Double over, or two increases.—Throwing the thread twice over the needle.
Plain intake.—Knitting two stitches together plain. This is done when the intake is to lie from left to right.
Purled intake.—Purling two stitches together. This is done to make the stitches, that are knitted together, visible; or in the case of a piece of work composed of stripes, on the wrong side, when the intake is to lean to the right, on the right side.
Plain decrease, taken from behind.—Knitting off two stitches together, plain from behind. This is done when the intake is to lie to the left.
Purled decrease, taken from behind.—Purling two stitches together, from behind. This is done when, in articles composed of stripes, the decrease has to be made on the wrong side, and is to lie to the left on the right side.
Pulling over.—Slipping a stitch from the left needle to the right without knitting it, knitting the next plain, and pulling the slipped stitch over the knitted one. In this manner two or three stitches can be pulled over the knitted one.
Casting off.—To prevent the stitches from unravelling they are finished off in the following manner. Knit off two plain, pull the first over the second and drop it, so that only one remains on the needle. Knit the next stitch, and pull the one behind over it, and so on. This chain of stitches, must neither be too tight, nor too loose, but just as elastic as the rest of the work.
Materials for stockings.—Stockings can be made of silk, wool or cotton, entirely according to fancy, but for coloured stockings, we cannot too highly recommend the D.M.C knitting cottons, as more durable, in all respects, than either silk or wool. They are manufactured in 360 different shades, whereas, wool and silk are only to be had in a very limited assortment of colours. For hand-knit stockings, Nos. 25, 30, 35[A] are the best, for machine-knit, Nos. 40 and 50.
Stocking knitting.—A stocking consists of five parts: (1) the top, (2) the knee, (3) the leg, (4) the heel, (5) the foot.
(1). The top may be either ribbed, or knitted in an openwork stitch of same kind or with a double-toothed edge, fig. [356].