Stockinette is a wonderful stitch that is easy to learn, simple to work, and beautiful to behold. But perhaps best of all is that it is also a perfect fabric for embroidery! This document contains a tutorial for adding an intricate embroidered flower to your knitting. My source of inspiration for this floral motif is Franz Donat’s Large Book of Textile Designs, originally published in the 19th century, which showcases an incredible array of woven patterns. Identical motifs can be seen in Japanese Kogin and Estonian Roosimine. Kogin is an embroidery technique worked into fabric and Roosimine is an inlay knitting technique. The more I learn about textile art, the more fascinated I become by how creativity is a common bond that unites us throughout time and across cultures.
The purpose of this tutorial is to demonstrate how you can work beautiful, embroidered embellishments after you have completed your knitting – or on to store-bought pieces. My goal is to have you looking at stockinette as a beautiful canvas for your own artistry!
The tutorial begins with an overview of the technique which will help you visualize your knitted fabric in relation to charted motifs. It then segues into instructions for a knitted swatch that will facilitate the practice of this technique. I've included a detailed, charted motif for the beautiful, purple flower, shown in the listing photos, that will fit into the swatch. As a bonus, I’ve included a chart for the motif seen on the sleeve of the sweater in the photographs. You’ll find that once you’ve worked the smaller flower, you’ll be more than ready to take on larger, more complicated designs!
Please note that this tutorial does not provide specific instructions for working the motifs found in my knitted cowl design, Kogin Flowers. But once you have worked the chart outlined in this tutorial, you will be able to convert the charts for stranded knitting found in that pattern into charts for embroidery.