Learn to Knit Entrelac

After many, many requests for an Entrelac tutorial, I’m SUPER EXCITED to be able to offer this. And it’s FREE!

In this tutorial, we’re using a free pattern designed by Allison LoCicero from frecklesandpurls.com. You can get your free copy of the pattern HERE.

Happy Holidays from Verypink Headquarters!

Yarn: 4 skeins of Noro Silk Garden (or 440 yards of any worsted weight yarn, preferably “long strand” variegated)
Needles: Size 8 US, circulars or straights
Additional Materials: Row counter (optional, but I highly encourage it)

Here are direct links to the different sections in the video:
Intro 00:00: http://youtu.be/B4GGXzurphk
Base Triangles / 00:58: http://youtu.be/B4GGXzurphk?t=58s
Tier 1 / 08:42: http://youtu.be/B4GGXzurphk?t=8m42s
Tier 2 / 20:59: http://youtu.be/B4GGXzurphk?t=20m59s
Final Tier Triangles / 24:35: http://youtu.be/B4GGXzurphk?t=24m35s

142 comments on “Learn to Knit Entrelac

  1. Staci – Thank you so much for this tutorial. I saw the pattern on Pinterest and just fell in love. I’ve only been knitting a few months, but after watching your tutorial, I decided I could do Entrelac. I started the Allison LoCicero pattern last Saturday, and I probably started and stopped your video twenty times, but I figured it out and I am having so much fun. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I couldn’t have done it without your help.

  2. Do you think that the pattern could be made in to a blanket just by make multiple scarves and attaching them together?

  3. Yes, just cast on any multiple of 8, and have at it! The pattern tells you to cast-on 24 stitches for three bottom triangles. But you can cast on any multiple of 8 for a wider piece, even for a blanket. Good luck!

    S t a c i

  4. My one complaint is the yarn was to dark and hard to see. Other then that I did learn and I have to say this is a great pattern.

  5. What a STUNNING piece! Thanks so MUCH for the great video. I’m in a knitting group here in Cuenca Ecuador, and several knitters have decided to do this as a knit-along after Christmas…we’ll send you pictures. 🙂

  6. I tried to learn Entrelac at a Stitches West event but couldn’t grasp the concepts in such a short time. Now that I have your video, I can always refer to it for instructions and guidance. Thank you for helping me learn Entrelac the easy way.

  7. Staci, thanks for your wonderfully instructive video tutorial. I had been thinking about learning entrelac for a couple of months and even bought a book on the technique. However, the book looked too complex on its own. With the finding of your video, the written instructions now make sense.

    I have heard of a technique to stop the old colour showing on the new block when you have to pick up stitches… do you know this technique and where on the web I could find it?

  8. Hi Linda – if you are “picking up and knitting” on the right side of the work and “picking up and purling” on the wrong side (as I demonstrate in the video), the old color will not show through on the front of the work. Beyond that, I have never heard of a technique for that.

    Hope that helps!
    S t a c i

  9. Staci-
    You made this so easy and so simple with your tutorial! I watched the tutorial in the morning and that evening finished a previous small project and was able to knit 10″ in my first sitting! So far my scarf looks very very cool and even my husband was impressed by how complicated this piece looks. I know I’ll be making more than one of these!
    Alanna

  10. Hi Staci~

    Just found your site a couple of days ago. I’m working on some convertible mittens and the pattern didn’t make sense. I’m going to modify it to use your glove technique. Then, I ran across this tutorial and I want to do it! How do you pick the colors to use? There are so many beautiful ones out there!

  11. Hi Staci- Whoops…i didn’t mean Ma Staci in the previous comment…I am in Hawaii and was writing Mahalo (thank you in Hawaiian) and the submit button just danced off on its own.

  12. Staci, I love your tutorials. Do you have any idea how many yards of DK weight yarn I would need for this scarf?

  13. Hey Staci, love your site and all your great videos.
    I’m working through this project and noticed the end says “block if desired” ok, forgive me but I’m clueless! What’s that? Is it good to do? What purpose does it serve?
    Thanks for all your hard work,
    Dianna

  14. Staci,
    I loved your entrelac video. It was great to go back to it when I made a mistake with the written directions. It just didn’t line up! 🙂 All I had to do was go back to a particular section and had an aha moment. My husband loves the scarf and my first project for 2013 is done.
    I had to find my own way of doing one thing. In tier 1 when you pick up stitches on the wrong side and you have to purl, I had to find my own way of doing it, because I was taught to knit while growing up a child in Germany. So I hold the feeder thread in my left hand.
    I will take time to check out your other tutorials as I find myself needing to brush up on skills. I feel like I am turning into my Grandma who always had a knitting project in her hands.
    Again, thank you for the clear instructions.
    Angel

  15. Staci, what does the word,Entrelac, mean? I tried to look it up in the dictionary. It reversed the letters and would not get it correct. Too funny. Too funny. Thank you,
    Nancy

  16. Staci,
    This is amazing. a friend of mine and I are going to start making matching scarves tomorrow using Allison’s pattern on http://www.frecklesandpurls.com and this has made it appear so much less daunting.For now I’m excited, but i’ll let you know when I’m pulling my hair out in the middle of tier two in frustration.
    thanks again.
    Steph

  17. Thank you so much for the wonderful entrelac tutorial! I am an experienced knitter but have never tried entrelac. My motivation to learn is to try to duplicate the beautiful green raglan sweater in the movie Whale Rider. This was a great introduction to the technique. This scarf is a perfect practice project before I tackle the sweater. Thanks again!

