row, and ending at the back row with the working yarn lying to the left of its original peg. It is perfectly fine to wrap the back row's yarns CCW instead, with the working yarn starting on the right side of its own peg, wrapping CCW around its own peg in the back row, around the diagonal right peg on the front row, and ending at the back row with the working yarn lying to the right of its original peg.

While knitting, I sometimes find that the working yarn that wraps around a peg overlaps and obscures the existing loop on the peg, which makes it difficult to pick up the old loop with the loom hook. I also find that when I try to move several yarns at the same time with the guide bar, the working yarn sometimes slips off the peg, resulting in incorrectly wrapped pegs.

To solve this, try the following:

• Pull the fabric down after every row to make sure that the old loops lie at the bottom of the pegs.
• Just before wrapping the yarn, pick up the guide bar and lift it up so that the working yarns are pulled above the old loops.
• When wrapping the pegs, use a knitting needle or some other stick-like object to hold down the working yarns so that they do not slide off the pegs.

To knit the fringe at the end, start by picking up the right-most stitch on the front row and move it to the peg on its left, then repeat with the right-most stitch on the back row. This reduces the number of wrapped pegs to 72 pegs to match the number of strands of yarn.

Then, just like Step 3, e-wrap each peg and hook over.

For the first row, the two right-most pegs will have three loops, so hook over the lower two loops so that only one loop remains on the peg.

For all subsequent rows, every peg should have two loops after wrapping and only one loop after hooking over.

To finish the knit, lift the loop off the first peg, then slip the working yarn tail through the loop from back to front and pull to tighten the knot. Repeat this for every peg.

Use a tapestry needle to thread the yarn tails through the back of the fringe and trim the excess yarn.

Your double knitted warp knit is complete! The fabric should look almost the same on both sides and have a satisfying squishiness when pressed.

I only made a short sample for this Instructable, but you can use longer strands of yarn to knit a towel, a rug, or a scarf. Double knits are thick and bouncy so they are suitable for applications that require thickness and cushioning.