Head

Shoulders

Contents:

Confcall Safe Lace Shawl

Materials

Directions

Gallery

Crescent Shawl

Materials

Directions

Gallery

See also

Confcall Safe Lace Shawl

This bottom-up knitted triangular shawl uses one of the easiest repeats (k2t yo) and just one marker to form a lace pattern which can be worked in those situations where one can’t give full attention to the work.

As a simple triangle, it can be as small or as big as desired, and it can be declared complete at almost any time, whether your’re low on yarn or just getting bored with it.

It’s probably also a good first lace project for relative knitting beginners, especially with yarn that is sock-weight or bulkier, or as the first lace project with very thin or otherwise demanding yarn.

This is a work in progress, and more pictures (including one of a finished shawl) will be added later on.

Materials

Yarn

The classic choice for this would of course be lace-weight or fingering yarn, but sport or DK weight worked with bulky needles may also be fun.

Needles

A pair of long straight needles (for smaller shawls) or a circular (for any size of shawl), in a size significantly bigger than the yarn.

Directions

The shawl is worked from the bottom up, with a garter stitch border 3 sts wide, a center column that alternates between 1 and 3 garter stitches and two sections of yo/k2t lace, each starting and ending with a yo to increase two stitches on each right side.

Long tail cast on 3 sts and start working the point of the border:

row 1 (ws):

k 3;

row 2 (rs):

k 1, m1r, k 1, m1l, k 1;

row 3:

k all sts;

row 4:

k 1, m1r, k 3, m1l, k 1;

row 5:

k all sts;

You now have 7 sts: place a marker before the center stitch and start working the lace part:

row 6:

k 3, yo, (marker), k 1, yo, k 3;

row 7:

k all sts;

row 8:

k 3, yo, k 1 (marker), k 2, yo, k 3;

row 9:

k all sts;

row 10:

k 3, yo, k2t, yo, (marker) k 1, yo, k2t, yo, k 3;

row 11:

k all sts;

row 12:

k 3, yo, k2t, yo, k 1 (marker) k 2, yo, k2t, yo, k 3;

row 13:

k all sts;

and then repeat the following lines until the shawl is as long as you’d like, or until you’re low on yarn:

row 4n - 2:

k 3, yo, [k2t, yo] until the marker, k 1, [yo, k2t] until 3 sts remain on the needle, yo, k 3;

row 4n - 1:

k all sts;

row 4n:

k 3, yo, [k2t, yo] until one st before the marker, k 3, [yo, k2t] until 3 sts remain on the needle, yo, k 3;

row 4n + 1:

k all sts;

On right side rows, when your last k2t ends just before the marker, yarn over, pass the marker, knit just one stitch for the center column and then start again the lace repeat with a yarn over.

On right side rows, when your last k2t leaves one stitch before the marker, yarn over, knit that stitch, pass the marker, knit two other stitches for the center column for a total of three, and then start again the lace repeat with a yarn over.

finally, add 5 lines of garter stitch border to the top of the shawl:

row 2m (rs):

k 3, m1r, k until 3 sts remain, m1l, k 3;

row 2m + 1 (ws):

k all sts

row 2m + 2:

k 3, m1r, k until 3 sts remain, m1l, k 3;

row 2m + 3:

k all sts

row 2m + 4:

k 3, m1r, k until 3 sts remain, m1l, k 3;

Bind off.

Block the shawl in a triangular shape.

Gallery

A sampler of this pattern in sock yarn: DROPS Fabel Long Print (50 g = 205 m) in colour 602 worked on 4 mm needles.

The top edge is about 30 cm long.

The beginning of a shawl in Nm 1/15 merino / silk / cashmere yarn (100 g = 1500 m), worked on 3 mm needles.

Crescent Shawl

This is a very wide crescent shawl, almost a full circular capelet.

The version pictured here used garter stitches for 3/4 of the yarn, and a band of very simple lace (k2t yo) at the hem, but any combination of garter stitch and lace rows can be used.

Materials

Yarn

The classic choice for this would of course be lace-weight or fingering yarn, but sport or DK weight worked with bulky needles may also be fun.

The amount needed will depend on the size of the shawl. For reference the one in the pictures used 200 g of 334 m / 100 m yarn, worked on 5 mm needles.

Needles

A pair of long straight needles (for smaller shawls) or a circular (for any size of shawl), in a size significantly bigger than the yarn.

Directions

overview

This shawl is worked from the center top out, with a garter stitch border at the top edge.

