Learn something new: Domino Knitting

Beautiful domino knitting

Even though domino knitting has been around for a century, Vivian Hǿxbro is the present-day ambassador for this fun knitting technique. Vivian teaches about domino knitting all over the world and she’s published books on the subject as well. Her newest venue is our DVD workshop, Domino Knitting with Vivian Hǿxbro!

What is domino knitting? Here’s what Vivian has to say:

“In 1992, I was attending a handcraft fair in Germany and noticed a huge crowd at one stand. I could just barely see a bearded man demonstrating a different way to knit. That man was Horst Schulz. Later, I traveled to Berlin and took a course with him. It was on ‘the new knitting’ as he called it.

In domino knitting, pieces are knitted together while the work progresses, just as one “pieces” the tiles in dominoes. For more than a century, people have knitted this way. They knitted shawls with domino patterns on the Faroe Islands and pieced coverlets in the same manner in Canada and England. In the United States, I found a copy of a pamphlet from 1946 with the sweetest jacket, knitted in domino squares by Virginia Woods Bellamy. In 1952, she published a book on the technique, called Number Knitting.

From the first moment I saw the domino knitting techniques demonstrated, I was intrigued by the many possibilities of this knitting method; they’re endless.”

—Vivian Hǿxbro

I’ve done domino knitting just once, and that was several years ago. I’m eager to refresh my skills, and I thought you might want to learn along with me, so here’s Vivian’s easy knitting pattern: a simple square, which can be the building block for larger, beautiful domino projects.

Basic Squares
(Garter stitch, single color)

	Domino knitting: Basic square

These squares are the starting point for many wonderful hours of knitting. So ready, set, go!

Yarn: Use what you have on hand, but a good yarn for this project is Peaches & Cream cotton.

Needles: Short needles (8-inch straight needles or DPNs work great) in a size suitable for the yarn.

Notions: Markers, scissors, tapestry needle.

Using the knitted cast-on, CO 25 stitches.
Row 1 (WS): Knit to the last st, p1. Mark the center three stitches.
Row 2 (RS): (Note: The yarn tail hangs at the right side.) Sl 1 kwise, knit to marker before center 3 sts (=k10), sl 1 kwise, k2tog, psso, knit to the last st (= 10sts), p1 (=23 sts).
Row 3 and all WS rows: Sl 1 kwise, knit to last st, end p1.
Row 4: Sl 1 kwise, knit to marker before center 3 sts (= k9), sl 1, k2tog, psso, knit to last st (= k9), end p1 (= 21 sts).
Row 6: Sl 1 kwise, knit to marker before center 3 sts (= k89), sl 1, k2tog, psso, knit to last st (= k8), end p1 (= 19 sts).
Row 8: Sl 1 kwise, knit to marker before center 3 sts (= k7), sl 1, k2tog, psso, knit to last st (= k7), end p1 (= 17 sts).

Continue in this manner until 3 sts remain.

Next row (WS): Sl 1 kwise, k1, p1.
Next row: Sl 1, k2tog, psso (= 1st).

Cut yarn and pull the tail through the stitch but do not pull it tight. This last stitch is a “reusable” stitch that can be used again if you make more squares and knit them together. It is called an “end stitch.”

To learn how to make different types of domino squares, how to join them, and how to weave in ends—plus lots more—check out the new Knitting Daily DVD Workshop Domino Knitting with Vivian Hoxbro. You’ll learn all about domino knitting from the master herself.

Cheers,