Spells & Stitches (37 page)

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Authors: Barbara Bretton

BOOK: Spells & Stitches
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I don’t worry about the gauge with this pattern because I control how many repeats I want. Usually I do 11 repeats, and because I’m a fairly tight knitter, I use a size 7 needle. Below is the pattern as I like to make it. (Note that I use markers to keep track of my pattern repeats on row 3.) The finished afghan comes out to about 40 × 40 inches, give or take.
 
Materials
Size 6 or 7 knitting needles (depending on how tight a knitter you are)
2 balls of Baby Marble (in the color of your choice)
11 stitch markers
Cast on 208 stitches, which includes 11 pattern repeats and 5 stitches on each end for the border.
Knit 5 rows in garter stitch if you want, marking with a contrasting yarn the first row as the right side.
 
Pattern
Row 1: Knit (if you’ve skipped the garter stitch rows, mark this side with a contrasting yarn for the right side).
Row 2: Purl.
Row 3: K5, place marker, *K2tog 3 times, (K1, YO) 6 times, K2tog 3 times, place marker; repeat from * to last 5 stitches, place marker, K5.
Row 4: Knit.
Knit 5 rows in garter stitch if you want. Or skip this step and . . .
Bind off.
Wash and block by hand.
 
FRAN BAKER is busy writing her fourteenth novel. Her books have appeared on several bestseller lists and have been translated into more than twenty languages. Fran has conducted a number of writing workshops in the United States and Canada, and she has spoken about writing for publication to local, national, and international audiences. She is a member of Novelists, Inc.; the Authors Guild; and the Society of Midland Authors. She blogs at
www.daughterofthegreatdepression.blogspot.com
. Readers are invited to visit her website at
www.franbaker.com
.
DUSTY MILLS: TANGIBLE HEREDITY
 
I’m one of those people with a deep-seated love of all things heirloom. The idea of passing something on to future generations is profoundly weighty for me. Among my favored possessions is an old acrylic afghan that was crocheted by my grandmother years before I was born. You know the kind—with old-school ripple stripes in three shades of blue and doesn’t match a thing in the house....
It’s now become so holey that I wouldn’t offer it to a guest unless it was to save their life, but I still use it every day, and now my young daughter does, too. If I could ever bring myself to use it just a little bit less, my grandchildren might even be warmed by it in years to come!
When we craft something, we don’t always imagine that many decades ahead, it will still be used—still be loved—still be cherished, as if it were last Christmas’s gift. But the beauty of knitting is that it truly is the gift that keeps on giving. Something of us remains in our crafts long after our needles have stopped clicking and our love pours out of every stitch and right into the hearts of descendants we may never meet.
What I’m saying is this: That blanket you considered knitting for your niece’s baby that’s due next month ... cast it on. Knit that lace christening gown or the coming-home sweater that’s been in your WIP bag for a month. With each stitch you progress, think not only of the baby before you, but of the babies to come.
Each piece you finish is interwoven with love, hope, dreams, familial ties and anchors, friendship, and history. It’s tangible heredity.
 
DUSTY MILLS is your average, everyday knitter who dabbles with designing knitwear and blogging (
www.theknitlife.wordpress.com
). She lives in Missouri with her beloved family, not enough yarn or spinning fiber, and a couple of fur-beasts that think they run the show.
Dusty would like to invite you to download her mother/daughter hat pattern, Chippewa, for free. Enter the code STICKS&STRINGS when you check out on Ravelry. You can find the pattern here:
www.ravelry.com/designers/dusty-mills
.
DAWN BROCCO: BABY’S FIRST CARDIGAN
 
This little, easy-to-knit cardigan pattern has two yarn and gauge options—sport and worsted weight—for quick and quicker-yet knitting.
Pattern is written with slash marks separating the directions for sport and worsted (sport / worsted).
 
Materials
Sport weight:
Lobster Pot Cashmere (100% lace-weight cashmere), 400 yd (50 gr) hank: 2 hanks Natural (MC) (used double)
Worsted weight:
Cascade Yarns Heritage Silk (85% merino superwash wool, 15% mulberry silk), 437 yd (100 gr) hank: 1 hank color #5659 Primavera (MC) (used double); and either 1 hank Heritage Silk color #5617 Raspberry or 1 hank Cascade 220 Superwash (100% superwash wool), 220 yd (100 gr) hank, color #7805 Flamingo Pink (CC) (used single)
Size 6 / 8 (4/5 mm) circular needles, 16–20 inches long
Size 6 / 8 (4/5 mm) double-pointed needles
Tapestry needle
Stitch marker
4 buttons, size ⅝ inch / ¾ inch
 
Dimensions
Body circumference: 18”. Length: 9”. Sleeve length: 6½“. Sleeve depth: 4”.
 
Gauge
6 sts and 8.5 rows / 5 sts and 6.5 rows equals 1 inch (2.5 cm) in St st with size 6 / 8 needles or size to give gauge. Take time to check gauge.
Substitute yarn weight: sport / worsted
 
Abbreviations
approx = approximately
beg = beginning
BO = bind off
CC = contrasting color
ckn(s) = circular knitting ndl(s)
CO = cast on
dpns = double-pointed ndls
k = knit
k2tog = knit 2 sts together
m2 = place 2 twisted loops onto the right-hand ndl
MC = main color
rnd(s) = round(s)
ndl = needle
p = purl
p2tog = purl 2 sts together
patt = pattern
rem = remaining
rep = repeat
RS = right side
ssk = slip 2 sts, separately, knitwise, then knit them together from this position
st(s) = stitch(es)
St st = Stockinette stitch
WS = wrong side
 
Seed Stitch Lower Edge
With MC and ckn, CO 110 / 92 sts (long-tail method recommended).
Set up seed stitch pattern (WS):
P2, (k1, p1) across, turn.
(RS): K2, (p1, k1) across, turn.
Rep last 2 rows 2 times / 1 time more.
Work 41/31 rows in St st (to approx 5 inches from CO edge), end after finishing a WS row.
 