Other than the 3 garter stitches at each end, each row is divided in 6 sections, with one increase per section on every right side row, arranged in such a way as to be at the end of the section closest to the center.

A marker is placed at the end of each section, followed by a single stitch to divide it from the next section.

In the garter stitch rows, the first and last section have an additional k2t yo hole to divide them from the garter stitch border.

Start with a garter tab: provisionally cast on 3 sts; work 34 rows of garter stitch on those stitches; then k, pick up 17 sts, one in each garter stitch rib, put the 3 starting sts back on the needle, for a total of 23 sts.

Now prepare the 6 sections:

row 1 (rs):

k 3, pm, * yo, k2t, yo, pm* 5 times k 3;

row 2 (ws):

k all sts;

row 3:

border:

k 3, m,

first section:

yo, k2t fbl, k, yo, m,

second, third section:

k, k 4, yo, m,

fourth, fifth section:

k, yo, k 3, m,

sixth section:

k, yo, k, k2t, yo, m,

border:

k 3;

row 4:

k all sts;

for the garter stitch bands, continue working as follow:

odd rows:

border:

k 3, m,

first section:

yo, k2t fbl, k until marker, yo, m,

second, third section:

k until marker, yo, m,

fourth, fifth section:

k, yo, k until marker, m,

sixth section:

k, yo, k until 2 sts before market, k2t, yo, m,

border:

k 3;

even rows:

k all sts;

for the lace bands work the following four rows repeat:

row 1 (mod 4):

border:

k 3, m,

first section:

yo, (k2t, yo) until marker, m,

all other sections:

k yo, (k2t, yo) until marker, m,

border:

k 3;

row 2 (mod 4):

k all sts;

row 3 (mod 4):

border:

k 3, m,

first section:

yo, (k2t, yo) until 1 st before marker, k, m,

second, third sections:

k yo, (k2t, yo) until 1 st before marker, k, m,

fourth, fifth, sixth sections:

k, k, yo, (k2t, yo) until marker, m,

border:

k 3;

row 2 (mod 4):

k all sts;

Work until the shawl is as long as you want it, or until you only have enough yarn for 3–4 rows.

Bind off with a russian bind off: k, * k, slip 2 sts from the right to the left needle, k2t fbl * until all of the live sts have been worked, pass yarn in the last live st.

Block the shawl in a crescent / circular shape.

Gallery

The back of the shawl before blocking.

The front of the shawl before blocking.

See also

The blog post about this shawl [https://blog.trueelena.org/blog/2024/01/02-crescent_shawl/index.html]

Neck

Hands

Legs

Contents:

1862 Garters

Materials

Directions

1862 Garters

The 1862 edition of the Godey’s Lady’s Book [https://archive.org/details/godeysladysboo00phil/page/n613/mode/1up] included instructions for a “new style of garter”.

This is an adaptation of those instructions to modern knitting terms.

The original pattern specified to make some cord and use it to attach the tassel to the garter; this pattern has optional instructions to use an i-cord instead, which looks nice, but is not, as far as I know, an historically accurate tecnique.

Materials

Yarn

Less than one ball of fingering yarn; the original used red and white wool, but this is a good way to use leftovers of sock yarn.

Needles

Two dpn, size 2.5 mm. This can also be worked on regular straight needles, but some care will be needed when picking up stitches, and you won’t be able to work the i-cord.

Directions

Work the loop; the original used red.

Long tail cast on 6 sts.

Work 44 rows in garter stitch; if using two colours insert the second color (white in the original) so that it is ready to be used after the last row.

Pick up 6 sts from the beginning of the work using the back tip of the needle, so that the working yarn is at the beginning of the needle and the tail from the cast on is at the other end.

To work a rib, knit 6 rows in stockinette:

row 1:

k all sts;

row 2:

k 1, p 10, k 1;

row 3:

k all sts;

row 4:

k 1, p 10, k 1;

row 5:

k all sts;

row 6:

k 1, p 10, k 1;

Reverse the rows to knit the next rib.

Repeat until you have 33 ribs (17 right side ones and 16 wrong side ones).

Try the garter for size: it should easily wrap around the leg above the knee with a bit of spare lenght; if it is too short work a few more ribs until it fits, ending on a right side one.

If using two colours, return to the starting one (red).

