Tag: texture

Knitting

Pattern Promotion, Gradient Cable Poncho

Iris Rose

I know that summer is still technically with us but, where I live anyway, the leaves are starting to turn yellow which means that fall is here. We can have warm days, but the evenings are cool as are the mornings.

I made this poncho last winter to stay cozy on those chilly early and late times of day. I spotted this really pretty gradient yarn in our LYS and just had to have it with, of course, no firm idea of what I was going to make with it. I had been fooling around with a poncho; the yarn and poncho idea were a match made in heaven.

This pattern can be made with any worsted weight yarn and is a fairly easy knit. Use 6mm (10.5US) to make this beauty in a warm and fuzzy or smooth and silky yarn to change up the look. The cables on the front and back are a simple front twist so no chart is needed. The instructions are written only.

The pattern is now on sale in my Ravelry store here with the coupon code 50OFF.

I will be featuring a coupon code for a pattern every couple of weeks over the fall and I hope that you will take advantage of my offer to you.

I have been busy with DD1 Hand dying yarn and will soon have that featured in my Etsy store as well.

Have a great week and remember to walk a mile in another’s shoes before judging. We are all wonderfully and uniquely different and deserve each other’s respect and kindness.

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Grand Finale, Textured Shawl Style

Iris Rose

Sometimes life just gets in the way of all of the fun things that you want to do. I finally, and I mean finally, have worked my way through the shawl again and am ready to present to you the third and final (except for the little border of course) part of this shawl. Did I say this is final?  All kidding aside, I did enjoy this work.  I hope that you like it.

This project has been a different one for me. I normally equate shawl knitting with lace and really wanted to branch out to something different. I love textured stitches and used some in my Another Cake Shawl, which has surpassed ten thousand unique downloads, yikes!

Here then without any further whining is Part 3:

If you haven’t gone ahead with the colour change then this is how to make the transition. If you are using one colour for the whole thing or have already done this just zoom past these instructions.

Colour change:
Next Right Side Row: With the first colour, work the border in the usual way, slip marker, yarn over and knit 1, pick up your second colour, leaving a tail to weave in later, and knit the next stitch. Work across the row with (knit 1 with colour one, knit 1 with colour two) to one stitch before the next marker. Hold both yarns together knit the last stitch, yarn over, slip marker, knit the centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, knit the first stitch on the next side. Using a single yarn again, (knit 1 with colour two, knit 1 with colour one to the next marker), drop colour two and yarn over, slip marker and work the border with colour one.

Next Wrong Side Row: Work the border with colour one, slip marker, purl the yarn over with colour one, (purl 1 with colour two, purl 1 with colour one) to the last stitch before the next marker, hold the two colours together and purl the last stitch, purl the yarn over, slip marker, purl the centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over and the first stitch on the second section. Then (purl 1 with colour on, purl 1 with colour two) to the last stitch before the marker. Drop colour one and continue with colour two, purl the last stitch, purl the yarn over slip marker, and work the border. Cut colour one leaving a long enough piece to weave in.

This section is an eight row pattern that will be repeated six times with the first six rows repeated once more.

Row 1, Right Side: Work border as usual, slip marker, yarn over, knit to next marker, yarn over, slip marker, K1, slip marker, yarn over, knit to next marker, yarn over, slip marker, work border.

Row 2, Wrong Side: Work border, slip marker, purl the yarn over, (K3, P2) to last stitch before the yarn over, purl the stitch and the yarn over, slip marker, P1, slip marker, purl the yarn over and the first stitch, (K3, P) across, K3, purl the yarn over, slip marker and work border.

Rows 3 to 6: repeat rows 1 and 2 working the extra stitches in pattern at the beginning and end of each side.

Row 7: repeat Row 1.

Row 8: Work border, slip marker, purl to last marker, slip marker and work border.

Final Border:
Change to the first colour and work four rows of garter stitch. Omit all the increase yarn overs and slip the first stitch of each row as in the border to keep the edge looking the same.

Change to colour two and repeat the these four rows.

Change to colour three and work two rows of garter stitch. Cast off using a stretchy cast off method. My favourite is to knit two stitches then knit those two together through the back loop on the right needle. Knit one from the left needle and knit the two stitches on your right needle through the back loop and so on to the end.

Weave in your ends, block your shawl according to your preferred method and enjoy!  The spine of the shawl looks crooked because I didn’t notice that it wasn’t laid out on the background properly.  It is straight I promise.

Thank you all so much for reading my blog and, as always, if you have any problem with the pattern please write to me and I will try to help you out.  I can be reached on Ravelry as well by the name  bluechicken.

Have a wonderful week filled with happy and kind thoughts to everyone.

Knitting

New Shawl Part Two of Part Two

Iris Rose

Well, that was painful. I am still reconstructing my pattern so that’s my excuse for the slow action on publication. Please keep in mind that this is a pattern that is not tested by anyone other than me so, although I try to be careful, mistakes can and do happen. If you are making this knit, please let me know if you find errors so that I can correct them right away to benefit future knitters.
Without further ado, here is Part Two of Part Two.

