Knit for Brains

Herringbone stitch is a strange one to do on Portuguese style knitting but it can be done. The trick is you have to do the knit stitches like an Eastern knit stitch, sorta. You don’t have to take the yarn from the usual Portuguese style position around you neck or off a pin or pendant, but rather manipulate it a bit with your index fingers. It’s not that hard when you get the knack of it. Here’s the video I did (special, crappy web cam version).

Written instructions are below the video.

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Cast on loosely, like around two needles, then remove one of the needles.

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Slip first stitch as if to purl, slip second as if to knit, (both loops should be facing right, meaning loop leg nearest left needle tip is in back).

* With yarn on top of the right as if to knit, insert left needle through both loops but in front of the right needle. Right needle tip is now behind left needle.

Using your fingers move the working yarn around the back of the right needle tip, to the left side of the right needle tip, and pull it back to the right, across your side of the needle; hold it to the right, down and away from you with your right index finger, pull your loop through as if to purl (out the right side of the loops) – because you turned the loops to the right in the slip slip this will in effect – but not process – be what I call a “half-Eastern” knit stitch, yet it will produce a Western, left-angled loop like you get in western knitting. Slide only first loop off left needle.*

(I guess I will call that the “half-eastern, Portguguese style knit stitch.)

Repeat * to * above, across. When you get to the end and have just one loop on the left needle do the same half-eastern knit stitch in that one loop.

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Wrong side:
Do normal Portuguese style purl two together, but slip only one loop off. Repeat until you have one stitch remaining. You have to knit this last stitch or it will undo itself and you will have a large loop at the end of the row. Do a normal Portuguese knit stitch in that one loop.