Today we are going to learn how to make perfect squares using a very easy technique for both beginners and professional knitters. The mitred squares, as you can see by their name, are small squares that are knitted in one piece, where we start casting on the stitches from two of the sides of the square.
The best thing about this technique is that you don’t have to worry about the size of your square; and you won’t have to go on measuring while you knit. You start knitting in one of the corners and once you have knitted all the stitches you have cast on, a square will appear almost magically!
There are many different ways to make mitred squares, but today we are going to start with the easiest way:
Besides your wooden needles and your ball of cotton yarn, you will need a marker for stitches.
Cast on an even number of stitches onto one of your wooden needles and put the marker in the middle. Every half of the stitches corresponds to one of the sides of the square meaning that when you cast on the stitches you have already defined the length of the sides of the square.
Row 1: knit all stitches up until two stitches before the marker, knit two stitches together through the back loop (take a good look at the photo), slide the marker off, knit two stitches together and knit all stitches until you have completed the row.
Row 2: knit all stitches.
Repeat the two previous rows until you only have 2 stitches left on your needle. Once you have finished a few rows you will see how the square forms slowly.
When there are only two stitches left on your needle, knit them together. Pass the thread through the stitch that is still on your needle in order to close the square. And that’s it!
Mitred squares offer a lot of possibilities: you can knit a lot of little squares to make a blanket, cushions or table cloths, combining stripes of different colors, sew squares together to make a scarf… of course you can also make these squares in stockinette stitch, just remember to block them correctly to perfect their shapes.
Here we have used the cotton in orange and 5MM wooden knitting needles. Which color do you like best?
Share your projects with us on Instagram using the hashtag #weareknitters, we love seeing your pics!
1 comment
I have just recently learned how to make these and they are so nice to work with! Your pictures are really nice and easy to understand!