**Right Side Row: Work border, slip marker, yarn over, knit to next marker, yarn over, slip marker, knit centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, knit to the next marker, yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Wrong Side Row: Work border, slip marker, purl the yarn over, purl to next marker, purl the yarn over, slip marker, purl centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over, purl to the next marker, purl the yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Repeat these two rows once more for a total of four rows of stocking stitch.

Pattern Right Side Row 1: Work border, slip marker, yarn over, ((knit 2, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1) in the next stitch)) repeat to the next marker. (You will have three stitches left at the end and that’s okay, go ahead and knit them.) Yarn over, slip marker, knit the centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, knit 3, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1) in the next stitch, ((knit 2, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1) in the next stitch)) to the last two stitches, knit 2, yarn over, slip marker, work border.

Pattern Wrong Side Row 2: Work border, slip marker, purl yarn over, (purl 2, knit3tog) to last bobble, purl the three remaining stitches and the yarn over, slip marker, purl the centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over and the next three stitches, knit3tog, (purl 2, k3tog) to the last two stitches, purl 2, purl the yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Right Side Row: Work border, slip marker, yarn over, knit to next marker, yarn over, slip marker, knit centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, knit to the next marker, yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Wrong Side Row: Work border, slip marker, purl the yarn over, purl to next marker, purl the yarn over, slip marker, purl centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over, purl to the next marker, purl the yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Repeat these two rows once more for a total of four rows of stocking stitch.

Pattern Right Side Row 1: Work border, slip marker, yarn over, ((knit 4, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1) in the next stitch)) repeat to the next marker. (You will have six stitches left at the end and that’s okay, go ahead and knit them.) Yarn over, slip marker, knit the centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, knit 6, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1) in the next stitch, ((knit 4, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1) in the next stitch)) to the last four stitches, knit 4, yarn over, slip marker, work border.

Pattern Wrong Side Row 2: Work border, slip marker, purl yarn over, (purl four, knit3tog) to last bobble, purl the six, remaining stitches and the yarn over, slip marker, purl the centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over and the next six stitches, knit3tog, (purl 4, k3tog) to the last four stitches, purl 4, purl the yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Pattern Right Side Row 3: Work border, slip marker, yarn over, knit 4, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1), knit 1, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1) in the next stitch, knit 2)) repeat to the next marker. (You will have five stitches left at the end and that’s okay, go ahead and knit them.) Yarn over, slip marker, knit the centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, knit 5, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1) in the next stitch, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1)in the next stitch), knit 1, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1)in the next stitch, knit 2)) to the last four stitches, knit 4, yarn over, slip marker, work border.

Pattern Wrong Side Row 4: Work border, slip marker, purl yarn over, purl four, (knit3tog, purl 1, knit3tog, purl 2) to last bobble, purl the 5 remaining stitches and the yarn over, slip marker, purl the centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over and the next 5 stitches, (knit3tog, purl 1, k3tog, purl 2) to the last four stitches, purl 4, purl the yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Pattern Right Side Row 5: Repeat row 1 starting with 6 stitches and ending the section with 8 stitches.

Pattern Wrong Side Row 4: Repeat row 2 working the extra stitches at the beginning and end with purls.**

Repeat from ** to ** one more time.

Right Side Row: Work border, slip marker, yarn over, knit to next marker, yarn over, slip marker, knit centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, knit to the next marker, yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Wrong Side Row: Work border, slip marker, purl the yarn over, purl to next marker, purl the yarn over, slip marker, purl centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over, purl to the next marker, purl the yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Repeat these two rows twice more for a total of six rows of stocking stitch.

You should have a three rows of bobble blossoms divided by two rows of bobbles with four rows of stocking stitch in between the pattern rows. The section starts and ends with six tows of stocking stitch.

Are you ready to move on? If you are going to change colours here, go ahead and repeat the stranded one by one knitting that you worked at the first colour change.

Later this week I will share an adventure in yarn dying that DD1 and I had on the weekend. It was super fun and won’t be the last time that we do this for sure.
Here is a sneak peek.

Have a lovely week filled with all of your favourite crafts. Be kind to one another.

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Part One Of The New Shawl

Iris Rose

Okay, this is a week late. I began to write up the first part of the shawl pattern and, in the middle of it all, I lost my notes! I had to go back and test knit so that my instructions actually produce the pattern that I wanted to share. OY! Anyway better late than never, right?  So, here it is with last week’s intro and all.

Last week I wrote about garter tabs and the best way to start a triangular shawl. I also explained how to complete a yarn over and slip stitch at the beginning of a row.

Both of these techniques are used to start my newest shawl pattern, Part One being featured today. If you missed last week’s post and tutorial, you can find it here; I am not going to repeat the instructions today.

Start with a garter tab and begin the first section of the shawl with simple stocking stitch. The border will stay the same throughout all sections of the shawl and it is worked over four stitches in garter stitch as follows: yarn in front, slip the first stitch purlwise and bring the yarn over to knit the next stitch. Refer back to last week’s post for photos of this. Knit two more stitches and the border is done. When you get to the other end of the row, you will knit the first three stitches and knit the yarn over and slipped stitch together to bring your border back to four stitches.

