Category: Tips and Tricks

For the last several weeks, I’ve been touching on various elements of some of the projects from our new ebook, Contrarian Shawls 2. The past 3 weeks were spent on techinques from the Bisected Shawl, and the 2 weeks before that I covered how to do filet crochet with the Delphi Stole.

I want to turn this week to the Traverse Scarf, which I think is the most wearable and functional piece in the whole collection.

It’s definitely more scarf than shawl, and I think of it as a visually stimulating little trifle. Traverse Scarf uses 2 shades of Good Earth Solids and 2 shades of Good Earth Adorn (spray print). More later in this post on color choices. Good Earth is a linen-cotton blend, making this a great item for warmer months.

Traverse Scarf is knit from one end to the other. It is a symmetric scarf, so any increases made in the first half have symmetric and mirrored decreases in the second half. Those lines of color in the scarf are Good Earth Solid, and they are created via slip stitches. There is only one color used in each row of this scarf, with the exception of the small section in the center back of the piece.

Today I want to talk about starting out this scarf and establishing the rhythm of increases and getting a feel for the pattern.

The first step is to cast on 7 stitches with the CC (Good Earth Solids) and then to purl  1 row.

Next, we will establish our first two Slip Stitch Columns (abbreviated SSC in the pattern). The next 2 rows will be worked in MC (Good Earth Adorn). On right side rows, the SSC is worked as: slip 1, p1, slip 1. Stitches are always slipped purlwise (inserting the right needle into the stitch on the left needle as though to purl) with the yarn held in back, or to the wrong side of the work.

Here I am slipping the first stitch. Slipping a stitch simply means to transfer it from one needle to the other. In this case, we’re transferring the stitch from the left needle to the right needle.

So I slipped 1, purled 1, and now I’m slipping the next stitch, the last of the 3-stitch SSC.

Next I place a stitch marker on my needle. I will always slip this marker when I encounter it. The purpose of stitch markers is generally to remind you of something. In this case, it is to separate the SSC from the increase section.

Now I’m going to make my first increase by purling into the front loop, then the back loop of the next stitch (abbreviated pfb). Then I place another stitch marker to indicate the other edge of my increase section. Since I’ve worked my pfb, my increase section now consists of 2 stitches.

Then I finish off my row by working another SSC over the last 3 stitches.

On the following (WS) row, I will work my SSC as: slip 1, k1, slip 1. Because stitches are always slipped with the yarn held on the wrong  side of the work, my yarn is in front as I’m slipping the stitch.

And here’s what it looks like after the cast-on and the first 3 rows. It’s a start!

Here’s how things look after the first increase section. My markers are still separating the slip stitch columns from the center section which has grown from 1 stitch to 10.

Increases always occur every 4 rows, on right side MC rows, by purling into the front and back of the stitch just after that first marker.

Next, we will introduce the next SSC. Here’s how things look after the first row of this new section. There is the SSC at the right hand side, then 5 stitches, then our new SSC, then our new increase section, and finally the last SSC at the left hand edge.

And here’s how we’re looking after a few more rows after introducing our new SSC. By slipping CC stitches on MC rows, we are carrying up that solid color and making what look like colorful outlines.

The new point of increase is indicated by the white line below.

The rest of the first half of the scarf continues to have you work increases and introduce more slip stitch columns regularly. For me, this is one of those nice projects that doesn’t involve any kind of tough knitting acrobatics –  the stitches are simple, but it’s still interesting with enough going on to hold my attention.

Like the project but not the colors? There are plenty of other options!

Traverse Scarf takes 1 hank each of 4 different colors. Here is a warm colorway option, and another cool option:

This project would also look nice with two colors of Adorn and one solid, or vice versa:

Or you could use just one color each of Adorn and a solid – the sky’s the limit! You can browse all the colors of Good Earth and Good Earth Adorn on our website.

I’ll be back next week with some more how-to goodies from Contrarian Shawls 2.

We’re at the end of the road on our 3-part journey to learning the ins and outs of the Bisected Shawl. Two weeks ago we learned how to do a top-down triangle and complete the first part of the shawl. Last week we tackled putting the two halves together. Today, we’re going to finish off our swatch with a knit-on edging.

A knit-on edging is literally an edging that is knit onto an existing piece of knitting. Many top-down shawls incorporate a knit-on edging along the bottom part of the shawl. One reason a knit-on edging can be a good choice, is that because it is worked sideways, it is stretchy enough to be blocked. It can be difficult to produce a nice bind-off for the lower part of a shawl such that it can accommodate the stretch needed to block. Another reason knit-on edgings are nice, is that there are a multitude of ways to make a decorative pattern that wouldn’t always be possible otherwise.

To begin, we first need to pick up stitches along our the two angles of our triangle.

You’ll be picking up roughly 1 stitch for every other row, or every ridge along your garter stitch edge. Picking up stitches along a garter stitch edge is easy! Just slide your needle through the outermost loop of the stitch, and that’s it. Picking up stitches is different than picking up and knitting. In picking up and knitting, there is a strand of yarn involved. Here, we are simply placing loops on a needle.

Here’s the first half picked up.

And here we are with all stitches picked up and ready to add our edging. For my small swatch, I ended up picking up 80 stitches. It’s important in this pattern that the stitches picked up is a multiple of 8. We’ll see why a little later on.

Next, we cast on our first edging stitches. Cast on 12 stitches to your needle.

Next, work Row 1 of the Edging pattern over the first 11 stitches.

That very last Edging stitch is how we connect to the picked-up set of stitches. At the end of every right side row of the Edging, knit the last Edging stitch together with a stitch from the shawl body (picked-up stitches).

