# "Embossed" knitting **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 15, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017 "2010-01-15T00:40:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/1 "2010-01-15T00:40:24Z")
I’m pretty darned sure “embossed” isn’t the right term, but that’s the problem – I don’t know what the right term is. 😃 I’m thinking through a project I want to so for the annual [“thing a day,”](http://www.thing-a-day.com/) uh, thing in February that involves a kind of knitting that I’ve seen the finished results of, and I think I’ve seen how-to on, but I don’t know what it’s called. Basically, the finished result looks like a background of garter stitch, with a shape placed on it in stockinette. (Hope this gives an idea:) 00000000000000 000XX000XX0000 00XXXX0XXXXX00 0XXXXXXXXXXX00 00XXXXXXXXX000 000XXXXXXX0000 0000XXXXX00000 00000XXX000000 000000X0000000 00000000000000 I’m trying to figure out how to do it – is all the knit/purl stuff done on the right side, or is some of it done (as purl/knit??) on the back side … etc. If anyone could give me a term to search Ravelry with, or point me at some online instructions or tips, I’d be very grateful. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/2 "2010-01-15T00:50:29Z")
This may be a case of the blind leading the halt, because I know durned little about knitting. However, someone gave my sister a copy of **Stitch 'n Bitch** , and there’s a project in there that uses something called an illusion stitch. If you scroll about halfway down on [this](http://www.knithappens.com/content/view/13/31/) page, you’ll see a black and green striped scarf that has a subtle alien-head pattern in it. That’s the illusion stitch project in the book. Is this what you’re talking about? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/3 "2010-01-15T00:56:47Z")
No, also cool, but not what I’m looking for. That’s done with different colors – the effect I’m looking for is done with different textures. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/4 "2010-01-15T00:59:49Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > I’m pretty darned sure “embossed” isn’t the right term, but that’s the problem – I don’t know what the right term is. 😃 > > I’m thinking through a project I want to so for the annual [“thing a day,”](http://www.thing-a-day.com/) uh, thing in February that involves a kind of knitting that I’ve seen the finished results of, and I think I’ve seen how-to on, but I don’t know what it’s called. > > Basically, the finished result looks like a background of garter stitch, with a shape placed on it in stockinette. (Hope this gives an idea:) > 00000000000000 > 000XX000XX0000 > 00XXXX0XXXXX00 > 0XXXXXXXXXXX00 > 00XXXXXXXXX000 > 000XXXXXXX0000 > 0000XXXXX00000 > 00000XXX000000 > 000000X0000000 > 00000000000000 > > I’m trying to figure out how to do it – is all the knit/purl stuff done on the right side, or is some of it done (as purl/knit??) on the back side … etc. > > If anyone could give me a term to search Ravelry with, or point me at some online instructions or tips, I’d be very grateful. If you do the 0s as right-side purl, wrong-side knit, and the Xs as the opposite, you’ll get what I think you’re describing. Only it will be more square, possibly squate, not vertically elongated; knitted stitches are wider than tall, while capital letters are the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/5 "2010-01-15T01:05:41Z")
If I did this right, this should be closer to the proportions you can expect: ```auto - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - # # - - - # # - - - - - # # # # - # # # # - - - # # # # # # # # # # # - - - # # # # # # # # # - - - - - # # # # # # # - - - - - - - # # # # # - - - - - - - - - # # # - - - - - - - - - - - # - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ``` ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/6 "2010-01-15T01:07:49Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > This may be a case of the blind leading the halt, because I know durned little about knitting. However, someone gave my sister a copy of **Stitch 'n Bitch** , and there’s a project in there that uses something called an illusion stitch. > > If you scroll about halfway down on [this](http://www.knithappens.com/content/view/13/31/) page, you’ll see a black and green striped scarf that has a subtle alien-head pattern in it. That’s the illusion stitch project in the book. > > Is this what you’re talking about? The illusion stitch is a great deal more difficult. Trust me, I’ve done entire sweaters in it. (Although I didn’t know it was called the Illusion Stitch when I “invented” it. :D) It entails two parallel strands. The stitch twickster is looking for is one strand, straightforward. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/7 "2010-01-15T01:34:21Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > The illusion stitch is a great deal more difficult. Trust me, I’ve done entire sweaters in it. (Although I didn’t know it was called the Illusion Stitch when I “invented” it. :D) It entails two parallel strands. The stitch twickster is looking for is one strand, straightforward. Like I said…the blind leading the halt! 😃 I’d better stick to jewelry. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/8 "2010-01-15T01:34:27Z")
Yeah, **lissener** , that’s it – Thanks! BTW, I just did the heart as an example, I’m not necessarily going to do a heart. Thanks for the reminder about the rectangularity of the stitches (most of my design work has been in needlepoint, where the unit is a square). Is the effect called anything in particular, do you know? And, btw, since I’d remembered a sweater I had with something similar – though garter on stockinette instead of stockinette on garter\* – I’ll go ahead an link to the [pictures](http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=1854001022/PictureID=59614651022/a=888834022_888834022/) I took and uploaded. \*although, of course, it turns out it’s right side stockinette/wrong side stockinette … that’s where I went wrong … ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/9 "2010-01-15T01:37:25Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > Like I said…the blind leading the halt! 😃 I’d better stick to jewelry. Us thing-a-dayers need to stick together! (Have you started thinking about what you’ll be doing yet?) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/10 "2010-01-15T01:42:38Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Yeah, **lissener** , that’s it – Thanks! BTW, I just did the heart as an example, I’m not necessarily going to do a heart. Thanks for the reminder about the rectangularity of the stitches (most of my design work has been in needlepoint, where the unit is a square). > > Is the effect called anything in particular, do you know? I’m sure it does, but I’m largely self taught. Thus my impression that I’ve invented most of the techniques in knitting, because mostly I did, as far as my universe is concerned. I end up calling them by some label of my own devising, until someone points out a prior claim to the naming rights. