Bees: a free lace knitting stitch pattern
The word I drew from my word hoard for this stitch pattern is Bees, suggested by Christina on Patreon. I like bees a lot, and enjoy watching them working away in flowers, looking for pollen and nectar.
Each month, my Patreon backers have the chance to suggest words for me to encode as knitting stitches. I make two of these into knitting stitches each month: the first is drawn from the collection of new words; the second is drawn from the collection of unused words. A random number generator helps me choose these, and then I get to work, first turning the letters into numbers, then charting the numbers onto grids in various ways. Finally, when I make the chart into lace, I turn the marked squares into yarnovers and work out where to place the corresponding decreases. (I usually make lace; occasionally I make cables instead.) I also make a chart for any craft that uses a square grid for designing; this goes in a separate post.
The stitch patterns are not meant in any way to look like the original words; the words are the seeds of my creativity.
Notes:
- These are stitch patterns such as might be found in a stitch dictionary. They are not a pattern for a finished object. You will need to add selvedges or some other form of knitted stitches to either side.
- The decreases in row 1 vary between version 1 and version 2. Version 1 is shown at the bottom of the swatch; version 2 at the top. The place where the two meet has an interesting variation just because of the way different stitch patterns, even coordinating ones, can interact at that kind of boundary.
- The repeats in the charts and the text aren’t in the same places. (The double YOs complicate writing the repeats logically in the text.)
- Bees is a multiple of 16+16 stitches and either 6 or 12 rows, depending on the version.
- I’ve made stitch maps for version 1 and version 2.
- Designers, please feel free to use these in your patterns. I’d like credit but won’t be offended if people don’t give it.
- My blog posts and free stitch patterns are supported by subscriptions on Patreon or donations to my Paypal tip jar in the sidebar. If you appreciate my work, please consider helping out. Thanks!
Abbreviations:
- 1/1 RC: Slip next stitch to cable needle and place at back of work, knit 1, then knit 1 from cable needle
- CDD: centered double decrease: slip the next 2 stitches as if to knit 2 together, knit the next stitch, then pass the 2 slipped stitches over the third.
- DSD: double slip decrease; ssk, slip the resulting stitch back to the left needle, pass the next stitch over, then slip the result. (Right-leaning double decrease. Substitute knit 3 together if desired; they are similar but don’t look quite the same.)
- k: knit.
- k2tog: knit 2 stitches together as if they were 1. (Right-leaning decrease)
- p: purl.
- sk2p: slip 1, k2tog, pass slipped stitch over. (Left-leaning double decrease.)
- ssk: slip each of the next 2 stitches as if to knit, then knit them together through the back loop. (Left-leaning decrease)
- yo: yarnover

Bees, version 1
(chart and text corrected, 17 March, 2019)
Row 1 (RS): k1, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, ssk, *yo x 2, k2tog, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, k2, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, ssk; work from *, yo x 2, k2tog, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, k1.
Row 2 (WS): p7, (k1, p1) in double yo, *p14, (k1, p1) in double yo; work from *, p7.
Row 3: k2, yo x 2, sk2p, k3, *k3, DSD, yo x 2, k1, 1/1 RC, k1, yo x 2, sk2p, k3; work from *, k3, DSD, yo x 2, k2.
Row 4: p2, (k1, p1) in double yo, p4, *[p4, (k1, p1) in double yo] twice, p4; work from *, p4, (k1, p1) in double yo, p2.
Row 5: yo, ssk, k1, yo x 2, cdd, k2, *k2, cdd, yo x 2, k1, k2tog, yo x 2, ssk, k1, yo x 2, cdd, k2; work from *, k2, cdd, yo x 2, k1, k2tog, yo.
Row 6: p3, (k1, p1) in double yo, p3, *p3, (k1, p1) in double yo, [p2, (k1, p1) in double yo] twice, p3; work from *, p3, (k1, p1) in double yo, p3.

Bees, version 2
Row 1 (RS): yo, k2tog, yo, ssk, k1, ssk, yo, k1, *k1, yo, k2tog, k1, k2tog, yo, ssk, yo x 2, k2tog, yo, ssk, k1, ssk, yo, k1; work from *, k1, yo, k2tog, k1, k2tog, yo, ssk, yo.
Row 2 (WS): p8, *p7, (k1, p1) in double yo, p7; work from *, p8.
Row 3: k3, DSD, yo x 2, k1, *1/1 RC, k1, yo x 2, sk2p, k6, DSD, yo x 2, k1; work from *, 1/1 RC, k1, yo x 2, sk2p, k3.
Row 4: p4, (k1, p1) in double yo, p2, *p2, (k1, p1) in double yo, p8, (k1, p1) in double yo, p2; work from *, p2, (k1, p1) in double yo, p4.
Row 5: k2, cdd, yo x 2, k1, k2tog, *yo x 2, ssk, k1, yo x 2, cdd, k4, cdd, yo x 2, k1, k2tog; work from *, yo x 2, ssk, k1, yo x 2, cdd, k2.
Row 6: p3, (k1, p1) in double yo, p2, (k1, p1) in double yo, *p2, (k1, p1) in double yo, p6, (k1, p1) in double yo, p2, (k1, p1) in double yo; work from *, p2, (k1, p1) in double yo, p3.
Row 7: k1, yo, k2tog, k1, k2tog, yo, ssk, *yo x 2, k2tog, yo, ssk, k1, ssk, yo, k2, yo, k2tog, k1, k2tog, yo, ssk; work from *, yo x 2, k2tog, yo, ssk, k1, ssk, yo, k1.
Row 8: p7, (k1, p1) in double yo, *p14, (k1, p1) in double yo; work from *, p7.
Row 9: k2, yo x 2, sk2p, k3, *k3, DSD, yo x 2, k1, 1/1 RC, k1, yo x 2, sk2p, k3; work from *, k3, DSD, yo x 2, k2.
Row 10: p2, (k1, p1) in double yo, p4, *[p4, (k1, p1) in double yo] twice, p4; work from *, p4, (k1, p1) in double yo, p2.
Row 11: yo, ssk, k1, yo x 2, cdd, k2, *k2, cdd, yo x 2, k1, k2tog, yo x 2, ssk, k1, yo x 2, cdd, k2; work from *, k2, cdd, yo x 2, k1, k2tog, yo.
Row 12: p3, (k1, p1) in double yo, p3, *p3, (k1, p1) in double yo, [p2, (k1, p1) in double yo] twice, p3; work from *, p3, (k1, p1) in double yo, p3.