Plaited Stitch (knitting) - Methods

Methods

Plaited stitches can be produced in several ways. Knitting into the back loop produces a clockwise plaited stitch in the lower stitch being knitted (i.e., the loop that was on the left-hand needle.) The clockwise-plaited stitch is also called a left crossed stitch, since the left strand (i.e., the outgoing strand) of the loop crosses over the right incoming strand. Left-crossed stitches are sometimes called twisted stitches, although the latter term might be confused with similar terms from cable knitting. Conversely, a counterclockwise plaited stitch can be produced if the yarn is wrapped around the needle in the opposite direction as normal while knitting a stitch. Such a stitch is also called a "right crossed stitch", since the right incoming strand crosses over the left outgoing strand. Here, the plait appears in the upper stitch being knitted, i.e., in the new loop being formed. In the "brute-force" approach, the knitter can produce any sort of plaiting by removing the stitch to be knitted from the left-hand needle, twisting it as desired, then returning it to the left-hand needle and knitting it.