Make Fun Afghan Squares With New Types of Knitting Stitches!

How To Start

The bottom of an entrelac square will be a series of triangles. Cast on 8 stitches for each triangle you want to make (in keeping with your gauge). To begin:

Purl 2, turn
Knit 2, turn
P3, turn
K3, turn
P4, turn
K4, turn
P5, turn
K5, turn
P6, turn
K6, turn
P7, turn
K7, turn
P8: DO NOT TURN

(Did I catch you?) You should now have something that vaguely resembles a triangle. Do this again for every set of eight stitches, moving across the needle until there aren't any left.

Um, They're All Stuck Together!

Yes, the points are stuck together. That's normal for these types of knitting stitches, I promise.

Attach your second color. Complete the following pattern:

K2, turn
P2, turn
Knit into the front and back of the first stitch (Kfb). SSK (slip two stitches, replace them in their twisted condition, and knit them together). Turn.
P3, turn
Kfb, K1, SSK, turn
P4, turn
Kfb, K2, SSK, turn
P5, turn
Kfb, K3, SSK, turn
P6, turn
Kfb, K4, SSK, turn
P7, turn
Kfb, K5, SSK, DON'T TURN

This makes two triangles stuck together, one in color A, one in color B. Pick up eight stitches from the top side of the color A triangle. Knit all the way across. Now you have sixteen stitches on your right needle: Eight from the triangle we just made, and eight from the ones you picked up. Turn the work around and knit 8, so you're back where you started (with only 8 stitches on the right needle).

Now we need to incorporate your new picked up stitches with the ones on the left needle. Use the following pattern to do so:

P7, P2 tog, turn
K8

Repeat this until you've combined the sixteen stitches (the 8 you picked up and the 8 that were already there) into eight. Now it's time to do it again: for every triangle you made on the bottom, pick up eight stitches and knit them into the eight on their left.

When you pick up the last eight stitches, finish your side triangle as follows:

P2 tog, P6, turn
K7
P2 tog, P5, turn
K6

And so on. When only one stitch remains, fasten off. You should now have a row of triangles with a row of squares on top of it.

Rejoin the first color and repeat the block pattern. You don't need to make triangles on the edges of this row.

Rejoin the second color and continue as above. This time, you will need to make triangles on the edges of the row.

Once your square is an appropriate size, it's time to finish off with another row of triangles. Pick up 8 just like you were going to continue an entrelac row, but use the following pattern:

K8
P2 tog, K5, P2 tog, turn
K7
P2 tog, K4, P2 tog, turn
K6
P2 tog, K3, P2 tog, turn
K5
P2 tog, K2, P2 tog, turn
K4
P2 tog, K1, P2 tog, turn
K3
Turn and P3 together.

One stitch remains. Pick up seven more stitches and repeat until you've made a row of triangles across the entire square. When you reach the end of the row and your last stitch, fasten off.

And there you have it! You've successfully mastered entrelac types of knitting stitches.