How To Knit a Tuck Stitch. Machine Knitting and Hand Knitting Tutorial.
Happy Monday!
How was your weekend? I hope you had a wonderful time and ready to start a new week!
As you know, I am working on a textured sweater - Sand - on my knitting machine. Today I would love to show you how the tuck stitch is formed on the machine and for those who don't have a knitting machine, I prepared a tutorial for hand knit tuck stitch.
How To Knit a Tuck Stitch On a Knitting Machine
I am using Silver Reed LK150 machine; if you have a different machine some things might be different, but the principle stays the same.
Instructions
Before you start knitting a tuck stitch, knit a couple of rows in simple stockinette. Let's start with the carriage on your RIGHT side.Carriage settings. Side Levers - triangle. Russel levers - I.
- Row 1: Starting from the THIRD needle, push every 4th needle into D position. Knit one row.
- Row 2-3: Knit.
- Row 4: The carriage is on your left. Change the settings: Side Levers - triangle. RIGHT Russel lever - II. Knit one row.
- Row 5: Side Levers - triangle. Russel levers - I. Starting from the FIFTH needle, push every 4th needle into D position. Knit one row.
- Row 6-7: Knit.
- Row 8: The carriage is on your left. Change the settings: Side Levers - triangle. Russel levers - II. Knit one row.
Repeat Rows 1-8 for tuck stitch.
Tutorial
To see a bigger picture, open it in the new tab.
Rows 1-4
[gallery link="file" columns="2" size="medium" ids="4291,4290,4288,4287"][gallery link="file" columns="2" size="medium" ids="4295,4296,4294,4293,4292,4297"]
Then you will repeat the whole process again. You will change only one thing - you will push every 4th needle starting from the FIFTH needle - you shift the tuck stitch two stitches to the left. Which means that the tuck stitches align in checkerboard order:
As you can see every 4th needle is holding a stitch that is "hugging" and pulling the loops up, forming a tuck stitch.So what if you don't have a machine, but you like this stitch and would love to try it in your hand knitting? There are many variations of a hand knit tuck stitch, I will show you the one that uses the same principles as the machine knit tuck stitch.
How To Knit a Tuck Stitch. Hand Knitting.
Instructions
Before you start knitting a tuck stitch, knit a couple of rows in simple stockinette. Stitch count: 4 st repeat + 5 balance sts.
- Row 1 (RS): P2, *yo, sl 1 wyib as if to purl, p3; rep from * to last 3 sts; yo, sl 1 wyib as if to purl, p2.
- Row 2 (WS): K2, *yo, sl yo + st wyib as if to purl, k3; rep from * to last 4 sts; yo, sl yo + st wyib as if to purl, k2.
- Row 3: P2, *yo, sl 2 loops of yo + sl 1 wyib as if to purl, p3; rep from * to last 5 sts; yo, sl 2 loops of yo + sl 1 wyib as if to purl, p2.
- Row 4: K2, *k4tog (3 yo loops + a st); rep from * to last 6 sts; k4tog (3 yo loops + st), k2.
- Row 5: P4, *yo, sl 1 wyib as if to purl, p3; rep from * to last 5 sts; yo, sl 1 wyib as if to purl, p4.
- Row 6: K4, *yo, sl yo + st wyib as if to purl, k3; rep from * to last 6 sts; yo, sl yo + st wyib as if to purl, k4.
- Row 7: P4, *yo, sl 2 loops of yo + sl 1 wyib as if to purl, p3; rep from * to last 7 sts; yo, sl 2 loops of yo + sl 1 wyib as if to purl, p4.
- Row 8: K4, *k4tog (3 yo loops + a st); rep from * to last 8 sts; k4tog (3 yo loops + st), k4.
Repeat Rows 1-8 for tuck stitch.
Tutorial
To see a bigger picture, open it in the new tab.
Row 1
[gallery columns="2" link="file" size="medium" ids="4280,4279,4278,4277,4285,4284"]
Row 2
[gallery link="file" columns="2" size="medium" ids="4282,4263,4262,4261"]
Row 3
[gallery columns="2" link="file" size="medium" ids="4259,4267,4266,4265"]
Row 4
[gallery columns="2" link="file" size="medium" ids="4271,4270,4269,4268"]
You will repeat the same steps for Rows 5-8. The only difference is that you will knit 4 sts at the beginning of a row, instead of two - you shift the tuck stitch 2 stitches to the left.
Here is the result. Looks exactly like the machine knit tuck stitch!
Don't be afraid to experiment - try "spreading out" the stitch, try different placement of stitches, try different fibers! I think knitting a garment with overall tuck stitch pattern will be very time consuming, but you can always add this stitch as a decorative element to your simple stockinette! One more way to speed up the process is to knit with a very loose gauge - this way you will create a lacy fabric perfect for spring and summer light pullovers/tops. Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments!
I hope you will use this stitch in some of your projects. Have a wonderful week!
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