Discover the eye‑catching world of stacked stitches — a fascinating technique where increases are worked on top of each other within the same row to create dramatic shapes, movement and sculptural texture, all while using just one colour at a time. From waves and ripples to bold geometric forms, stacked stitches open up a whole new dimension of knitted fabric.
Under the guidance of knitwear designer Kath Andrews, you’ll explore how stacked increases and decreases interact to form striking motifs. You’ll create a colourful swatch that showcases the unique possibilities of this technique.
What you’ll learn
How stacked stitches work and why they create such dynamic patterns
How to stack increases to build height within a single row
How to use decreases to shape and balance your fabric
Tips for colour placement to emphasise movement and form
How to incorporate stacked stitches into your own designs or future projects
Skills required
You should be comfortable with:
Casting on
Knitting and purling
Following a simple written pattern
What to bring
4mm or 4.5mm needles
DK yarn in three colours
Handouts are included, and suitable yarn and needles are available to purchase in the shop.
This week is turning out to be very productive. I was a bit apprehensive in the run up to this week that it would be a bit too busy and I would get overwhelmed, but so far I’m really enjoying the variety and bustle of what I’m doing. I know, it is only Tuesday, but it’s a good start!
On Saturday I started a new sample for the moebius version of Gnarly Roots. This is using one of Knit Picks‘ new yarn lines, Modish Merino, and it’s very soft with a lovely stitch definition. I was sent a couple of skeins of this yarn recently when submitting a design idea. I decided a second moebius sample would be useful. The original sample I made uses the very gorgeous Shropshire Ply 2018 Double Knitting yarn from Ewe & Ply which is a semi-solid colour on a yarn with attitude. The semi-solid colour and slightly toothy texture is wonderful and very appropriate for the pattern name, but I also wanted a sample that showed the two sides of the reversible cable very clearly – especially as the lighting can be variable at different events! This yarn seems to be doing that well and the colour is ideal for a sample for shows, light and easy to see; I would probably choose a more ‘forgiving’ colour like the rich green Lady’s Mantle of the Ewe and Ply yarn if it was going to be worn next to the skin regularly!
The joy of a moebius pattern is that you get to see the front and back of the knitting at the same time, so a pattern that looks good on both sides is ideal, and reversible cables certainly fit the bill! It’s lovely to see visitors to shows exploring both sides of the straight version of Gnarly Roots which I knitted using HeartSpun DK dyed by Woolly Chic (the design was originally commissioned by Helen of Woolly Chic), especially now its label states “I’m reversible!”.
As part of my preparation for my stacked stitches workshop at the WoollyAway retreat this coming weekend, I’ve been developing one of my workshop swatches into a full design.
Prime Cowl uses prime numbers throughout the design and there are two versions, each using three colours. One has a ‘tabbed’ edge with 13 tabs and the other has a straight edge. It’s worked with the wrong side facing you throughout and is turned out once completed. This is because it is worked in the round and all the ‘action’ in the stacked stitches technique happens on wrong side rows. Today’s main post photo shows the side you look at while knitting.
Winter Seaside Cosy is the 2026 show pattern for the North West Winter Wool Festival held at Norbreck Castle Hotel in Blackpool on 14-15 February and the big reveal of this design happened last Friday on social media!
I was really pleased when Shirley asked me to design the show pattern once again, following on from The Imperial Cowl last year (thinking about it, the in-the-round version of that design was also worked inside out, just like Prime Cowl is!). Advance tickets for the show go on sale tomorrow, Wednesday 15th October at 8am UK time. When you buy an advance ticket you also receive a code that allows you to download the pattern for Winter Seaside Cosy for free! Currently that’s the only way you’ll be able to get this pattern, but you will also be able to buy copies at the show (if you didn’t get an advance ticket) and afterwards. This hot water bottle cosy is worked in the round from the bottom upwards. Once it is finished and washed, you turn it inside out to weave in the ends, then you have two options. You can either place the hot water bottle inside and sew up the cast-on edge with a mattress stitch seam to permanently keep the hot water bottle in place. Alternatively you can sew five press-studs/poppers along the bottom to allow the hot water bottle to be removable. This option is useful if you think you will need to wash the cover frequently.
I’ve applied to some new yarn shows for next year. Some of them are brand new and some have been running for a while, I’ve just not applied to them before. Six of the shows I’ve applied to have been confirmed already and I’m waiting to hear back on a few others. Lots of shows like you to wait until closer to the show before you tell folk you are going to be exhibiting there, but I already have ‘social media badges’ for two of the ones new to me! TexStyle is a brand new show in Manchester that will feature a whole range of textile crafts, including lace-making, embroidery, quilting, macrame and weaving as well as the usual knitting, crochet, felting and spinning. It’s being held in the Central Hall at Manchester Central on March 14-15. (Manchester Central used to be known as G-Mex.)
The Wool Monty has been running since 2019 and is now held at Magna, in Templeborough on the site of the old Templeborough steel works on June 13-14. It’s a show that has accessibility and inclusivity at its heart and I’m so thrilled to have had my application to exhibit there accepted.
