Advanced Grafting

A few hints and tips for you, once you've got the hang of grafting stocking stitch. To refresh, visit socknitters.com for the mini lesson to get started.

The Slightly Condensed Version
Setup: Front needle first stitch purlwise. Back needle first stitch knitwise
Then repeat until you're done:
Front needle: first stitch knitwise then slip, next stitch purlwise.
Back needle: first stitch purlwise then slip, next stitch knitwise.

The Very Condensed Version (i.e. what's written on the piece of paper I keep in my knitting bag as a reminder)
Setup: Front purl, back knit.
Front: knit slip, purl.
Back: purl slip, knit

Grafting Reverse Stocking Stitch, or Garter Stitch.
It makes a scary amount of sense once you get the hang of it. You just change what you're doing with the back needle to match what you do with the front needle.

So in the Very Condensed Version, it becomes
Setup: Front purl, back purl.
Front: knit slip, purl.
Back: knit slip, purl.

Grafting Cables or Ribs
Required for doing the hood for Rogue.

If you're working on a section that changes from st st to rev st st, just change what you're doing on the back needle, at the right spot.

That is, you work on st st normally, and then when you go work for the first time into a purl stitch, just change over.

It happens when the first st on the back needle is still a knit, but the following stitch is a purl. The front goes as normal, and then on the back, you insert the needle purlwise as normal, slip and then insert the needle purlwise again, rather than knitwise. And then for the rest of the purl stitches on the back needle, use the "knit, slip, purl" version. And then when it's time to change back to st st, change back to "purl, slip, knit" for the back needle. The front needle never changes.

Works like magic, trust me.