Vikkel Braid Unravelled

So I came across these in a Ravelry discussion and decided to investigate further...

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.