Knitting a Pocket -- the double knit version for a side pocket

Okay Elizabeth, it looks like I'm adding in a side seam pocket.  You just had to put that idea in my head, didn't you?  And I came so close to knitting Must Have with only minor bust-row dart modifications!  But it's clearly pocket time in Shadowland.

There are a couple of ways to do it. 

I could just knit a square, and then sew it in ... bottom edge along the top of the ribbing, one side in the appropriate place on the sweater front, and then the other side craftily into the side seam.  But that's a pocket that will pull against the smooth line of the front of the sweater.  It'll be obvious.  Nobody wants an obvious pocket.  If I wanted an obvious pocket, I'd just sew a patch pocket on the front and be done with it.  (Heck, I could be almost subtle and knit up a patch that had the same cable pattern as the front, and sew that on -- it might even look like I meant it). But I don't want a patch pocket.

I want a subtle pocket.  That means I'll be knitting the whole pocket, and slipping it into the side seam (why else did I forgo finishing the sewing up on the sides??). This means that where the pocket sits, there will be three layers of fabric, not just two. 

Now, I could just knit a big rectangle, fold it in half and sew up two of the edges and then insert the last open side into the side of my sweater.  But the fold won't be a strong as a cast on edge, and will b bulkier than you want it to be.  Not only that, but it makes for one extra bit of seam to sew.

Besides, it's not classy.  And since my public not only deserves classy, but has asked for a bit of double knitting, I'll double knit this one.

Step one... cast on for the pocket.  Me, I cast on forty stitches.  It was pretty arbitrary.

Step two, work the set up row by purling into the front and back of every stitch.  (whoof, 80 stitches!)

Step three, start the double knitting.... 

Now, there are two ways to do this too. One uses one strand of yarn, the other uses two strands.

The simplest way to do it for this pocket uses one strand. And frankly, there are no benefits to using a second strand, because doing so creates an added complication to keeping one side closed.  Thus... for this lesson, we're using one strand of yarn.

So I've got a bunch of stitches on the needle... Half of them will be "front" stitches, and the other half will be "back" stitches.

__F-B_F-B_F-B_F-B_F-B_F-B_F-B_F-B_F-B_F-B_F-B_F-B_F-B_F-B_F-B____

For the "right side" row, I'm going to knit the front stitches only, and then on the "wrong side" row, I'll work only the back stitches.  To get that done, it will go like this:

Row 1: (sl 1 with yarn in front, knit one) repeat.  (That slips the back stitches, and works the front stitches, making sure that the yarn runs between the layers of the fabric)

Row two will be equally simple... but you have to decide whether you want a purl side showing or a knit side showing on the back.  For a knit side showing, just repeat Row 1!  (How easy is that?) 

For a purl side showing do this:

Row 2: (sl 1 with yarn in front, purl one) repeat (This time, it slips the front stitches, and works the back stitches, leaving you with a fabric that is double thickness, but invisibly so, since looks like a regular stockinette fabric.)

There, that wasn't so hard, was it?

But wait!  If we do it this way, we'll have a lovely  double thick piece of fabric -- with two closed sides!  That's fine if  want to stuff it for a pillow or something, but for a pocket you'd have to turn the piece on it's side, and use what is now the top as the side of the pocket into which one slips ones hand.  But what if you wanted the SIDE to be the entrance to the pocket?  A side entrance would give you a nice firm bottom edge.  (Not to mention a one-to-one ratio for sewing up the seam).'  So... I at least  want one side of this square to be open while the other side is closed.  There is a way to do that.

Let's go with the knit side out option for both sides.  Rows 1 and 2 stay the same.  Rows 3 and 4 have to be different.

Row 1: (sl 1 with yarn in front, knit one) repeat.
Row 2: (sl 1 with yarn in front, knit one) repeat.  (or, if you're going for the purl look, sl1, p1)
Row 3: (p1, sl 1 with yarn in back) repeat.   (or, if you're going for the purl look, k1, sl1)
Row 4: (p1, sl 1 with yarn in back) repeat. 

Repeat these four rows until your pocket is large enough and you'll have the open side to work with..  To finish...

Last Row:  k2tog across, then bind off.

Voila!  A pocket with one side open!  Make another, and then we'll look at slipping them into the side seams of the sweater.  I'll be back when I have two pockets ready to "install".

Comments

[Anita]

I do the same thing, basically, by using a circular and knitting, without the knit 4 rows, for every 2, while trying to remember to slip every other stitch.

Do you see any advantage to the double knitting, other than a parlor trick? Not to denigrate parlor tricks, but double knitting just drives me crazy. (Short drive I know,(like slip stitches just for the purpose of avoiding using 2 colors per row))

[NeedleDancer]

Anita,
I do find that there are places where double knitting really is a better plan. For pockets that you slip into the middle of a section of knitting (the piece you're knitting is, oh, 12 x 23, but the pocked will only be 8 x 5), I find a bit of double knitting creates a seamless pocket that doesn't pull on the outside, and eliminates fiddly sewing in later.

I've also used it to make double thick heels on socks. They're comfy and chushy and don't wear as quickly.

And, when you want a reversible object that is two (or more I suppose) colors that are inverses, double knitting can't be beat.

[janna]

Hmmm...... I'm going to have to sit down with yarn and needles and actually do this to see how it works....

[kmkat]

So THAT'S how you do it! Awesome. And using double knitting for the heels of socks? Awesome x2.

I just leaned back in my chair, closed my eyes, and thought I had figured out how to insert a front pocket into the front of a garment. Except that once I thought about it some more, I realized that the double-knit pocket will only be half as many rows tall as the surrounding knitting. Okay. I guess that means that the pocket must be double-knit as a separate piece until it is the desired height, then inserted: (RS) work across garment front until you reach the spot where the upper right corner of pocket will go. Using the garment working yarn, work across the top edge of the BACK of the pocket. If pocket is 20 st across, slip that same number of st of the garment front to a holder or piece of waste yarn, slip the 20 st from the top front edge of the pocket onto another holder or piece of yarn, then continue working across the top back edge of the pocket, using the garment working yarn. Continue working the garment front as usual. Eventually, you go back and finish off those stitches on holders -- 3-needle bind off? Slip them all onto one holder, alternating one stitch from the garment with one from the pocket front and work across them all K2tog and binding off at the same time? Must experiment to see which looks better. (Also must follow my own directions and see if it works.)

Hmmm. My current knitting projects are a chemo hat and some felted wine bottle sacks. I wonder if any of those need a pocket...

[NeedleDancer]

I'll be addressing this more thoroughly in the post on working a pocket WHILE you're knitting. When I do that, I don't feel the need to do the three layer thing because there are no seams to distort the front of the garment.

Thus, for double knitting a pocket as you go, you're working the front in pattern for the front of the garment, and the back as the lining. If you've ever knit a Wallaby (adorable hoody pattern for a knitted pullover sweatshirt) (http://www.paradisefibers.net/Cottage-Creations-Wonderful-Wallaby-Pattern-p/3006.htm), you've started a pocket,... worked it separately, and then joined it back in when the body got to the same height. Double knitting lets you work both at the same time (no guessing as to whether you've really knit the same number of rows).

So... yes, if you were doing a full pocket, that would yield a three layer spot when done, you'd have half as high a pocket as body ... but if you' do the two layer version, you've got exactly the right height -- but you knit it differently -- with TWO strands of yarn. So there will be no slipping involved.