QUESTION OF THE MONTH
DARN IT! Q What is Swiss darning? Apart from the fact that I don’t know how to do it, I don’t understand how it’s di erent from other colour techniques. I can’t help but think it’s cheating. Janet King, St Davids Swiss darning, also known as duplicate stitch, is a technique for adding sections of colour to your knits. Essentially, you ‘duplicate’ the knitted stitch beneath it so that it looks like a knitted stitch itself. No, it isn’t cheating! Usually, other colourwork techniques, such as Fair Isle and intarsia, are di cult to use, because the area to be coloured is too small or the stitches are scattered, for example.
There are two main di erences between Swiss darning and Fair Isle or intarsia. First of all, it isn’t worked in conjunction with the knitting, but is worked afterwards. Secondly, it’s not actually knitted; it’s embroidered. The stitches are worked in a similar way to how you’d work a chain stitch in embroidery. So, you need a tapestry needle threaded with yarn, ideally of the same weight as the knitted fabric beneath so that it’s a good match, though you can get some interesting e ects with di erent weights and textures.
To work Swiss darning, follow the instructions below. Very often a pattern will include a chart for the Swiss darned stitches. Follow the chart in the same way that you’d follow any other knitting chart: from the bottom right-hand corner, reading RS rows from right to left and WS rows from left to right. When working Swiss darning, it’s important not to pull the stitches too tightly or your fabric will pucker. Faye