Mini Demo Series - Tutorial Number One: Knotted Diamonds

This morning I am launching my new season's collection of patterns, kits and new colours in my two yarns, Libby Summers Chunky and Libby Summers Fine Aran. I am so excited that I didn't sleep much last night so you might find me dozing off during the day. Part of the reason I am so excited is that I will be getting out and meeting lots of gorgeous knitters, because my most local of all my lovely stockists kindly offered to host the launch, and it was decided that as well as showcasing all that's on offer - including a huge range of knitted samples to look at - we would run some live mini knitting demos to show how to do some of the techniques in the new patterns.

I do hope that you made it to the live demos? But if not, don't worry! I will be releasing the mini demos as tutorials over the next two working weeks on the blog. Follow me on twitter or on facebook to find out when the posts go live. There are eight mini demos in all. During the live demos, these will be condensed into four separate demo sessions, but during some of these more than one technique will be demonstrated.

The first mini demo I am releasing here as a free online tutorial is the 'Knotted Diamond' stitch tutorial from my Sojourn Collection of patterns. This is a very simple but striking technique and looks particularly good on a cushion cover. The photos below lead you through the technique step by step, but you will need to follow the pattern to see how it fits into the context of the design. The cat gatecrashed my photo shoot, but I thought she looked so cute I'd leave her in, so please forgive me for the distraction!

Step 1: K1, then insert RH into next 3 sts to knit them all together, but leave the stitches on the LH needle after wrapping the yarn around the needle and pulling it through.

Step 2: yo. Bring yarn forward.

Step 3: With the yarn forward, k3tog through the same sts, this time removing them from the LH needle.

Step 4: This completes the knotted diamond feature. Follow the pattern to complete the row.

Step 4: Sl 3 purlwise.  On the next (WS) row, you will need to slip the three stitches worked twice on the previous row....

...like this.

Fig 1. When you work the next stitch on the left hand needle, just take the yarn across the back of the 3 slipped stitches, taking care not to pull too tight or leave too loose. The tension should be the same as that of the knitting.

Repeat this next time you get to the knotted diamond stitches.

Um....this photo and the last one are really just so you can see how cute the cat is.

And even this one is a bit gratuitous, because it really is that simple.

But just in case you're not sure, this is what your work will look like when you've nearly finished the wrong side row, unless your cat really has jeopardised things.

Don't study this photo too closely, because I missed out the knit and purl row between the two rows of knotted diamonds because I was distracted by the cat. Just look at the cat. Thanks.