Illusion Knit

Shadow knitting, or illusion knitting, is a process of knitting such that the finished piece has a hidden image only viewable from an angle. The effect will be created by alternating rows of two colored yarns so that the raised stitches from one row block out the flat stitches of another row.

The finished work looks like a simple striped pattern from the front, but when viewed from an angle, the "hidden" image appears. In this case, the knit pattern consists of alternating stripes, but when the scarf is seen from an angle, a checkerboard pattern emerges. You can add hidden designs, simple or complex, to any garment, but this is often done with scarves.

Steps

  1. Gather your yarn, knitting needles, and a place to put them. Since this process depends on raised stitches, worsted or sweater weight yarns would work better. Select two contrasting colors of yarn.
  2. Create a pattern on graph paper or a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel that is 20 squares across and however many squares tall as you need to create a pattern. For this article, we'll use a simple block or checkerboard pattern that is 20 squares wide and 6 squares high, repeated indefinitely (shown repeated twice in the example).
  3. Choose which yarn color you will start with. It doesn't really matter which one you choose, as long as you remember which one is your "background color" or "Color 1" and which one is your "pattern color" or "Color 2". For this article, Color 1 will be white and Color 2 will be blue.
  4. Make four rows of stitches on the scarf for every one row in your pattern. Each row on the scarf will be 20 stitches wide.
    • Scarf Row 1: Cast on (i.e. knit) 20 stitches in Color 1.
    • Scarf Row 2: Make the next row of stitches, continuing with Color 1, but this time following the pattern (the first or bottom row in your pattern). Knit one stitch for every white square, and purl one stitch for every black square. As you go across the pattern from left to right, you'll be starting out by knitting five stitches, then purl five stitches, knit another five stitches, then purl the final five stitches. (The picture to the right shows the first five stitches having been knit.)


      •To switch from knitting to purling, simply bring the yarn towards you, as shown here, then begin purling. Do the reverse to switch from purling to knitting (pull the yarn away from you).
    • Scarf Row 3: Knit in Color 2 for the next row. After knitting the first few stitches of Color 2, you can tie its loose end to the lead line of Color 1. However, do not cut the yarn.
    • Scarf Row 4: Make the next row of stitches, continuing with Color 2, but this time follow the pattern (still looking at the first row) in the opposite way as you did before. Instead of knitting the white squares and purling the black squares, do the reverse: Purl a stitch for every white square and knit a stitch for every black square. Reading the pattern from left to right, you'll purl five stitches, knit five stitches, purl five stitches and knit five stitches.
  5. Make the next four scarf rows, but refer to the next row in the pattern. Repeat until the scarf is finished, moving onto the next row in the pattern after completing four rows in the scarf.
    • Scarf Row 5: Bring Color 1 (remaining from Scarf Row 2) behind the needle as shown and knit 20 stitches across.
    • Scarf Row 6: Knit on the white pattern blocks, purl on the black pattern blocks, referring to Pattern Row 2.
    • Scarf Row 7: Switch to Color 2 and knit across.
    • Scarf Row 8: Purl on the white pattern blocks, knit on the black pattern blocks, referring to Pattern Row 2.
    • Scarf Row 9: Bring Color 1 (remaining from Scarf Row 6) behind the needle and knit 20 stitches across.
    • Scarf Row 10: Knit on the white pattern blocks, purl on the black pattern blocks, referring to Pattern Row 3.
    • Scarf Row 11: Switch to Color 2 and knit across.
    • Scarf Row 12: Purl on the white pattern blocks, knit on the black pattern blocks, referring to Pattern Row 3.
  6. Cast off when the scarf has reached the desired length. Ideally, you should cast off on a Scarf Row number that is a multiple of 4 (i.e. that would normally be purled across in Color 2).

Tips

  • Experiment with making your own patterns, or search online for patterns which have already been figured out by others. There's a lot of room for creativity...

    • Alien head:[1]
    • Skull and bones:
    • Mona Lisa Illusion from woollythoughts.com:

Things You'll Need

  • Yarn
  • Knitting Needles
  • Large poster board or paper

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  • Instructables source of information. Used with permission of creator, ERNesbitt
  1. ↑ Pattern on pages 160-161 of Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook by Debbie Stoller, Workman Publishing, New York, 2003.

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