Wanting to embellish the knit shorts I am making!

[k2tog]

Hello! I'm new here. I hope you can help me!

I am fairly new to knitting so bear with me! I am knitting in the round and making shorts for my baby. I want to put little designs (like a bug or whatever) on them ... how can I do this?

Thanks for the help!

[TwoLeftNeedles]

The easiest way to do a single repeat small design when in the round is with duplicate stitch. Basically, you finish the shorts and go back over some of the stitches with a tapestry needle and colored yarn -- sort of like embroidery.

If you want a really big bug, there are ways of doing intarsia "in the round" which actually involve back and forth knitting but using a yo at the start of the round and a k2tog at the end which picks up the yo to create the seam.

If you want itty bitty repeating bugs -- say ladybugs crawling in a circle around the shorts -- you might be able to work out a stranded knitting pattern where you don't carry a color more than 5 stitches.

[k2tog]

Hmmm ... maybe I'll try option #1 and see how that goes ... I'm a pretty novice knitter and don't have anyone IRL to show me techniques! Is there an online link or tutorial to what you are talking about? I am a visual learner ... in person is best but videos are second!

Thanks!