Roositud Inlay Tutorial

So you’ve been eyeing the Ribbon mittens and thinking you might like to make a pair but you have no idea about this whole Roositud inlay thing? Maybe you’d just like to add a new technique to your knitters’ skill set? Perhaps you just like reading tutorials? Whatever the reason, have I got a treat for you. In preparation for the release of the Ribbon mittens, here’s a tutorial detailing how to work the Roositud inlay technique.

A quick note on the technique: Roositud is an Estonian inlay technique where stitches are wrapped (not knit) with contrasting yarn to create a patterned effect. The result looks like embroidery, but it done as the object (usually a mitten or a sock) is being worked. In this respect it’s preferable to embroidery since one doesn’t have to worry about sewing in tight places (say, a mitten tip or the end of a thumb.) It’s also one of the best instant-gratification techniques I’ve come across, since one can watch the pattern grow as the object does.

Another great thing about this technique is that it might be the easiest kind of colourwork ever. In Roositud, the knitter will only ever be required to knit in plain Stockinette stitch, and the stitches will be wrapped (inlaid) in pattern to create the colourwork motif. Easy, and quicker than one would think! Regular Fair Isle (and other colourwork techniques where the contrast colour(s) are actually knit in) require the knitter to carry the colours that are not currently in use behind the work until they’re needed again. This results in what is called floats – those stretches of unused yarn. There are no floats in Roositud! With it, the knitter is able to work small, isolated and get this – vertical! – bits of colourwork wherever it’s needed. The other good thing about it is that one can use as many different colours as one wants per row, stripe, whatever. In other colourwork techniques, knitting with more than three colours per row can be a real trick.

Sure, it may be a little fiddly at first (and what new technique isn’t?) but it didn’t take me long to pick up at all. A little practice is all you’ll need to get going.

Download the .pdf here: Roositud Inlay Tutorial