Work the triangular end.

row 1:

k all sts;

row 2:

k 9, k2t, k 1;

row 3:

k 8, k2t, k 1;

row 4:

k all sts;

row 5:

k 7, k2t, k 1;

row 6:

k 6, k2t, k 1;

row 7:

k all sts;

row 8:

k 5, k2t, k 1;

row 9:

k 4, k2t, k 1;

row 10:

k all sts;

row 11:

k 3, k2t, k 1;

row 12:

k 2, k2t, k 1;

row 13:

k all sts;

row 14:

k 1, k2t, k 1;

rows 15-31:

if you want, knit 16 rows of i-cord;

last row:

k3t

Pass the working yarn through the live stitch and cut it.

Make a tassel using a 6 cm cardboard template and attach it either to the end of the i-cord or using a cord as in the picture.

Feet

Contents:

Braided Twine Soles

Materials

Directions

Braided Twine Soles

A sole made of braided twine, suitable for various kinds of slippers.

This isn’t The Traditional Way to make espadrille style soles, it’s just a method I’ve used and that seems to work. I don’t know The Traditional Method and couldn’t find details on it online, so this way may be similar, except I’m doing something horribly wrong.

Materials

Yarn

3-4 mm twine;

sturdy sewing thread.

As a sewing thread I’ve used 4-ply waxed linen designed for bookbinding, marked with a number 14 (I’m not sure on which scale, however).

Tools

paper pattern for the sole;

6 elastics;

a binder clip, optional;

strong needle, ideally curved;

a needle as long as the sole will be wide, optional.

The pattern will depend on what the sole will be used for: for sewn shoes you will probably have a regular pattern, for knit / crocheted ones you can trace around the finished object, and to make a sandal you can trace around a foot adding a bit of ease and smoothing out the shape.

You don’t need to buy curved needles: regular needles can be curved with the help of an heat source such as a hot air soldering station or a candle flame, pliers and eye protections.

Directions

Cut 3 long pieces of twine: 10 m for each piece were barely enough for a 25 cm foot.

Find the middle point and tie the strands together with a scrap of thread.

Starting close from the middle, loop each strand around your fingers to form a butterfly, wrap it with an elastic.

Make a 3-strands rounded braid: each strand is made of the two sides of a piece of twine, and fold the strand towards the front to bring it to the middle while braiding, rather than curving it to the side as for a flat braid.

Keep braiding until the end, keep it in place with a binder clip (or just leave it hanging and rebraid it if needed).

Put the paper pattern on a pinnable surface and starting from the toe pin the braid vertically all around the pattern.

When you have finished the first round, lay the braid towards the middle of the sole, whipstitching it to the outer round.

And keep working like this, whipstitching each round of braid to the one next to it.

Hide all knots between the braid sections.

After a while, you won’t be able to add more rope to the narrower part of the sole; start making shorter rounds just in the wider part.

When even the wider part is full cut the braid to size

and finish whipstitching the remaining open parts, including the one that was left in the narrower part of the sole.

Now you can remove the pins and the sole will keep its shape, but the bottom part will tend to open up, enabling dirt and other unwanted material to creep into it, so you need to stabilize everything by stitching it from side to side.

If you have a long needle you can insert it from one side of the sole to the other one, but if you don’t (or if your long needle is to thick and you can’t insert it into the braid) you’ll have to go through 2–3 braids at a time with the curved needle.

When you get to one end pull tight to compact the braids, and then go back into the sole for the next line. Keep hiding all knots between the braids.

Now start again for the second sole, remembering to turn the pattern upside down if it’s shaped to have a right and a left foot.

Attach the soles to the shoes with the whipstitched part on top; depending on how the shoes are made a blanket stitch will probably work nicely.

House

Techniques

Contents:

List of abbreviations

List of abbreviations

dpn

double pointed needle(s)

fbl

from the back loop

k

knit

k2t

knit 2 together: pick two stitches at the same time with the working needle, and work them together to decrease one stitch.

k2t fbl

knit 2 together from the back loop: pick two stitches at the time passing the working needle in the back loop and work them together to decrease one stitch.

k3t

knit 3 together: pick three stitches at the same time with the working needle and work them together to decrease two stitches.

kfb

knit front and back

m

(pass) marker

m1l

make 1 left

m1r

make 1 right

p

purl

pm

place marker

rs

right side

skp

slip 1, knit 1, pass slipped stitch over the stitch just knit to decrease one stitch

st

stitch

sts

stitches

ws

wrong side

yo

yarn over: pass the yarn over the working needle as if to knit to create a new stitch.

Index

D | F | K | M | P | R | S | W | Y

D

dpn

F

fbl

K

k

k2t

k2t fbl

k3t

kfb

M

m

m1l

m1r

P

p

pm

R

rs

S

skp

st

sts

W

ws

Y

yo