Nupps & Bobbles Knitting Panel: A Bobble Tree
Twisted stitches branch out from a central stem and end in plump bobbles. One way up it's a tree; knitted top-down on a cardigan it becomes a bunch of grapes.
This is a very easy bobble design. Look at it one way and it's a tree. Use it on a top-down cardigan and it looks like a bunch of grapes hanging down. You can even work it sideways. The branches are single twisted stitches travelling out from a central stem, and each branch ends in a bobble.
Stitch count
The panel is 18 stitches, plus 1 edge stitch on each side, so I teach it on 20. In the written instructions I only count the 18 panel stitches, so remember your edge stitches: slip the first, and knit the last on right-side rows and purl it on wrong-side rows.
What you'll need
- Any wool. A slightly thicker wool makes the bobbles very raised, like mine
- Knitting needles to suit your yarn
The two techniques
- Twisting a branch: A knit stitch travels one place over its purl neighbour. To twist right, knit the knit stitch first, then purl the purl stitch, and drop both together. To twist left, bring the knit stitch to the front and the purl from behind, purl the purl first, then knit the knit.
- Starting a new branch: Twist as usual, but knit the purl stitch instead of purling it. That keeps the stem going straight up while a new branch leans out beside it. In the rows below this is written as "twist right (or left), knitting both".
- The bobble: Knit into one stitch, yarn over, knit again, and keep going until you've knitted into it four times with a yarn over between each. Five times makes a bigger bobble. Then knit all the loops together through the back loop, and knit into it once more to lock it.
Foundation: growing the trunk (10 rows)
- Row 1 (RS):right side
Purl 7, knit 3 (the trunk), purl 8.
- Row 2 (WS):wrong side
Knit 8, purl 3, knit 7. Every wrong-side row is worked as the stitches appear, and bobbles are knitted.
- Row 3 (RS):right side
Purl 6, twist the next knit stitch to the right, knit 2, purl 8.
- Row 5 (RS):right side
Purl 5, twist to the right again, purl 1, knit 2, purl 8. The first branch is leaning out.
- Row 7 (RS):right side
Purl 4, twist right, purl 2, knit 1, twist left knitting both (the stem is now 3 knit stitches), purl 7.
- Row 9 (RS):right side
Purl 2, bobble on the next stitch, twist, bobble, purl 2, knit 2 (stem), twist left, purl 6.
The 12-row pattern
After the 10 foundation rows, the tree grows in a 12-row repeat. On every right-side row, the branch stitches move one place outward with a twist. Rows 3, 5, 9 and 11 also put bobbles beside the branches, and a branch ends when a bobble is made right on top of it. The stem stitches in the middle are always knitted, so the trunk runs straight up. When a branch finishes on one side, a new one starts from the stem on the other side.
- Row 1 (RS):right side
Purl 2, twist right, purl 4, knit 2 (stem), purl 1, twist left, purl 5.
- Row 3 (RS):right side
Bobble, twist right, bobble, purl 3, twist right knitting both (a new branch), knit 1, purl 2, twist left, purl 4.
- Row 5 (RS):right side
Purl 1, bobble on the knit stitch (that branch ends here), purl 4, twist right, knit 2 (stem), purl 2, bobble, twist left, bobble, purl 2.
- Row 7 (RS):right side
Purl 5, twist right, purl 1, knit 2, purl 4, twist left, purl 2. No bobbles on this row, only twists.
- Row 9 (RS):right side
Purl 4, twist right, purl 2, knit 1, twist left knitting both (a new branch on the other side), purl 3, bobble, twist left, bobble.
- Row 11 (RS):right side
Purl 2, bobble, twist right, bobble, purl 2, knit 2, twist left, purl 4, bobble on the knit stitch (that branch ends here), purl 1.
- Every WS row
Work the stitches as they appear, knitting the bobble stitches.
Each row adds up to the 18 panel stitches (a bobble and a single stitch count as one, a twist counts as two), so if a row doesn't come out right, count back to the last twist. Once you see how a branch grows out and ends in a bobble, you won't need to count at all.
- bobble stitch
- nupps
- knitted tree
- grape pattern
- twisted stitches
- textured knitting
- cardigan panel
- hand knitting
