# Herringbone Stitch - Make variegated yarn come alive



## knittygrittynyc (Apr 11, 2014)

Soooo...I bought some kettle-dyed, wild crazy colorful yarn about 5 months ago and I sat around for those 5 months trying to figure out what to do with it. This blog post talks about my discovery of what a herringbone stitch can do with colorful and variegated yarns. It also contains a quick explanation of the herringbone stitch on two separate needles. Enjoy!

http://www.theknittygrittynyc.com/blog/2014/4/1/herringbone-stitch


----------



## Sewbizgirl (May 11, 2011)

Thanks... I have some yarn like that. Sometime it looks so great in the hank, but looks like barf when you knit it. This is a good stitch to know.


----------



## Busy girl (May 15, 2011)

Thank you! Think I have some perfect yarn for this stitch too.


----------



## Stitchtogether (Jan 22, 2012)

I'll have to try.


----------



## run4fittness (May 22, 2011)

thanks for the link.


----------



## Hilary4 (Apr 26, 2012)

Mmmm - gorgeous and no "icky dots"!


----------



## desireeross (Jun 2, 2013)

Thank you very much


----------



## mopgenorth (Nov 20, 2011)

I love working with different colored yarns - reminds me of finger painting - all the different colors swirling into each other. Herringbone is an excellent example of that!


----------



## Britknitar (Jul 31, 2011)

:thumbup: :thumbup:


----------



## knittylou (May 24, 2011)

Good morning, thank you I also have yarn that pools and have been looking for something to work with it. Thank you.


----------



## bmeredith101 (Dec 3, 2012)

Beautiful! Is it a bit dense or heavy? What would you recommend this stitch be used for? Love the way it uses variegated which I have a bunch of.


----------



## SavvyCrafter (May 6, 2012)

Thank you. Interesting and great to know!


----------



## patm (Apr 20, 2012)

Must give it a try, thank you!


----------



## barbdpayne (Jan 24, 2011)

Gorgeous. A friend recently did something in Herringbone and I couldn't figure out what she was doing. Now I will try it. Another nice stitch for variegated yarn with short bursts of color is the slip stitch. I made a scarf using that and it looks like you purposely placed certain colors in the slip stitch sections.


----------



## Livingwaters (Jun 14, 2011)

very pretty


----------



## KJKnitCro (Aug 15, 2013)

Very interesting stitch. Thanks for posting. Bookmarked for future trying. I'm supposed to be out walking right now. I'm not now, am I!!!LOL


----------



## knittygrittynyc (Apr 11, 2014)

It can be dense if you end up using the recommended needle size for your yarn. So to make it lighter I would recommend going way up in needle size. For this yarn which was a bulkier worsted weight I used US 13 (recommended needles size would be around a US 9). A sample piece is also a great way to test the weight before you go full steam ahead. Hope that helps!


bmeredith101 said:


> Beautiful! Is it a bit dense or heavy? What would you recommend this stitch be used for? Love the way it uses variegated which I have a bunch of.


----------



## knittygrittynyc (Apr 11, 2014)

I also forgot to mention that I was inspired by a beautiful cowl on the PurlBee.com Blog. Her version is in a solid but gives a great tutorial on how to do a Herringbone stitch in the round. The link is 
http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2011/1/5/whits-knits-big-herringbone-cowl.html



bmeredith101 said:


> Beautiful! Is it a bit dense or heavy? What would you recommend this stitch be used for? Love the way it uses variegated which I have a bunch of.


----------



## Busy girl (May 15, 2011)

Thanks for the pattern to go along with this stitch.


----------



## limberlostgirl (Apr 10, 2011)

Thanks...I'm definitely trying this one!


----------



## Medieval Reenactor (Sep 3, 2013)

Thank you for the stitch and the suggestion for a pettern to go with it. I "Pin"ned the pattern and your suggestion for a variegated yarn.


----------



## bmeredith101 (Dec 3, 2012)

knittygrittynyc said:


> It can be dense if you end up using the recommended needle size for your yarn. So to make it lighter I would recommend going way up in needle size. For this yarn which was a bulkier worsted weight I used US 13 (recommended needles size would be around a US 9). A sample piece is also a great way to test the weight before you go full steam ahead. Hope that helps!


Thank you - love the stitch - I can see that with the larger needles it would make a lovely cowl or scarf. I'm thinking that with a smaller needle and little heavier yarn it would make a beautiful jacket. Hmmm... one more wip to add to the rest!