 

Then turn, and work row 2 across the Edging stitches. Continue by repeating Rows 1-16 of the Edging, continuing to knit 2 together at the end of every right side row, attaching the Edging to the shawl as you go.

Here we are after 1 repeat of the Edging:

The reason it was important for us to pick up a multiple of 8 stitches in the beginning is based on the number of rows in every Edging repeat. There are 16 Edging rows, and we are consuming an Edging stitch on every other row, which is why we need multiples of 8. But along the way if you find that you’re off by a stitch or two, don’t sweat it. You can even yourself out by knitting 3 stitches together instead of 2 (an Edging stitch together with 2  picked up stitches). Or you can knit the same picked up stitch twice if you need an extra stitch.

Here we are with half the Edging added, and then all the Edging.

Those last 12 Edging stitches left on the needle – you can just bind those off.

Now, perhaps the most important step of all: blocking. You may see this instruction in the finishing section of a pattern and wonder what the heck it means. Well, it can mean different things depending on the type of stitches in the project, the fiber content of the yarn, and the desired outcome. But in a general way, blocking means to even out your stitches either by making wet or steaming and then allowing to dry.

Lace is something that almost always benefits greatly from blocking. I tend to do a “hard block” on lace, which means I stretch it to its limits. If at all possible, I utilize blocking wires rather than using a million little pins. I’m so fond of blocking wires, that I typically keep this in mind when designing shawls. The Bisected Shawl is no different.

First I’m going to take a look at the top edge which we bound-off using the I-Cord method. I’m going to slide my blocking wire through the I-Cord bind-off, 1 stitch at a time.

I am simply inserting my wire from front to back along each individual stitch. You could also go back to front, or perhaps find a spot along the back side of the I-Cord to get your stitches onto the wire. The most important thing is to be consistent with your method.

Next I’m ready to do the Edging. I could use individual pins at each of the points of the Edging, but I prefer to use another blocking wire.

Now the wires need to be stretched. For this, I have a set of interlocking foam mats that are sold as play mats for kids. For my swatch, I only need one mat. If I were blocking a large project, I could assemble as many as needed to accommodate the size of my project.

I pin into the foam mat, adjusting pins as I go, pulling as taut as I dare without skewing the shape of my knitting too much. After adjusting and making sure everything is symmetric, then I steam. After the piece is fully dry, I like to let it remain pinned overnight. This really lets the blocking “set”, so that the block stays for a long period of time.

And here is my swatch, no longer a crumpled mess!

Join me next week when I talk about slip stitch knitting and the Traverse Scarf.

Have you seen our new ebook, Contrarian Shawls 2 ?

As the cover promises, this collection contains 10 shawl and scarf projects to knit and crochet in some of our Fibra Natura yarns. To be precise, there are 3 crochet and 7 knit projects in this book. All of the patterns are available for download on Ravelry or Craftsy.

This collection is dubbed “contrarian” because each project is a little (or a lot) out of the norm for a shawl project. There are a lot of different shapes and techniques in these shawls, so over the coming weeks and months I’ll be delving into many of the specifics of each project. It’s time for some skill building!

The first project I’d like to talk about this week is the Delphi Stole, crocheted in our 100% sportweight Pima cotton, Cotton True Sport. This is a lovely and fine cotton yarn. This stole requires only 6 balls, making it quite an affordable project.

Filet crochet consists of double crochet and chain spaces – it’s as simple as that. Even if you’re not a very confident crocheter, I’m confident this is something you can do!

Here is a small example of what the filet chart looks like in the pattern:

This doesn’t look like most crochet charts that typically have crochet symbols on them. Because filet crochet is really just “Solid” squares and “Empty” squares, a grid like this tends to make more visual sense. A Solid square represents 3 double crochets, while an Empty square represents chain 2 + double crochet.

Here is what this same chart looks like done in a traditional crochet charted style:

A row in a filet crochet pattern is typically a multiple of 3 stitches plus 1. The chain 3 at the beginning of the row counts as the “plus 1”, and then each Solid and Empty square uses 3 stitches.

For a Solid Square worked on top of another Solid square, simply work 1 double crochet into each of the next 3 double crochets. If it’s worked on top of an Empty Square, work 2 double crochets in the chain-2 space, double crochet in the next double crochet.

For an Empty Square worked on top of a Solid square, chain 2, skip the next 2 double crochets, and then double crochet in the next double crochet. If worked on top of another Empty Square, chain 2, skip the chain-2 space, double crochet in the next double crochet.

Let’s see our little mini-chart in action. If you’d like to follow along for practice, chain 30. For Row 1, double crochet in the fourth chain from the hook and each chain across, turn – 28 double crochets. Those first 3 chains count as a double crochet.

On the next row, chain 3 (counts as double crochet), double crochet in the next 3 double crochet (1 Solid square made), chain 2, skip next 2 double crochet, double crochet in next double crochet (1 Empty square made), and so forth.

The finished swatch:

One little trick I’ve come up with when following a filet chart, is to be able to count the number of double crochets in a long strip of Solid squares at a glance. I find it helps me to keep track of my place more easily without having to constantly consult the chart. If I look at the chart and see, for example, 7 solid squares in a row, I know I will be working 22 double crochets in that spot (7 x 3 dc each + 1). If there are 5 solid squares in a row, I’ll be working 16 double crochets in that spot (5 x 3 dc each + 1). And so on.

I’ll get back to this same swatch and project next week where we’ll be talking about how to add an edging to this shawl.