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Back in September ’21, I decided to come to the UK to do my masters in fashion knitwear design! I studied at Nottingham Trent University, which is known for its fabulous knitwear facilities. Even though I worked in NYC as a fashion designer for 15 years, fun fact, I was self-taught and had never actually gone to fashion school! I always thought it would be fun to study fashion and explore my creativity, creating a collection based on whatever was of interest to me. After looking into the MA program, applying, and being accepted (along with a partial scholarship!), I was so excited for the adventure ahead.
The first week of the program we were asked to decide what we wanted our project to be, then spent the rest of the year carrying out that vision. I decided I wanted to design a collection of knitted evening dresses, because I had always been in awe of glamorous gowns, and thought that exploring that would push me creatively. What kinds of yarns would lend themselves to evening wear? What sort of techniques would make sense to use? Knitwear isn’t common in formal wear, so I loved the creative challenge.
One technique that I explored every which way of doing was knitting ruffles. I wanted to create volume with my dresses, and kept thinking about how I could do that. One way you can create ruffles, which is the same technique you would use to knit a circle skirt, is by using short rows. This is a method that machine knitting really lends itself to.
Another way you can knit ruffles, which I came upon after much experimentation, is by knitting long panels, and then rehanging them 3-4 stitches at a time to create that gathered effect. While it may seem intuitive to do this, one limitation you might find is that the panels will be limited to the width of your flat bed. To get around this, I decided to knit panels in long vertical strips, and then rehang the rows. Using this method, the length of your ruffles and how much you can gather them is unlimited!
In my new pattern and tutorial for my “Ruffles on Ruffles” Scarf, I show you how to do these two approaches. The scarf is first knitted by using short rows, and then another ruffle is knit vertically and added onto it for a doubley ruffley scarf. You can use any flat bed knitting machine to make this design, and the pattern includes instructions for using either a standard gauge (4.5mm) or mid-gauge (6.5mm) knitting machine, with suggested tensions for various yarn weights. This pattern is very versatile, and a great way to use up some of the lightweight yarns in your stash!
I hope you enjoy this tutorial, and have fun knitting ruffles! This scarf was one of the many pieces that made it into my final collection. If you want to see the rest of the collection and learn more about my research and inspiration, check out the website I created for my masters at laurenriker.com. Would love to know what you think!
💜 Lauren
