Wednesday, January 28, 2015

New Knit Stitch a Week: Horseshoes

Horseshoes

Teaching myself one new knit stitch a week, from the Complete Guide to Needlework book, c. 1979, and other sources.

I cast on 21 stitches on size 6 needles:
Left: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, Oyster Heather
Right: Elsebeth Lavold Baby Llama in Lime Juice

Now that I can follow a pattern without throwing it at the wall, I am really having fun with these knitted swatches. I'm much less afraid of complicated changes, and I'm hoping this improves my knitting repertoire. :)

As much as I love the fluffiness of that Baby Llama yarn, I have to admit a lot of stitch definition is lost in its fluffy shadows. Feels nice, though.

Row 1: K1 *yo, K3, sl1, K2tog, psso, K3, yo, K1*
Row 2 and alt rows: purl
Row 3: K1 *K1, yo, K2, s1, K2 tog, psso, K2, yo, K2*
Row 5: K1 *K2, yo, K1, sl1, K2 tog, psso, K1, yo, K3*
Row 7: K1 *K3, yo, sl1, K2 tog, psso, yo, K4*

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

New Knit Stitch a Week: Baby Fern

Baby Fern stitch

Teaching myself one new knit stitch a week, from the Complete Guide to Needlework book, c. 1979, and other sources.

I like this stitch - it's relatively uncomplicated and pretty. First, I knit up the swatch on the right -  Knit Picks in Brown Sugar. I cast on 24 stitches on size 8 needles. I realized that the P1, K1, P1 at the end of the repeat forms the rib in between the fern pattern. So, on the teal yarn, I cast on 22 stitches and dropped the last 2 stitches of every row - it looks a bit more balanced to me that way...

Multiple of 12 stitches.

Row 1 and alt rows (wrong side) purl
Row 2: *K2 tog, K2, yo, K1, yo, K2, sl1, k1, psso, P1, K1, P1*
Row 4: *K2 tog, K1, yo, K3, yo, K1, sl1, K1, psso, P1, K1, P1*
Row 6: *K2 tog, yo, K5, yo, sl1, K1, psso, P1, K1, P1*


Wednesday, January 14, 2015

New Knit Stitch a Week: Broken Twisted Rib

Broken Twisted Rib

I found this fascinating stitch in a book called Knit Local. I really love the nubby texture it creates, and it's so easy to stitch.

I knit mine up using size 8 needles, Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, and Yarn Bee Andes Alpaca.

(multiple of 2 stitches, plus 1)
Row 1: P1, *k1 tbl, p1
Row 2: Knit

The wrong side is really nice, too, and reminds me of the Stocking Heel Stitch:

Broken Twisted Rib, wrong side