The other big thing I’ve been doing this week is an introductory course on tech editing knitting patterns. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but it started on Sunday and has Zoom calls every day this week, each day focussing on a different aspect of tech editing and some days finish with a quiz to submit! I have to admit I was super confident when I pressed submit to yesterday’s quiz, but it turns out I hadn’t thought about every single step of one question so I got 9/10. I will triple check my answers today before I submit them! I am enjoying it a lot so far.
We’re in the process of gathering feedback from the vendors at Yarn Gathering. If you were a visitor to that event and would like to contribute your own feedback, please contact me via contact@kathandrewsdesigns.com and let me know what you enjoyed about the show and anything you felt could be improved!
That’s all from me for today – there’s lots to do and I’m quite impressed that I’ve managed to get this post completed before 9.30am! Take care, and do some things that make you happy this week. K x
The Knit-Tea Retreat at Insole Court in Llandaff, Cardiff, was wonderful. The organisers, Zoë and Jennie, were so kind and helpful (and organised!) and the attendees were such a great bunch of people that it made the weekend feel like a real pleasure even though I was working. It doesn’t get much better than that, does it?
Everyone did so well in both workshops, learning new and unusual knitting techniques. Here are some pictures of what they achieved in the Stacked Stitches and Moebius Knitting workshops.
Two days before the retreat started (on my birthday) I decided to design a new stacked stitches sample to include in the class. (This is a very *me* thing to do). I like it – it’s similar to Hungarian Point Bargello tapestry stitch and also reminds me of geometric 60s wallpaper! I also like the fact you can work the 12-row repeat as often as you want until you decide to cast off.
Zigzag Stacked Stitches
This swatch was knitted using leftover ColourLab DK. While I was at the Sunday afternoon marketplace I had a look at the Cartref Yarn stand (run by Zoë and Jennie, the retreat organisers) and bought these three skeins of gorgeous 4-ply:
Cartref Yarn in purple, yellow and orange
The plan is to develop the zigzag swatch into a design that can be made using either 4-ply or DK (there will be two versions of the pattern depending on the yarn used). The DK version will be made using three very beautiful skeins of Black and Blue Welsh Wool from Midwinter Yarns – so it will be a design fully created in Wales with Welsh materials.
The zigzag swatch replaced the little mat/coaster in the workshop – the sample on the right of the picture below – that had been based on a section of Xandy Peters’ Ribbon Candy Scarf.
Stacked Stitches Swatches
The scarf is fabulous by the way and the pattern can be found at knitty.com.
Ribbon Candy Scarf by Xandy Peters
As well as the two workshops on Saturday, there was a social evening with a bring-and-take table, a raffle and a great mass ordering of take-aways – the combined aromas of pizza, Chinese and curry was surprisingly lovely!
Even though I hadn’t taken anything for the bring-and-take table because I hadn’t known about it, I was encouraged to have a look and found this little gem of sock yarn. It’s a 50g skein from Pixel Atlantis, a dyer from Edinburgh. 50g is enough for 1 sock, and I plan to find another 50g skein in one of the colours from this variegated one and combine them to make a ‘same but different’ not quite matching pair! The colourway is called “The Ghost of Christmas Past”.
Pixel Atlantis sock yarn
Then there was the raffle – there were some amazing prizes on offer here. I had donated a printed copy of The Little Orme Collection (hat, mitts and cowl) and there was also a whole yarn advent calendar, a project bag and lots of wonderful yarn. When my number was called I chose a skein of yarn that reminds me of raspberry sorbet. It was dyed by Owl About Yarn (that’s Jennie’s other yarn business!) for one of the past retreats. Isn’t it lush?!
Owl About Yarn skein
You may think that after lots of workshops folk would have had enough of knitting, but no! In each tea and cake break in the middle of the workshops we returned to the Carriage House Hall where refreshments were had and where everyone picked up their own knitting again for half an hour. The same was true at lunchtime and in the evening. I made quite a bit of progress on my sock using RiverKnits’ Open Day Special yarn.
Sock using RiverKnits’ yarn
I even worked on a jumper (I cast on at the Travelodge on Friday night) with yarn I had bought back in March or April!
Umbriel 1
For me Sunday was all about the marketplace. Retreat attendees mostly spent the morning either lino printing or doing yoga for crafters. I was very grateful the weather was not stormy as forecast and was able to bring the contents of my Yaris into the hall without getting soaked, ready to set up just before lunch. (Packing up was another story as the rain had begun again by then. I was VERY grateful to have lots of help taking everything back to the car).
The 6 foot clothes rail works really well and I was so relieved that I could remember how it fitted together!
Knit-Tea Retreat Marketplace Stand Kath Andrews Designs
I had *everything* with me and put out just over half of it. It was particularly wonderful seeing several of the knitters who had been in my moebius knitting workshop the day before buying moebius patterns!
Since getting home I have been taking it easy and yesterday I caught up with the Doctor Who special whilst continuing with my Morph hat by Woolly Wormhead. I really like the construction and I’m interested to see how the brim decreases work on the next/final round of squares – it’ll reduce the circumference by a third.
Morph body nearly complete
What have you been up to over the past couple of days?
