Become a Knitting Superstarâ„¢
Become a Knitting Superstarâ„¢
Become a Knitting Superstarâ„¢
Become a Knitting Superstarâ„¢
Become a Knitting Superstarâ„¢

Introduction

My Classes » Mosaic Knitting » Introduction

Introduction

Majestic Mosaics

Ugly duckling socks Dovetail shawl Mosaic Stripes Throw Pillow Welsh blanket

My favorite Mosaic knitting project was a colorful Christmas stocking I made one year. I was living in a houseful of knitters, or so it seemed, as we were three girls who knitted all the time plus several (varying) boyfriends who knitted almost without meaning to, as if by force of osmosis.

I remember that Christmas because we knitted these crazy Mosaic Christmas stockings with our names on them. Mine was bright pink with purple, Julia’s had green and blue, and Muffin (my friend Brittany) had lots of reds in hers. Cam, one of the boyfriends, did a green-and-brown thing. We sewed in felt linings on Brittany’s sewing machine (and by “we” I mean “Brittany”), and then hung them up by her fireplace to decorate the living room and windows.

We’ve come a long way from those Montana winters now — Brittany is married and living in Seattle, Julia is in sunny Southern California, and I’m all the way in Mexico. But when I see my family for Christmas, I take out my crazy pink Mosaic Christmas stocking and hang it by the fire and think, “Man, what fun. I loved knitting with those guys.”

What I particularly like was that we did the stockings in Mosaic knitting. Although it seemed like a simple technique, it wasn’t as easy as we thought, and we kept on running into problems. Julia must have re-knit hers three times and, although Brittany’s came out perfect, mine had lots of wrinkles from tension problems as I learned how to slip the stitches without pulling the yarn behind too tight.

We were knitting in-the-round as well, with the thick Noro yarn getting tangled in the circular needles as we changed colors every other round. We were essentially making what was for some of us a first sock, but huge and not shaped for a person.

Everyone was relieved but very proud when the stockings were done. And every Christmas, mine still hangs as a reminder of how much candy, toys, and love can fit into one really big sock.



What Is Mosaic Knitting?

Mosaic Brick Swatch Mosaic knitting is a way of knitting color designs that is perfect for a beginner. It’s easy because you only use one yarn at a time across each row.

The trick is to use slipped stitches in a purposeful pattern to make interesting color designs appear. Knitting this way makes it look like you’ve used more than one color at a time even though you haven’t.

Mosaic knitting is for everyone – you only need to know how to knit and purl to start learning it. If you are already familiar with slipping stitches, making stripes, and reading your work, mosaic knitting will be even easier for you.



Where Did Mosaic Knitting Come From?

Mosaic 2In the 1970’s, a knitter and designer named Barbara Walker invented mosaic knitting and coined the term “mosaic knitting.”

She got so excited by the seemingly infinite possibilities of the technique that she created hundreds of charts and motifs herself and published a definitive book on the technique.



How You Are Going To Learn Mosaic Knitting

I’ve put together three simple but very effective swatch exercises for you to learn everything you need to know about mosaic knitting.

Each swatch exercise comes with a video on how to do it.

There is also a cute pillow you’ll be knitting, which is a fun project. It will help reinforce the concepts you’ve learned while exposing you to situations where you can make mistakes – an important part of getting better at knitting.

This mosaic throw pillow, which is simple to knit but requires you to use some possibly unexplored finishing techniques, will add to your confidence for future projects, especially those requiring sewing or attaching notions and embellishments.

After you have gone through the three exercises in this course and knitted the throw pillow, you will have gained a lot of experience and know-how in a very short time.

In addition to intermediate skills like reading your work, taking out your mistakes, and reading different kinds of patterns, you will also have learned to knit from a mosaic chart, which makes knitting from other kinds of charts a breeze.

I also include links to recommended beginner, intermediate, and advanced projects for practice at different points in the course.

By the end of this short course, you may be surprised at how ready you feel to do new techniques like Brioche Knitting, Fair-Isle Knitting, and Double Knitting – all styles of two- or three color knitting that use multiple yarns at once.

Ready to get started? The next chapter contains instructions for knitting your first swatch.



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