Butterfly lace stitch on the LK150 knitting machine
This is a hand-manipulated lace stitch so no patterning device is required. I use the LK150 knitting machine but any knitting machine should work similarly. The openwork looks like a butterfly, so I am calling it butterfly lace stitch. You can modify it easily by changing the spacing or stitch numbers.
Check out the lace flower and stem stitch tutorial on the LK150. Click here for the link.
Watch the video tutorial for the butterfly lace stitch on an LK150 knitting machine
Setting up
A thinner yarn tends to work better with lace stitches. The openwork will show better with thinner yarns. Knit a few samples and block them to find the best yarn thickness and tension you like.
The butterfly stitch lace is worked over 5 stitches, so you can decide the spacing of the lace stitches. I have 10 stitches in between the 5 stitch lace motif. See the picture below.
Butterfly Lace over 5 stitches
I cast on from left 20 to right 20 stitches, and place the 5-stitch lace on the left 5-10 and right 5-10. You can decide how far apart these lace stitches are to be placed.
Knit a few plain stockinette stitches before starting the lace pattern.
Row 1:
Find the center stitch of the 5 stitches (R7 and L7). Transfer stitches 6 and 8 to the 7. Push the empty needles (6 and 8) back to A (non-working) position. The center stitch (7) remains in the B position (will be knitted back).
Transfer stitch 5 to 4, and 9 to 10. Push the needle 5 and 9 to A (non-working) position.
Repeat the above on all lace stitches across the same row.
When there are multiple stitches on a needle, it is easier to knit by pulling out the needles to D position. All empty needles will stay in the A (non-working) position.
Row 2-6: Knit (5 rows)
Row 7:
Pick up the first 3 ladders on the right and left and place them on the center stitch (stitch 7).
Repeat for all the lace stitches across this row.
Row 8-12: Knit (5 rows)
Row 9:
Pick up the top 3 ladders on both sides of the center stitch, and place them on the outer stitches (stitch 4 and 10).
Pull out needles 4 and 10 to D position for easier knitting. All empty needles remain in the non-working position.
Row 10-14: Knit (5 rows)
Keep repeating rows 1-14 to create the butterfly lace repeats. Alternating transferring stitches to the center, and to the outer stitches.
Variations
The first variation is to just transfer stitches to the center only.
That is from row 1 to row 12 and keep repeating these 12 rows.
See the picture below for this variation.
The second variation is to transfer stitches to the outer stitches only.
That means repeats of Row 9 to Row 14.
See the picture below for this variation.
After knitting the length you like, knit a few rows of plain stitches and bind off. Block the knitting piece. Stretch to the size you like.
You can combine the butterfly lace and the variation stitches to create your own design.
Machine knitting a Butterfly Lace Stitch
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