How to Knit Bobbles
Learn to Knit Small & Large 3D Bobbles
Knitted bobbles are a fun textural element that you can add to all kinds of projects, including scarves and jumpers.
They are created mainly by using the kfb increase technique, and you can choose what size to make them so they're very versatile.
On this page you will find a video lesson which walks you through the process, and also the written patterns for a small and a large 3D bobble.
Small Bobble Pattern
(3 stitches wide)
Step 1: Do a kfbf ('knit front, back and front again') double increase.
Step 2: Swap the needles between your hands and purl 3 stitches.
Step 3: Swap the needles between your hands again and knit 3 stitches.
Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3.
Step 5: You then need to pso ('pass stitch over') twice. To do this, take your left hand needle and use it to pick up the second stitch on the right hand needle, lift it over the first (top) stitch, and off the end of the needle. You then repeat this again, lifting up the second stitch down on the right hand needle, taking it over the top stitch and off the end of the needle.
This will have reduced 3 stitches down to 1.
Large Bobble Pattern
(5 stitches wide)
Row 1:
Step 1: Do a kfbfbf ('knit front, back, front, back and front again') quadruple increase.
Step 2: Swap the needles between your hands and purl 5 stitches.
Step 3: Swap the needles between your hands again and knit 5 stitches.
Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3.
Step 5: You then need to pso ('pass stitch over') four times. To do this, take your left hand needle and use it to pick up the second stitch on the right hand needle, lift it over the first (top) stitch, and off the end of the needle. You then repeat this 3 more times.
This will have reduced 5 stitches down to 1.
I hope you found this page useful :)
A photo of some colourful bobbles by Shula.