  18. Knitted this pattern for my husband and won a competition with it. Thank you so much for this pattern, i absolutely love it.

  19. Hi Staci,

    When you finish the final tier section and work all the the triangles have been worked is the scarf finished or do your start over with row one in the final tier section?

  20. Hi Staci,

    Sorry for the last post. I have reread the pattern and answered may own
    question.

    Thanks for all of your great tutorials. I have learned so much.

    Thanks,

    Tina

  21. Thank you so much for what must be the best entrelac tutorial out there! I watched it all the way through yesterday, picked up my yarn and needles and am already a third of the way through my scarf. You made it so clear and I’m just so delighted with the result. I consider myself an advanced knitter but have never tried entrelac before. Thank you thank you!! Bayla

  22. Hi Staci,

    I am trying to start my second middle square (where I pick up and purl 8 stitches), my first square worked perfectly but this time I can only find 7 stitches to pick up. I’ve re-checked many times and there are only 7 spots where I can pick up. I’m wondering how I can make my 8th stitch without it being obviously that I screwed up somehow. My fear is if I yarn over it will cause a hole, and I’m not sure how else to make a stitch in this particular situation. Thanks for any advise you may have!

  23. Amanda – I say this in the video…cram that stitch in there! It happens sometimes, but there is always room to fit one more, even if it doesn’t fit like you expected. No one will be the wiser.

    S t a c i

  24. Staci, your video is fantastic! Makes learning this new method a breeze for this 60-something granny. I’ve been knitting since I was about 8 or 9 but sometimes trying new methods is a bit daunting — not this one, thanks to your video!

  25. Staci, this is a wonderful video & you are a natural teacher! Since I started knitting I’ve been intimidated by entrelac, but you make it look super easy!

    My one suggestion would’ve been to do the different tiers in different colors of yarn so the end result is easier to see…

  26. Mary Maxim’s Prism varigated yarns works well for entrelac knitting. It is soft, reasonable price and is varigated in long strips of luscious colours.

  27. I’ve never done anything like this before, but it looks fun and I want to try it, but you don’t talk about if there is a special way to start with the variegated yarn so the triangles and squares come out right and what to do when you run out of a ball of yarn and have to add in the next.

  28. Thank you for sharing this free pattern. It took me a couple years to try again on a entrelac pattern. With your pattern and your video instructions, I made a swatch and found it to be very easy, all the while I had originally though it was hard to do. I’m going to make one now. I love the texture and the strips. Thank you.

  29. Hi Staci!
    Thanks so much for this tutorial! I have a question that I haven’t been able to find the answer to anywhere. Here the self striping yarn creates color changes. If I wanted to make the changes intentional, is there a way to change the colors of an individual block within a tier? I’ve only encountered instructions on changing colors at the end of each tier. I think a lot of weaving in of ends would be involved but could you simply pick up the stitches for a certain block in a new color? I’m a beginner so going on without a pattern telling me exactly what to do is daunting so I thought I’d seek your advice. Thanks!

  30. I’m making a sampler afghan for my daughter and am hoping to make one square entrelac. My squares are all 9 inches. Do you think this pattern could be adapted to be used in my sampler? The video was great! Never done entrelac before, but excited to try it! 🙂 Thanks Staci

  31. Alexis – yes, you should be able to do this easily. You’ll need to knit a swatch to see how many you’ll need to cast on to make it nine inches wide. The pattern is written to cast on a multiple of 8 stitches – if you’re lucky, a multiple of 8 will be 9″ for you. If not, it will require some pattern modification to create squares that are fewer or more stitches than 8.

    Good luck!
    S t a c i

  32. I’m unable to find the pattern… the link that tells me to click on it for the free pattern on You Tube just keeps bringing me to here ??? Please, can you help me? Thank you very much!

  33. If you look above in this post, you’ll see the words, in bold, ” You can get your free copy of the pattern HERE.” Just click the word “HERE” to get your free pattern download.

    S t a c i

  34. Hi,

    Would like to check with you, i’m referring to the video for Tier 1 right side triangle, i have seen the video, and inside the video, for the right side triangle all (WS) row, last 2 stitches you have Purl 2 together, but when i go into the link for the pattern, it is mentioned Knit 2 together? Can you advise which one should be correct?

  35. Michelle – please follow the written pattern. The video is there to demonstrate the techniques, but if there is ever a conflict on a stitch between the video and the pattern, the written pattern will be the correct instructions.

    S t a c i

  36. Staci, this is the best knitting tutorial video ever!!!! My skill level is intermediate-ish, and I have always avoided Entrelac as I feared it was too “fussy” for me and just over my head. I am a convert!! Thanks so much. Working on the scarf and can’t wait to try something more involved. Thanks again for a great tutorial and for reminding me to check something out before deciding it’s not for me. Love your site, and thanks so much for sharing your (very considerable) talents!!!

  37. I have just finished a beautiful entrelac baby blanket. After doing the first few tiers, constantly turning the project, I remembered teaching myself how to knit backwards (purling without turning and purling) decades ago when I was in college. I tried it on the blanket and was thrilled at how much it speeded the project, and prevented annoying people around me as I worked on the blanket. Today I was excited to find your outstanding video tutorial on “Backwards” (or “Mirror”) Knitting in your Tips and Tricks. This deserves to be added as a special Tip and Trick for working Entrelac projects!! A perfect use for it,

  38. Staci-would you happen to have a pattern for the green sweater on mannequin onyour first video of the entrelac scarf?

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