How to Knit Heart Nupps - Tutorial

Nupps are lovely little clusters of stitch used traditionally in Estonian Lace knitting, and Heart Nupps take this idea one step further. We knit lots of stitches into three stitches, making a “clump” of stitches, and then on the next row we purl them together in two separate groups with a single purl stitch in between, making a heart shape.
 
Here’s our step by step guide, together with some hints for making this tricky stitch a little easier!
 
Step 1: before you even start knitting, think about what yarn you’re going to use. A smooth, fine, light coloured yarn will be the easiest, although a darker colour is still manageable. In this version, fifteen stitches are knitted from three, and the thicker your yarn, the trickier this is to achieve. If you’re knitting in a 4ply yarn, you could work thirteen stitches from three and then on the wrong side work p6tog, p1, p6tog. If you’re using an even thicker yarn you might need to work even fewer stitches, but the fewer stitches you work, the less “heart like” it’ll look.
 
Step 2: gather some materials to help make things easier. For me, this was stitch markers and a thin, extra pointy, sock knitting dpn. Placing a thin stitch marker 7 stitches into the 15 makes it easier to work that p7tog on the WS. And those p7togs are fiddly! Using a thinner dpn and then slipping that stitch onto your needle makes things a little easier.

Heart Nupps in the lace yoke of my Loveheart Crop

Step 3: the initial right-side row. To make the heart nupp, we knit 3 stitches together (k3tog), but don’t drop it off the left needle. We then work (yo, k3tog) into that same three stitches seven more times. Each yo and each k3tog makes a new stitch, so altogether that gives us fifteen stitches from three. I made sure to pull the initial k3tog through really loosely, and then pull though every subsequent (yo, k3tog) through as far as I could. If you’re using extra pointy needles, make sure you push the stitches up to the wider part of the needle, rather than just working the stitches at the very tips. I would also recommend placing a very thin stitch marker after 7 stitches (i.e. after working k3tog, once, then (yo, k3tog) three times). I used super basic stitch markers that are just a little metal ring, rather than the chunky plastic clip on ones.

Step 4: the wrong side row. This is where things get fiddly! You need to take that 15 stitches you just made and work p7tog, p1, p7tog to get it back down to three stitches. If you placed a marker after 7 stitches in the previous round, when you’re working back on the WS, there’ll be eight stitches, then the marker, then seven more stitches. So make sure you leave one stitch before the marker on the needle to work that p1. You might find it easier using a thinner dpn if you have one lying around!
 
Here's a video which shows me knitting this stitch. Apologies because I have terribly shaky hands, I show how to work three heart nupps on the right side, but only one on the wrong side – I thought it would be best to quit while I was ahead!

​If you’re interested in patterns using heart nupps, my Loveheart Crop is available at the moment and my Ae Fond Kiss Shawl pattern is being released in early April.