Double Knitting Pattern - Coaster "Love"

This coaster is knitted in the double knitting technique – even non-mirrored, so that the font shows correctly on both sides. It is accomplished quite quickly and is a lovely present for your dearest, or for a couple in love 😊

For this project you should be experienced in double knitting.

Materials:

• Schachenmayr Catania (125 m / 50 gr), pink and white or two different colours (one bright, one dark), less than 10 gr each (of course you can use any other / similar yarn)
• Circular needles 2.5 mm + additional circular needles 2.0 mm (for cast on)
• Additional circular needle 2.5 mm (alternatively 2.0 mm or 3.0 mm) for bind off
• Darning needle, scissors

Gauge (double knitted with both colours):

22 sts x 34 rows = 10 x 10 cm

Size of the finished coaster is approx. 10,5 cm x 10,5 cm

Please note: If you have a different gauge, the size of the finished product will be different, too.

Non-mirrored double knitting:

When using the classic double knitting technique, the motif is mirrored on the back side, which doesn’t matter if it is an image. But if you knit letters / words, you would like them to be readable from both sides. Therefore, both sides must be knitted differently.

In the knitting chart, both sides are shown overlaying, i.e. the word «Love» is shown correctly for one side, and mirrored for the other side. Please don’t be put off by the knitting chart – at first sight it looks complicated, but it isn’t really, if you work stitch by stitch. You just need to concentrate for the sections that are concerned.

In the example the coaster is made of pink and white. If you choose two different colours, use the dark colour as « pink » and the bright colour as « white ». This is important, so that you know with which colour to start or which colour is meant in the knitting chart.

Classic double knitting only has two options : « no motif » (= knit in main colour, purl in contrast colour) or « motif » (= knit in contrast colour, purl in main colour). Thus, front and back side show the same motif, just mirrored and with reverse colours on the back side.

The non-mirrored version offers the additional option, that the motif only shows on one side (so that you can knit the font individually for both sides). Depending on the side you work at the moment, this means « knit AND purl in white » or « knit AND purl in pink ». So you work one pair of stitches in the same colour in order to show the motif either only on the front side or only on the back side.

Please read the knitting chart cell by cell, and work each pair of stitches deliberately, according to the colour information in the chart. After each row, you can control if the font shows correctly.

If you should discover that you used the wrong colour for a stitch, you can either knit backwards. Or you can drop the stitch carefully up to the row where the wrong colour was used. Then you «knit» the stitch with the correct colour row by row with the help of a crochet hook. Repeat this for the second stitch of the concerned pair.

Let’s start!

Cast on 24 pairs of stitches (one pair of stitches = 1 knit in colour 1, 1 purl in colour 2) with the invisible cast on (if you are not sure how to do this, you will find helpful video tutorials on the internet, just search for "invisible cast on for double knitting"). If you cast on rather loosely, I recommend to use the circular needle 2.0 mm.

Of course you can use any other cast on method suitable for double knitting.

Please note: in Row 1, main colour MUST BE PINK (resp. your dark colour) ! If you use the invisible cast on, begin with white (resp. your bright colour), so after turning you will knit with pink (dark colour) and purl with white (bright colour).

Row 1

Now switch to the circular needles 2.5 mm.

Knit into back all pink (dark) knits, purl normally all white (bright) purls.

Cross threads when working the first pair of stitches and the last pair of stitches, thus the two sides will be connected at the edges.

Row 2 – Selvedge stitch

All knit white (bright), all purl pink (dark).

Do a nice selvedge stitch from row 2 on, always at end of row.

Last knit stitch (in this example white): slip stitch purlwise, yarn back (both colours)

Last purl stitch (in this example pink): slip stitch purlwise, yarn back (white) respectively yarn forward (pink)

Turn; the white yarn is front, the pink yarn is back.

Knit and purl as usual.

Knitting Chart

Tip: when double knitting in rows, main and contrast colour change with each row. Before you start each row, identify which is the main colour in this row and whether you work the chart from right to left or from left to right. For example, you can work all rows with odd numbers from right to left (in working direction), and all rows with even numbers from left to right (against working direction).

According to the knitting chart, the first two rows of the coaster „Love“ are worked uni (i.e. knit in the respective main colour, purl in the respective contrast colour).

Row 3

Now the motif starts. As row 3 is an odd row (with pink / dark colour as main colour), we read the knitting chart from right to left.

Row 3 is read as follows (from right to left)

5 x knit pink / purl white

1 x knit white / purl white

13 x knit pink / purl white

1 x knit pink / purl pink

4 x knit pink / purl white (remember the selvedge stitch!)

Turn.

Row 4

The knitting chart is read from left to right with white / bright colour as main colour.

3 x knit white / purl pink

1 x knit pink / purl pink

15 x knit white / purl pink

1 x knit white / purl white

4 x knit white / purl pink (selvedge stitch!)

Turn.

Row 5

The knitting chart is read from right to left with pink / dark colour as main colour.

4 x knit pink / purl white

1 x knit white / purl white

15 x knit pink / purl white

1 x knit pink / purl pink

3 x knit pink / purl white (selvedge stitch!)

Turn.

Row 6

The knitting chart is read from left to right with white / bright colour as main colour.

4 x knit white / purl pink

1 x knit pink / purl pink

13 x knit white / purl pink

1 x knit white / purl white

5 x knit white / purl pink (selvedge stitch!)

Turn.

Row 7

The knitting chart is read from right to left with pink / dark colour as main colour.

6 x knit pink / purl white

3 x knit white / purl white

7 x knit white / purl pink

3 x knit pink / purl pink

5 x knit pink / purl white (selvedge stitch!)

Turn.

Continue the motif according to the knitting chart till row 36. In row 36 you don’t need to do a selvedge stitch, just knit and purl the last pair of stitches.

Invisible bind off:

Cut the white / bright yarn. We continue binding off with the pink / dark yarn. Cut the pink / dark yarn and leave a strand in the length of approx 4 x the width of the coaster (about 40-50 cm).

Separate the stitches in the front (all knit stitches) and back (all purl stitches) on two circular needles (you will need the additional circular needle now):

Take the first knit stitch from the left to the right tip of the current needle (1st needle). Take the first purl stitch on the additional needle (2nd needle). The next knit stitch again goes from the left to the right tip of the 1st needle, and the next purl stitch goes to the 2nd needle. And so on, until all stitches are separated:

Put the long pink / dark strand into the darning needle.

Stick the darning needle purl wise into the 1st stitch on the 1st needle and pull through. The stitch stays on the needle.

Stick the darning needle knit wise into the 1st stitch on the 2nd needle and pull through. This stitch also stays on the needle.

*Stick the darning needle knit wise into the 1st stitch on the 1st needle. Drop this stitch off the needle. Stick the darning needle purl wise into the 2nd stitch on the 1st needle and pull through, this stitch stays on the needle.

Stick darning needle purl wise into the 1st stitch on the 2nd needle, drop this stitch off the needle. Stick darning needle knit wise into the 2nd stitch on the 2nd needle and pull through, this stitch stays on the needle.*

Repeat *-* across.  Pull the yarn continuously, but not too tight, so that the bind off will be stretchable.

Weave in all ends. Done 😊 

I hope you enjoyed this little project ! If you liked it, I invite you to visit my shop – you will find a large selection of double knitting patterns there.

Love, Sonja from a-mano