Backstrap Weaving

CROSS KNIT LOOPING

Triple cross knit looping along the top edge of a woven tote bag and an example worked flat in the background.

Cross knit looping is one of many decorative finishes used on weavings here in South America.  Here in Bolivia, it is used to join and cover the edges of certain woven pieces, such as chuspas.  It completely wraps around the edge and so can be used to hide a less than perfect selvedge or, by working it in a completely contrasting yarn color, it can add more life and interest to a piece. I have used it purely as decoration, to edge a knitted vest where I chose not to use ribbing, to stabilize the flap of  a woven shoulder bag where the corners had a tendency to curl and to reinforce the top edge of a woven tote bag.

This tutorial is for triple cross knit looping as taught to me by Hilda in Potosi.

I suggest learning this technique by working it flat rather than on an edge and I further recommend practicing it on card rather than fabric to start out.

I tried doing it with my thickest mercerized cotton but once the “stitches” were photographed up close , all clarity was lost under the fluffiness of the yarn. Yes, I know, you wouldn’t call mercerized cotton  fluffy but believe me, in super macro view it is! So I have used a piece of leather instead-the kind that is sold to make necklaces and hope the steps will be clear for you using this medium.

All you need to get started is a piece of card, yarn and a sewing needle for your chosen yarn size. Choose a yarn that is smooth rather than hairy- this way it will be a lot easier to see the stitches while you are learning the technique.

LEFT: Triple cross knit looping worked flat on a piece of card. CENTER: A drawing showing the individual "stitches". RIGHT: The piece of card I used for this tutorial. I hope that WARP won't mind my having used their Member Directory cover. The green color photographed so well!

You can see above that there are three rows of little knit stitches – hence the name triple cross knit looping. When working this on an edge, one stitch will be on the upper surface of the fabric. The middle stitch will sit right on the edge and the third stitch will be on the lower surface of the fabric. I pre poked holes in the card before starting which I recommend doing. Of course, this is not necessary on fabric! The holes are three to four tenths of an inch apart.

STEP ONE: Sew three Xs as shown from top to bottom. Using 12wpi cotton and the leather, the length of the three Xs is eight tenths of an inch.When you have completed the bottom X, pass your yarn under the card and have it emerge next to the top X at the point indicated by the needle in the photo.

STEP TWO: Now we can start making loops. I have photographed this step and shown it in drawing form. Pass the needle with its yarn under the first X. The card is not pierced in this step. You are simply passing the yarn under the two X threads.

STEP THREE: Now we make the second loop. The photograph shows both loops from STEP TWO and THREE. The first loop has been omitted from the drawing for clarity. Pass your needle with its yarn up and under both threads of the second X. Once again, the card is not pierced in this step. We have made two loops.

STEP FOUR: We can now make the third and final loop. Only the third loop is shown in the drawing. All three loops can be seen in the photo. Pass your needle with its yarn up and under the two threads of the third X. Push the needle through the card as shown. It will emerge next to the first loop as indicated by the needle in the photo.

STEP FIVE: We have just finished making three loops but, as you can see in the photo, the crosses in the loops form a new set of Xs. The process now starts again. Pass your needle up and under the two threads of the first X. Continue forming loops on the Xs. The card is only pierced at the bottom and top of the work.

Triple cross knit looping in progress in 12 wpi merc cotton. See if you can discern the three Xs in the cotton yarn. Now if you can imagine this piece of card being folded horizontally through the center X, you will have an idea of how it will look on the edge of a piece of fabric.

Here it is on the folded cardboard. You can see that the middle row of stitches is sitting right on the edge.

Now it is clear that when you are working this on the edge of a piece of fabric, the needle is simply passing through the fabric when it travels from the bottom of the last X to the top of the first X.

A COUPLE OF TIPS.

The first time you try to work this on an edge, make sure you use a yarn color that contrasts with the fabric color or it will be almost impossible to see the X s and loops. Once you have more experience with the technique, you can try it with other yarn colors.

When your needle is under an X  in the position shown in STEP FIVE, try to remember to drag it and the stitch sideways before pulling the yarn through. This helps to stretch the stitches across the fabric and stop them from bunching up together.

I will leave you  here with the web address for WARP – Weave A Real Peace- which you may like to check out.

And, here is a photo showing triple cross knit looping that I used to edge a knitted vest and a woven bag. I hope you find this technique useful for your own projects.I have also seen it worked around the tops and bottoms of braids.

Triple cross knit looping worked on the edge of a knitted vest and woven bag.

I used a single column of cross knit looping to edge these pieces that I made with traditional motifs of Vietnam. In this case you would only sew one “X” to start and go looping through that.

Let me know what you think and if you use it! 🙂