Learn How to Entrelac Knit

Welcome to the world of knitting entrelac!!  This page will give the beginner everything needed to learn how to entrelac knit, which is a knitting technique that produces fabric that appears to be made of intricately woven knitted strips.

This old and nearly forgotten technique of entrelac knitting is gaining in popularity, and it’s no wonder!  The beautiful advanced knitting technique results in a lovely diagonal basket weave pattern.

What is an entrelac stitch?

Entrelac knitting is considered a dying art.  Luckily, it is recently gaining popularity, and beginners to entrelac knitting patterns will bring this lovely art back in fashion and prevent it from becoming a lost art.

The advanced technique of entrelac knitting creates a beautiful woven texture.  It is a basket weave stitch, but the entrelac stitch works on the diagonal and in different directions, resulting in a diagonal basket weave pattern.

The finished fabric looks like strips of woven knitting and is quite beautiful!

Entrelac knitting is actually knitting many little rectangles in short rows. The stitches are then picked up from their edges in the next row.

This stacks a new level of rectangles which lean in the opposite direction of the first.

Although the technique of entrelac knitting requires several steps, each of the steps are small and quite simple to learn.  The links on this page give instructions in great detail to learn how to entrelac knit.

How do you entrelac knit?

The first step to any entrelac pattern is to create base triangles. The knitter casts on the correct number of stitches, which is a multiple of the number of stitches that the knitter wants to include in each triangle.

Luckily, entrelac knitting looks much more difficult to knit than it actually is!

This technique only uses the knit and purl stitches; however, it is important that the knitter knows how to pick up stitches.  

To begin the entrelac pattern, the knitter starts by creating base triangles.  This is true of all entrelac knitting patterns. 

Stitches are cast on, and the triangles are made by knitting and purling rows that increase by one when it is time to knit the next row.

This knitting pattern is repeated until the base triangles are all complete.

The next step is to knit blocks that face the opposite direction of the base triangles that were made.  Once these blocks are complete, the second row of blocks are knitted facing the opposite direction once again.

This gives the woven look of the fabric. Repeat this until the project is completed.  For free entrelac knitting patterns, check out our pattern page for this knitting technique. 

We have many more entrelac knitting patterns and supplies to get started!

Take some time to scroll down and find great resources to learn the art of entrelac knitting!