Vikkel Braids
Also
known as Lateral Braids and Estonian Braids, they form horizontal stitches across your knitting.
On
investigation of this technique I found many videos, tutorials and
blogs on the how - as in the mechanics below. But none on
understanding, in the words of
the immortal Abbott and Costello,
Who's on first, What's on
Second.
The How
Start
by making 1 stitch and place it on the lh needle. At the start of the
row you can just do a knitted cast on of a stitch. Otherwise I prefer
to do a M1R. I found just
doing an M1 by knitting the loop between the stitches made the first
braid stitch more of a drunken diagonal than horizontal.
Now
repeat the following 4 steps: Mantra
1.
ktbl of the second stitch on the lh needle 2 Back
2.
knit the first stitch on the lh needle 1 Front
3.
Slip both stitches off the lh needle Slip
2 off
4.
Place the first stitch on the rh needle back on the lh needle Put
1 back
until
you want to finish the braid.
Assuming you are braiding across the
whole row and maintaining the stitch count this will be when
there is 1 unworked stitch on the lh needle without doing the last
step 4. You need to
decrease 1 stitch to counteract that first new stitch you made so
just knit the next stitch on the lh needle and pass the previous
stitch over it.
If
you are wanting to increase
1 stitch at either end of your row (e.g. for a top down shawl) then
when the only stitch on
your lh needle is the one just placed there from the last step 4 knit
it through the front and back.
Who's on first,
What's on Second
Understanding
how the braids and live stitches are formed opens up multiple
possibilities when working with more than one colour.
The
first stitch on the lh needle will become a braid stitch when
it is dropped from the needle in the
next step 3. Therefore
always use the colour you want your
braid to start with for your 'make 1' starting stitch.
The yarn used to ktbl the
second stitch on the lh
needle
will become the live stitch
on the rh needle. When
finishing the braid always use the required live stitch colour to
work the last stitch on the lh needle.
The
table below shows the flavours I came up with for
working with two colours (MC – main colour, CC – contrast colour)
with single colour or
1-stitch
alternating colours
of either braids, live stitches or both. The Stitch 1 and 2 columns give the sequence of the yarn to use to knit those stitches as you work across the row.
Make
st
|
Stitch
1
(Step 2) |
Stitch
2
(Step 1) |
Result
|
|
VB2A
|
CC
|
CC
|
MC
|
CC
braid, MC live stitches
|
VB2B
|
MC
|
MC
|
CC
|
MC
braid, CC live stitches
|
VB2C
|
MC
|
CC/MC
|
MC
|
MC/CC
alternating braid, MC live stitches
|
VB2D
|
CC
|
MC/CC
|
MC
|
CC/MC
alternating braid, MC live stitches
|
VB2E
|
MC
|
CC/MC
|
CC
|
MC/CC
alternating braid, CC live stitches
|
VB2F
|
CC
|
MC/CC
|
CC
|
CC/MC
alternating braid, CC live stitches
|
VB2G
|
MC
|
MC
|
MC/CC
|
MC
braid, alternating MC/CC live stitches
|
VB2H
|
MC
|
MC
|
CC/MC
|
MC
braid, alternating CC/MC live stitches
|
VB2I
|
CC
|
CC
|
MC/CC
|
CC
braid, alternating MC/CC live stitches
|
VB2J
|
CC
|
CC
|
CC/MC
|
CC
braid, alternating CC/MC live stitches
|
VB2K
|
MC
|
CC/MC
|
CC/MC
|
Alternating
MC/CC braid and CC/MC live stitches
|
VB2L
|
CC
|
MC/CC
|
MC/CC
|
Alternating
CC/MC braid and MC/CC live stitches
|
VB2M
|
MC
|
CC/MC
|
MC/CC
|
Alternating
MC/CC braid and MC/CC live stitches
|
VB2N
|
CC
|
MC/CC
|
CC/MC
|
Alternating
CC/MC braid and CC/MC live stitches
|
A B C D E F G H I J K
The
pairs of C &
D, E & F, G & H, I & J, K&L
and M&N are essentially
the same, just changing which colour starts the alternating stitches, but you may prefer one over the other if you have an odd
number of stitches and depending on how you are proceeding after the
braid. I haven't swatched
L-N but I think you get the idea...
White
is always the main colour in the photo. I
switched contrast colour as the first one was not showing up very
well.
Other
things to note are that the live stitches above the braid are
slightly elongated. Also you are better off taking it slow and steady
– these are not the easiest things to tink back because of the twisted
stitches and especially so when using two colours.
