be a whizz at
woven darning
Takeona newtechniquewiththiscoolnewembroidery
skill and decorate your cables and more with ease!A
ddingyourownpersonaltouchestoyourcraftingis
bothchallengingandrewarding,butit reallydoesn’t
havetobedi cult.Oneofthebestwaystoaddinterest
toa knittingfabriciswithcontrastingcolour.Therearemany
waystomixshadesandcoloursthroughoutyourknitting,from
themoretraditionalmethodsofFairIsleandintarsia,tooneof
thenewerideas– likewovendarning.Darninghasbeenaround
forcenturies,butusingdarningasa wovenaccentisa relatively
recentrevelationandonceyou have the technique under your
belt, it couldn’tbeeasier!SOMANYUSES
Darningoriginatedfromtheneedtomendandmaketorefresh
yourgarments,likewornsockheelsandthinningsweater
elbows,butnowheredoesit saythatyoucan’tbecreative
whendoingthis.Inourcableheadbandproject(page52)
we’vemadethemostofthenaturaldivotsinthecablepattern,
creatinga purelydecorativeeffectwithdarning.Butyoucould
easilyusethisattractivetechniquetocoverupanunsightly
hole or reinforce an area of a favourite garment.WOVENDARNINGONTOFLATFABRIC
Onceyou’vemasteredthewovendarningtechniquewithina
confinedspace,likethecabledivotsonourheadband,youcan
branchouttocreatingdefinedshapes.Heartsarea popular
choiceandcanbeeasilyaddedtoplain,stocking-stitchfabric
withease.Theverticalladderstitchesyouneedtoputinplace
beforeweavingcanbefashionedintotheshapeyourequire,
forexamplea simpleheartorcircle,thenyouweavewithin
theseladderstitchestocreatea solidsilhouette.Alterthe size
by lengthening or shortening your ‘ladder’ stitches.WHERETOADDYOURDARNING
Theworld’syouroysterwhenit comestoconsideringwhatto
addyourwovendarningtoo.Wethinkit looksparticularlygood
ona child’splainjumper.Perhapsa singleheartorstarwould
lookgoodasa badgeorpocketdecoration.Youcouldadd
detailtothebottomofa scarf,orperhapsembellisha knitted
bag.Butwovendarningisn’tjustconfinedtoknittedgarments,
this kind of decoration can easily be carried over to fabrics too.QUICKTIPSFORSUCCESS
1 Makesureyourchosencoloursmakea goodtonalmatch,or
attractivecontrast. 2 Whenworkingyourladderstitchesina
cabledivotensurethattheybeginandendtuckedunderthe
cablesyou’reworkingwithin. 3 Yourlongladderstitchesneed
tobeasstraightaspossibleforneatness. 4 Youcanstart
weavingfromthetopdownorbottomup.Pushtheweaved
yarnneatlyagainstthelastrow. 5 Seeingthe‘woven’section
clearlyiskeywiththistechniquesospendtimegettingyour
embroidered section just right under good natural light.WOVENDARNINGMETHODBYEMMAVINING
Topdesigner,EmmaVining,createdthisgorgeousjumper
cablejumperaboveusingthewovendarningtechniquetoadd
creamandyellowdetailwithinthedecorativecables.Seehow
shedidit withherwritteninstructions below and step-by-step
images over the page.1 Beginbyfasteningtheendofyourcontrastyarntoyour
knittedfabricandpickinguponeloopfromtheinsideofthe
firstcabledivot,justunderthecablesoneachsideofthedivot.
2 and 3 Makea ladderofwidestitches(fromtoptobottom)up
throughthedivot, taking the needle through one strand at
eachside.
4 to 6 Weavetheyarnbackdownthroughthisladderfromend
toend,pickingupa ‘background’ stitch at the base of the divot
tosecurethestitches.
7 and 8 Continuetoweaveacrossthe‘ladder’ofstitchesyou
havcreaeduntilthesectioniscompleted. Secure the yarn end
on the reverse of the work.Thesky’sthelimitwhenit
comestoaddingyourown
stamp with woven darning!Patternfrom
issue (^56) of
The Knitter
54 Subscribe at http://www.gathered.how/simplyknitting
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