Right Front
Knit 26 / 22 sts, turn. Purl across.
Work 18 / 12 more rows in St st, end after finishing a WS row.
Neck shaping (RS):
On next RS row, BO 5 / 4 sts, ssk, knit across, turn.
Purl across.
K1, ssk, knit across.
Rep last 2 rows 3 / 2 times more—16 / 14 shoulder sts rem.
Work 5 / 5 rows even in St st. BO.
 
Left Front
With RS facing, knit across 26 / 22 left front sts, turn.
Purl across.
Work 19 / 13 more rows in St st, end after finishing a RS row.
Neck shaping (WS):
BO 5 / 4 sts, p2tog, purl across, turn.
Knit across.
P1, p2tog, purl across.
Rep last 2 rows 3 / 2 times more—16 / 14 shoulder sts rem.
Work 4 / 4 rows even in St st. BO.
 
Back
With RS facing, knit the 58 / 48 back sts, turn. Purl WS row.
Work 32 / 24 more rows in St st (to approx 4 inches from underarm).
Seam fronts to back at shoulders.
 
Sleeves
With MC and dpns, beg at center underarm, pick up 1 center underarm st, then 48 / 40 sts around armhole, place marker—49 / 41 sts. Knit 2 / 0 rnds.
Decrease round:
K1, ssk, knit to last 2 sts, k2tog.
Knit 5 / 4 rnds even.
Rep last 6 / 5 rnds 7 / 6 times more. Rep decrease round—31/25 sts rem.
Set up seed stitch pattern—Sport weight only:
K2tog, (p1, k1) around, end p1—30 sts rem.
Set up seed stitch pattern—Worsted weight only:
With CC, k2tog, knit around—24 sts rem. (k1, p1) around.
Both weights:
patt 5 / 3 more rnds. BO in pattern.
 
Seed Stitch Right Front Button Band
With MC and dpns or ckn, beg at lower right front edge, pick up and knit 47 / 37 sts along right front edge (approx 7 sts for every 10 rows / 3 sts for every 4 rows), turn.
Set up seed stitch pattern (WS):
(K1, p1) across, end k1, turn.
Rep last row 1 time / 0 times more.
Buttonhole row (WS)—Sport weight only:
K1, p1, k2tog, m2, p2tog, (k1, p1) 4 times, k1, p2tog, m2, k2tog, (p1, k1) 4 times, p1, k2tog, m2, p2tog, (k1, p1) 4 times, k1, p2tog, m2, k2tog, p1, k1.
Buttonhole row (RS)—Worsted weight only:
K1, p1, *k2tog, m2, p2tog, (k1, p1) 3 times; rep from * 2 times more, k2tog, m2, p2tog, k1.
On next WS row, patt across, working through the bottom strand of each m1. (Insert needle up into the m1 from underneath the horizontal yarn strand. This brings that strand up into the stitch, instead of leaving it to hang down, causing a sloppy buttonhole.)
Patt 2 / 1 more rows. BO in pattern.
 
Seed Stitch Left Front Button Band
With MC and dpns or ckn, beg at lower right front edge, pick up and knit 47 / 37 sts along right front edge (approx 7 sts for every 10 rows / 3 sts for every 4 rows), turn.
Set up seed stitch pattern (WS):
(K1, p1) across, end k1, turn.
Rep last row 5 / 3 times more. BO in pattern.
 
Seed Stitch Collar
With MC / CC and ckn, beg at center of right front band, pick up and knit 67 / 55 sts around neckline to center of left front band, turn.
Set up seed stitch pattern (WS):
(P1, k1) across, end p1, turn.
Rep last row 15 / 11 times more (to approx 1¾ inches). BO in pattern.
 
Finishing
Sew on buttons, opposite buttonholes. Weave in all yarn tails. Wet-block.
 
MONICA JINES: TIPS WHEN KNITTING FOR BABIES
 
Babies have large heads, almost as large as their chests, so a stretchy bind-off is needed for neck bands. One stretchy bind-off is worked with a yarn over prior to each stitch. A reverse yarn over is worked prior to a knit stitch and a regular yarn over prior to a purl.
For a k1, p1 rib bind-off
you would work in this manner:
Reverse yarn over, k1, pass the yarn over over the knit stitch, yarn over, p1, pass the yarn over over the purl stitch, and then pass the knit stitch over the purl stitch. Repeat the process.
Another bind-off:
Knit the first 2 stitches together through the back loop. Pass the stitch on the right-hand needle back to the left needle, then knit that stitch plus the next stitch together through the back loop. Continue this process across your work. For a little different-looking bind-off you can knit through the front loop; you will still have a stretchy bind-off, but it will have spaces between the bound-off stitches.
 
 
MONICA JINES: I cannot remember a time in my life when I did not knit. My mother taught me when I was so young I do not remember actually being taught. Although I have gone for short stretches with little knitting being done, I always come back to it. I love knitting all types of projects and also enjoy designing.
I have been published in
Vogue Knitting on the Go
and have also designed for the Loopy Ewe and Cherry Tree Hill Yarn. My designs can be seen and purchased on Ravelry at
www.ravelry.com/designers/monica-jines
and also at the Loopy Ewe and Simply Socks Yarn Company.

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