knitting Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile, or fabric. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, either flat or i ...

, a dip stitch is made by knitting into a stitch (or even the space between stitches) of an earlier row. The most common type of dip stitch is to knit into the row below, which may be used for visual effect or to increase the number of stitches (a lifted increase). Knitting into the row below and dropping the stitch above is a quick alternative to

brioche knitting Brioche knitting is a family of knitting patterns involving tucked stitches, i.e., yarn overs that are knitted together with a slipped stitch from the previous row. Such stitches may also be made by knitting into the row below (equivalent to the ...

, which is normally done by knitting together a

yarn over In knitting, a yarn over is technique in which the yarn is passed over the right-hand knitting needle. In general, the new loop is knitted on the next row, either by itself (producing a hole) or together with an adjacent stitch (e.g., in "tucked" ...

and a

slip stitch A ladder stitch, or mattress stitch, is a stitch which can be used to invisibly close seams from the outside of the garment or item. It is primarily used to close seams on stuffed items, such as pillows, mattresses, down coats or stuffed toys, ...

. Longer dip stitches can be made for visual effects; they draw a narrow V-shaped pair of yarns from any earlier to any later point in the knitting. Popular motifs made with dip stitches include flowers, flower-stem leaves and fans.

References

* June Hemmons Hiatt (1988) ''The Principles of Knitting'', Simon and Schuster, pp. 29–32. Knitting stitches {{textile-arts-stub