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/11 "2010-01-15T01:51:22Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Us thing-a-dayers need to stick together! (Have you started thinking about what you’ll be doing yet?) I was so bummed when I couldn’t sign up on the 12th! Yeah, I’ve got several ideas dinging around my head. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/12 "2010-01-15T03:08:56Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > \*although, of course, it turns out it’s right side stockinette/wrong side stockinette … that’s where I went wrong … The basic idea can be done with garter and stockinette as well as right side/wrong side stockinette. I’ve knit a half dozen dishcloths or baby bibs using various forms of the technique, although sadly, perhaps due to my taste in cotton yarns (think multicolored) the picture often does not show well. A quick peep at the pattern pages for some of what I’ve done does not show a name for the technique, although one still may exist. If I wanted to see more examples, I’d just search for dishcloths or afghan squares or . . . Wait a minute, I had an idea. **goes to Ravelry, peeks at new categories for the pattern search, and fails to find anything which resembles a name for this technique.** Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/13 "2010-01-15T03:35:15Z")
No “oh well” needed, **Eureka** – the dishcloths hint was just what I needed. I don’t actually _need_ to know the name of the technique (though I’m starting to get curious), I just need to look at some sets of directions so I can extrapolate the overall strategy for what I want to do. Many thanks. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/14 "2010-01-15T03:46:39Z")
In _Stitch 'n Bitch_ (which I happen to own) Debbie Stoller calls what you’re describing as the ‘Bump and Grind’. It can be done with stocking stitch as the pattern, seed stitch, a ribbed section as the pattern, etc. I find it easiest to think of my work as two different projects - I work on the bulk of the thing in the regular way, and then switch gears in my brain to the new seed stitch or stocking stitch pattern for the chart, and then switch back. She does describe it quite well in the book, but I probably shouldn’t type out all her instructions here. If you’re at a library or something it’s on page 55 (which, sadly, is not previewed on Amazon). ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/15 "2010-01-15T04:44:40Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > In _Stitch 'n Bitch_ (which I happen to own) Debbie Stoller calls what you’re describing as the ‘Bump and Grind’. > > … > > She does describe it quite well in the book, but I probably shouldn’t type out all her instructions here. If you’re at a library or something it’s on page 55 (which, sadly, is not previewed on Amazon). Great – I’ll pick it up next time I’m in the library. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/16 "2010-01-15T06:30:47Z")
So - from the image in the link (IMG\_1508), the background is in stockinette, the foreground is for the most part in reverse stockinette, and the filling of the thing that looks like half a heart seems to be in garter. You can go to a site like [this for knitting graph paper](http://www.thedietdiary.com/knittingfiend/KnittersGraph.html). It accounts for the fact that stitches aren’t square. You could draw the picture you want, and then knit the foreground, purl the background on the right side and do the reverse on the wrong side. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/17 "2010-01-15T14:21:16Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > So - from the image in the link (IMG\_1508), the background is in stockinette, the foreground is for the most part in reverse stockinette, and the filling of the thing that looks like half a heart seems to be in garter. Actually stockinette, reverse stockinette, and what I think is rice stitch, according to _[Field Guide to Knitting](http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Knitting-Virtually/dp/1594741581/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263564386&sr=8-1)_ (even rows K1 P1, odd rows purl). > [@amarinth](#): > > You can go to a site like [this for knitting graph paper](http://www.thedietdiary.com/knittingfiend/KnittersGraph.html). It accounts for the fact that stitches aren’t square. You could draw the picture you want, and then knit the foreground, purl the background on the right side and do the reverse on the wrong side. Very cool resource, thanks. Not sure if I’ll need it for this project or not – the project I’m thinking about is a scarf with the alphabet running along it lengthwise. For thing-a-day, I’ll be doing one letter each day, plus perhaps a star or heart at either end, or maybe one of the motifs from the dishcloths at Ravelry, for the other two days in February. I have a book of alphabets charted for cross-stitch that I’ve been looking through, and though they’re created for square units and I’ll be working in rectangular units, I’m not sure the slight elongation or compression (haven’t decided if the alphabet will run side-to-side or top-to-bottom along the scarf, though I’m leaning towards the former) will be a problem. Guess I could download some graph paper and see what happens, eh wot? Thanks for your help, everyone … ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/18 "2010-01-15T20:37:53Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > In _Stitch 'n Bitch_ (which I happen to own) Debbie Stoller calls what you’re describing as the ‘Bump and Grind’. … > …it’s on page 55 … Ran over to the library this afternoon and – Bingo. This is exactly what I wanted, an explanation of the theory underlying the technique so I can figure out my own project. Thanks, **alice**! ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/19 "2010-01-15T20:51:17Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Ran over to the library this afternoon and – Bingo. This is exactly what I wanted, an explanation of the theory underlying the technique so I can figure out my own project. > > Thanks, **alice**! No worries! _Stitch 'n Bitch_ is one of my faves for just this reason - she actually explains things in a way that the knowledge can be applied to whatever you want - not just the project in that particular book. I’ve used the monkey and bunny graphs in that book to make a variety of sweaters, bags, etc. I mean, who doesn’t want a sweater with a monkey on it?!?! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017/20 "2010-01-19T13:40:14Z")
This just in – apparently the technique is called _brocade knitting._ (I got a PM from someone – not sure why she didn’t just post, but since she didn’t, I infer she prefers to remain anonymous.) Now I’m just waiting for the yarn to arrive from KnitPicks … nothing in the stash that’s of the right color/in sufficient quantities for this … sucker’s gonna be long. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embossed-knitting/525017.md?page=2)