The border stitches will NOT be included in the pattern instructions as they are the same throughout as stated above. You will knit on the right side and purl on the wrong side for the first fifteen rows increasing four stitches over every right side row with your yarn over increases.

After your garter tab is worked and the return purl row is made, continue as follows:

Right side: Work border, place marker, yarn over, knit 1, yarn over, place marker, work centre spine stitch, place marker, yarn over, knit 1, yarn over, place marker, work border.

Wrong side: Work border, slip marker, purl all stitches, slip marker, purl centre stitch, slip marker, purl all stitches, slip marker, work border.

Continue with the right and wrong side rows until you have fifteen stitches on each side of the centre spine. Your last row completed will be a wrong side row as your first purl row after the garter tab is row one.

The next right side row will start the seed stitch band.

Row 1: Right side: Work border, slip marker, yarn over, knit1, purl1 across to the next yarn over, knitting the last stitch, yarn over, slip marker, knit the centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, knit1, purl1 to the next marker, knit the last stitch, yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Row 2: Wrong side: Work border, slip marker, purl the yarn over, knit1, purl1 across to the next yarn over, knitting the last stitch and purl the yarn over, slip marker, purl the centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over, knit1, purl1 to the next marker, knit the last stitch, purl the yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Row 3: Right side: Work border, slip marker, yarn over, purl1, knit1 across to the next yarn over, purling the last stitch, yarn over, slip marker, knit the centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, purl 1, knit 1 to the next marker, purl the last stitch, yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Row 4: Wrong side: Work border, slip marker, purl the yarn over, purl1, knit1 across to the next yarn over, purling the last stitch, purl the yarn over, slip marker, purl the centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over, purl 1, knit 1 to the next marker, purl the last stitch, purl the yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Work six rows in stocking stitch, increasing on the right side rows.
Repeat these ten rows five more times for a total of six repeats of the seed stitch bands and finishing with six stocking stitch rows.
And there you have it, part one of your shawl is all done.

Have a happy week filled with yarny goodness and don’t forget that random acts of kindness are really an essential to happy living.

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Garter Tab Explained With YO at the Beginning of a Row

Iris Rose

I have been busy designing the new shawl for you this week. Most triangular shawls start with a garter tab. Say what, you say? Yes, the dreaded garter tab, it really does take some mental maneuvering to work out the process. I have compounded that “huh?” factor by adding the slipped stitch edge on the outside of the border.

So, because I read a lot of discussion about the garter tab, here is brief tutorial, with photos, on how I make the tab to start any triangular shawl. This is not the only way, I am sure, but it is the way I, personally, have had most success with. I like a four stitch garter edge as I like the look of the yarn over slipped stitch edge with a wider border.

Start with a long tail cast on of four stitches. The tail will be on the outside edge when you are finished and will be used to hide the join with a looping stitch later so leave about six inches or 10 centimetres.

Turn your work and, with the working yarn in front, slip the first stitch purlwise. Knit the next stitch by bringing the working yarn over the right needle and knit the second stitch that you cast on. It will look like you now have three stitches on your right needle.

 

Knit the next two stitches and turn. It appears that you have five stitches on your needle. Knit the first three stitches and then knit the slipped stitch and the yarn over (remember you brought the working yarn from the front and over the right needle) together. You will have four stitches on your needle again.

 

Continue to work these two rows three more times and the first row once more for a total of nine rows not counting your cast on. You will have a braided edge started on the outside edge and should be at the inside edge where you will pick up the stitches for the shawl body.

 

 

Pick up three stitches, one in each of three bars that you see across the garter edge. Don’t work into the knots or you will have bumps or a seam show on the inside of your shawl. You will have the slipped stitch with yarn over at the beginning, three stitches across the rest of the row and now three stitches along the side of the tab.

Pick up four stitches across the bottom of your cast on row. You should have eleven stitches on your needle if you count the slip, yarn over at the beginning as one. Four at the beginning, three on the side, and four at the end.

Turn your work and, with the yarn in front, slip the first stitch purlwise, knit three stitches, purl three stitches, knit three and knit the slipped stitch and yarn over together. You purled the centre three stitches as this is the wrong side of your work and we are assuming that the shawl will be knit in stocking stitch or lace.

Place your markers on the next row, right side. Yarn in front, slip the first stitch purlwise, knit three, place marker, yarn over, knit one, yarn over, place marker (centre spine), knit one, place marker, yarn over, knit one, yarn over, place marker, knit three, knit the slipped stitch and the yarn over together. You can see that picking up the bars on the side of the garter tab instead of the knots leave you with a nice bump free join on the wrong side of your work.  I always like to use a different colour for the first right side marker so that I always know which are the right and wrong sides.

 

 

And there you have it. The yarn overs between the markers will increase your triangle by four stitches every two rows. You can make the garter tab longer (two rows for every extra stitch in the centre) and work more stitches to start if you want a Faroese shaped shawl with a wide centre spine. Make sure that you have the number of stitches for the spine plus two for your two side wings.

Next week part one of the shawl. Have a great week and happiness for all of you.