Entrelac

The word entrelac is French in origin, entrelacer to interlace. This means to cross one another, typically passing alternately over and under, as if woven together; intertwine. Entrelac is a form of modular knitting in which rectangles are knit and joined together to create a basket weave pattern. Triangles border the rectangles a foundation row of triangles gets you started, and a triangle on each side to even out the fabric, and finally, a row of triangles at the top bind off the knitting. And while it may sound complicated, it really is very easy. You will probably see other entrelac instructions that vary from what I have below. Everyone has their own favorite way to knit entrelac. The purpose of this tutorial is to give you a good idea of how entrelac works, so that you can follow any pattern you want to knit, even if the instructions arent exactly the same. I also want to take a minute to talk about slipping the first stitch on rows. In entrelac, you will always need to pick up stitches. While you dont have to slip stitches, it makes all that picking up a lot easier. So how do you know when to slip the first stitch? The way I remember it is this: Working on Right Side Rectangles, slip the first stitch of all right sides simply slip the first stitch as if to knit. If working on Wrong Side Rectangles, slip the first stitch of all wrong sides simply slip the first stitch as if to purl. Thats it, and it will give you a nice clean edge to pick up on the return tier. You can use any yarn you like for entrelac. You can use several different colors, or just one. Yarns with long color repeats (Patons Lace, for example, or Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Grande Handy Dye) work well and look very impressive. Lets get started with our sample. For our sample, lets say we want four rectangles, each five stitches wide. Five is going to be our magic number. From here on out, that is the number of stitches we will be working with for each step until time to bind off. 4 rectangles x 5 stitches = 20, so we will cast on 20 stitches to get our foundation row of triangles going.

FOUNDATION TRIANGLES: Row 1: Purl 2, turn (WS) Row 2: Knit 2, turn Row 3: Purl 3, turn Row 4: Knit 3, turn Row 5: Purl 4, turn Row 6: Knit 4, turn Row 7: Purl 5, do not turn Repeat from Row 1 until you have worked all four triangles. You will have something on your needles that looks like it is very wrong but it is very right! Dont worry, everything will even out. Now we are ready to move on to the next step. Turn the work. RIGHT SIDE TRIANGLES: Row 1: Knit 2, turn (RS) Row 2: Purl 2, turn Row 3: Knit into the front and back of the first stitch (KFB), then slip, slip, knit (SSK) to join our right side triangle to the next triangle/rectangle on the needle. Turn. Row 4: Purl, turn Row 5: KFB, knit one, SSK, turn Row 6: Purl, turn Row 7: KFB, knit two, SSK, do not turn This completes our right side triangle. We are now ready to begin our right side rectangles. RIGHT SIDE RECTANGLES: Row 1: Pick up and knit 5 stitches along the triangle/rectangle below, turn (RS) Row 2: Purl, turn Row 3: Knit 4, SSK to join our right side rectangle to the triangle/rectangle below, turn

Repeat Rows 2-3 until you have worked all of the stitches from the triangle/rectangle below. Do not turn the work after the last stitch from the triangle/rectangle below has been eaten up. Continue from Row 1 until you have worked across the row and attached a rectangle to the last triangle. This completes our row of right side rectangles. We are now ready to make our left side triangle. LEFT SIDE TRIANGLES: Row 1: Pick up and knit 5 stitches along the edge of the triangle/rectangle below, turn (RS) Row 2: Purl two together (P2tog), purl 3, turn Row 3: Knit, turn Row 4: P2tog, purl 2, turn Row 5: Knit, turn Row 6: P2tog, purl 1, turn Row 7: Knit, turn Row 8: P2tog, do not turn. You will have one stitch on your right needle. This completes our left side triangle. We are now ready to begin our wrong side rectangles. WRONG SIDE RECTANGLES: This is important! Up to now, each time we have picked up stitches, we have picked up 5 stitches, our magic number. The first set of stitches you pick up after completing the left side triangle, will be one less than our magic number. Why? Because we already have one stitch on our needle from that left side triangle. Row 1: Pick up and purl 4 stitches, turn (WS) Including the one remaining stitch from the triangle, you will have a total of 5 stitches Row 2: Knit, turn Row 3: Purl 4, P2tog to join our wrong side rectangle to the rectangle below, turn

Repeat Rows 2-3 until all of the stitches from the rectangle below have been eaten up. Do not turn the work after the last stitch from the rectangle below has been eaten up. Continue from Row 1 until you have worked all of the rectangles and are at the end of the row. Remember, you will need to pick up 5 stitches for the rest of the rectangles. Only the for the first rectangle will you pick up 4. When you are ready to finish things up, you will need to work a row of bind off triangles. You need to work a row of right side rectangles and your left side triangle before binding off. The bind off triangles are worked on the wrong side. BIND OFF TRIANGLES: A word on stitch count before we begin binding off. Up to now, we have been working with 5 stitches. During the bind off, we will be working with one more stitch, for a total of 6 stitches. This extra stitch helps keep the bind off process flowing smoothly. Row 1: Pick up and purl 5 stitches along the left side triangle counting the 1 stitch you already have on your needle after completing the left side triangle, you will have a total of 6 stitches. Turn (WS) Row 2: Knit, turn. Row 3: P2tog, purl 3, P2tog this will join the first bind off triangle to the rectangle below. Turn. Row 4: Knit, turn Row 5: P2tog, purl 2, P2tog, turn Row 6: Knit, turn Row 7: P2tog, purl 1, P2tog, turn Row 8:Knit, turn Row 9: P2tog twice. You will have two stitches on the right needle, and one on the left needle from your rectangle at this point. Turn. Row 10: Knit, turn Row 11: P3tog You have now completed the first bind off triangle. Continue from Row 1 until all stitches have been bound off. You have just done entrelac! This sample is just a basic recipe for entrelac. You can substitute any number of stitches you like for the 5 used in this sample to create your own entrelac project.

This was done in stockinette, but you can also do garter stitch or work in any other stitch pattern. Garter stitch will give your rectangles a more square shape. One thing to remember about garter stitch, is that when you pick up on the wrong sides, you will still need to purl. Also, it is probably a good idea to use a split ring marker, safety pin or something else to mark the front of the work to avoid confusion. Entrelac can also be done in the round. It is not necessary to knit the side triangles in the round. You can even do triangular entrelac this is explained in the book: Entrelac: The Essential Guide to Interlace Knitting by Rosemary Drysdale This is an excellent book if you are looking to expand beyond stockinette or garter stitch entrelac. There is an entrelac class on Craftsy by Gwen Bortner. She also has a book, Entre to Entrelac.