----------



## BlueJay21 (Jan 4, 2013)

Thank you for this. Some time ago I came across a herringbone pattern that appealed to me. I plan to make a bag. It seems like a very useful stitch.


----------



## Mercygirl76 (Dec 30, 2012)

Thanks, KnittygrittyNYC. I have some variegated yarn and had seen the herringbone stitch previously. I'd been toying with making a scarf or cowl in the herringbone stitch with this yarn - had seen a couple of patterns on Ravelry. I was worried that the colors would look muddied. After seeing your results, I am now convinced to give it a go. BTW, love your blog!!


----------



## barbdpayne (Jan 24, 2011)

After reading all the comments and looking at several tutorials, I decided I would play around with this stitch. I have some sock weight yarn that feels wonderful but I have always hated the short runs of color that were just too busy for my taste. In the herringbone it looks wonderful. So now this expensive alpaca hand dyed yarn will not be relegated to making doll cloths. I am going to make a cowl.


----------



## knittingnanna19 (Nov 6, 2013)

Thanks for the info. Really useful and have bookmarked for later use with some stashed yarn. :thumbup:


----------



## knittygrittynyc (Apr 11, 2014)

Im so glad!! and thank you for the kind words, please stop back there will be lots more. I'm only in my 3rd week of blog posts. good luck with the herringbone!


Mercygirl76 said:


> Thanks, KnittygrittyNYC. I have some variegated yarn and had seen the herringbone stitch previously. I'd been toying with making a scarf or cowl in the herringbone stitch with this yarn - had seen a couple of patterns on Ravelry. I was worried that the colors would look muddied. After seeing your results, I am now convinced to give it a go. BTW, love your blog!!


----------



## knittygrittynyc (Apr 11, 2014)

So glad I could help! Im a total sucker for variegated yarn and I constantly struggle with what to make with it. The herringbone was a pleasant surprise for me too! and yes, make something useful with that money pit of a yarn pile lol


barbdpayne said:


> After reading all the comments and looking at several tutorials, I decided I would play around with this stitch. I have some sock weight yarn that feels wonderful but I have always hated the short runs of color that were just too busy for my taste. In the herringbone it looks wonderful. So now this expensive alpaca hand dyed yarn will not be relegated to making doll cloths. I am going to make a cowl.


----------



## pzoe (Mar 17, 2011)

Thanks. I also have some gorgeous variegated yarn. Wondering what to knit with it has become clear!

Pzoe


----------



## samazon (Feb 25, 2011)

This is really interesting, love variegated yarns but sometimes they don't work up well. Thanks for the link :-D


----------



## mattie cat (Jun 5, 2013)

barbdpayne said:


> After reading all the comments and looking at several tutorials, I decided I would play around with this stitch. I have some sock weight yarn that feels wonderful but I have always hated the short runs of color that were just too busy for my taste. In the herringbone it looks wonderful. So now this expensive alpaca hand dyed yarn will not be relegated to making doll cloths. I am going to make a cowl.


I am interested in making a cowl out of sock yarn also. Let me know how it goes. What size needle are you using. I would also like to make a hat with the herringbone stitch.


----------



## retirednelda (May 8, 2012)

Thanks so much, I too have some gorgeous hanks to work up now!!


----------



## MaryCarter (Oct 17, 2011)

Thank you for showing us these stitches.
I always thought you should only knit variegated yarn using stocking or plain, because I never knew these went so well with variegated..


----------



## vjh1530 (Oct 8, 2011)

Thanks! Had not thought to use that type of yarn for that stitch, but I see I was missing out on a great technique. Great blog!


----------



## juniesmom (Jul 18, 2012)

I love this! I've been meaning to try herringbone.


----------



## threadbears (May 10, 2013)

I love the way your variegated yarn looks with the herringbone stitch. I've never been a big fan of variegated yarns because they tend to become too busy with most stitch designs, but this looks nice. Love the colors!


----------



## Yarngrandma (Jul 19, 2011)

oops, this is the stitch I am trying to do now......using bulky wt yarn sz 13 need to go up a size or 2 and try again.....

I can feel a muscle pull in my left thumb from this stitch, it will take some practice, I can see that, but I do like the result.
Thanks for posting it.


----------



## BrightMoon (Aug 11, 2013)

Thanks


----------

