.

This reverse stockinette skirt is perfect for many occasions. It can be elegant with hose, or practical and cosy with thick tights and boots. The front ruffle gives it a very now feeling, and is easy to make.
The skirt is knee-length but easily adjustable in length. It features a folded waist with elastic to hold it up.

Design notes
Edging: The edges of this garment are designed to curl. If you don’t want that on the bottom, you can add a folded hem.
Yarn: Should be yarn with lots of drape. I advise alpaca or a mixed yarn with silk or plant-based yarn to add drape. A 100 % merino with lots of bounce might be less suitable.
Sizes: S( M, L) 91( 96, 101) cm / (36, 38,40″)
Finished Measurements: 86( 91, 96 cm)/ (34, 36, 38,) at the hips, with 5 cm/2″negative ease.

Sample Garment Measurements:
Length from neck to hem: 60cm (33 1/2″).
Model is 1.8m/5’11″ and wearing size M

Yarn
Colourmart Merino/Cashmere/Viscose/Silk DK
2 cones or 940, 980,1030 yards
Gauge
19 st and 34 rows = 4″/10 cm in stockinette
Needles
4 mm, 32″ circular needles; I use Addi Turbos.

Notions
4 stitch markers
yarn needle
waste yarn
3 cm wide elastic, waist-length

The pattern is free and can be easily downloaded by clicking on the link below!

download now

You will need:

Yarn from your stash. These shawls can be knitted with any any yarn. I’ve used cotton, angora, mohair, qiviut, merino…  Any colour(s) you like – though I prefer solid colours for lace knitting. Long circular knitting needles. Maybe a set of dpns too.

The construction:

The Open Source Shawl is knit top down, from the center of the nape, with increases on every other row plus a few increase sections. I’ve chosen easy lace patterns – the patterns are knit on the right side only, all wrong sides are purled – and they are easy to memorize.

Lace charts for Open Source Shawl

Sivia Harding has written a beautiful piece on lace knitting – go read it!

Instructions:

Cast on 3 stitches; knit 20 rows.
Pick up and knit 10 stitches from the vertical edge of garter stitch, then 3 stitches from the cast on edge (16 stitches).
I use dpns for this bit, then switch to a circular needle.

Setup row:
Right side: K3, YO, *K1, YO* (repeat 10 times), K3
Wrong side: K3, P21, K3

Edges:
Throughtout the lace sections keep knitting the first and last stiches to create the edge and increases:
Right side: K3, YO – pattern – YO, K3
Wrong side: K3 – purl – K3

Section 1:
Start the first pattern. I prefer to use a simple pattern repeat for this section – the same as I’ve used for The Cabin Attendant – with a few extra increases (edge tweaking) to help shape the shawl:

1. row: *K3, YO, K3tog, YO*
2. row: Purl
3. row: *YO, K3tog, YO, K3*
4. row: Purl

As you increase on every other row, the edge has to be tweaked a bit to fit to the pattern – please see the chart on how to fill in the gaps!

Repeat this pattern until the shawl is almost as wide as your shoulders. Depending on the yarn and needles you can sl1, k2tog, psso or you can simply knit 3 stitches together. Lace charts for Open Source Shawl

Increase rows:

1. row (RS): K3, YO – knit to end of row – YO, K3
2. row (WS): K3, YO – knit to end of row – YO, K3
3. row: K3, YO – *YO, K1* (repeat to end of row) – YO, K3
4. row: K3, YO – knit to end of row – YO, K3

Section 2:
Pick any lace pattern you like and knit a section of this. Continue to increase on each side of the shawl by knitting the edges with yarnovers.

I like using these patterns: Lace charts for Open Source Shawl

Add another increase section and maybe even another lace section.

Finishing:

Knit until you run out of yarn and then finish the shawl off with a knit-on lace edging. More on that later! Or just bind off loosely after an increase section.

Depending on the yarn you may want to block the shawl – if you use cotton yarn blocking is not necessary.

This is a recipe – make it your own! You can use any kind of lace pattern, one or many, simple or complex, or a combination.

If you don’t feel like making a lace edging, don’t. 

Sizing up? Keep knitting until you run out of yarn or can’t bother to continue.

As always, please let us know how you go!

Open Source Shawl is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work by Lisa Risager.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 92,000 times in 2011. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 4 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Along an ancient sacred route from the coast to a cathedral lies an ancient burial site, a large mound with a magnificent view all around from the wild sea to the distant hills. Known locally as the Seven Sisters, as long as anyone can remember there have only been six shallow-rooted trees, and all efforts to have another planted there are fiercely resisted by the enthusiast historians.

Everyone always admires this necklace, and so I was prompted to publishing the idea after seeing a woman on the London Underground last summer looking great wearing her vastly inferior commercial version.

This is what you need:

•  some nice soft yarn that is leftover or  reclaimed by frogging. You already have this yarn in your possession. The equivalent of one 50g ball will be enough.

• the necklace in the photo was made with Aran yarn, but you can use DK or sock yarn, or even laceweight. Of course the loops will be smaller if you use thinner yarn.

• 2 double pointed needles (DPNs) at least two sizes smaller than the size given for your yarn. If your yarn calls for size 6mm needles, use 5mm or 4.5mm. If your yarn calls for 4.5mm use 3.5mm or 3mm. Go down as far as you can without making the knitting unleasant or difficult. The fabric needs to be stiff or you’ll have saggy loops, and we wouldn’t want that.

• a large eyed blunt needle for sewing in the ends.

• a single, pretty button (not essential).

This is what you do:

Using your two double pointed needles, make a 5-stitch icord. If you have never made an icord, it’s a really useful thing to learn. It’s basically the same as the long snakes we used to make with the bobbins with blunted nails in them that our Grandads used to make for us when we were children.

Here’s an excellent icord video tutorial. There are many others, so do feel free to have a look around until you find one you like.

So, for this necklace, you cast 5 stitches onto one of the DPNs, slide them to the other side of the needle, and knit across. Then slide the stitches back to the other end of the needle and knit across again. Repeat. Keep repeating.

Tug firmly every now and again and you will see the ‘seam’ magically disappear.

Make your icord long enough to loop across your chest, measured against your favourite necklace.

Cast off and without cutting yarn, cast on another 4 stitches to make 5 total inc the last stitch from the previous cord, and continue knitting in the same way to make a second icord. Join the end of this new icord to beginning of the previous one by picking up loops from the end with your needle and casting them off together. Overlap the cords slightly when joining the ends.

It feels a bit like making links of sausages!

Continue until there’s almost no yarn left. This one has  6 icord loops. The Seven Sisters has six trees. You could make five or seven or four loops or however many you like. I prefer even numbers, but I like odd numbers too.

In the necklace pictured, the longest cord is 32”, the shortest is 22”.

When you have just the right number of loops, pick up and knit 6 stitches across the end of the joined cords (or you may need more or fewer, depending on how much your cords were overlapped on joining. Knit 6 rows of stst, picking up stitches from the cord bundle and knitting together with the first and last stitch of each row. Cast off, again picking up and knitting together with stitches from the back of the icord bundle.

The idea is to make a nice neat end to your bundle of cords. It’s easy.

Then you  make  a looped over crochet chain on one side and a  short length of chain with a knot on the other.

Or this is where you can sew on that pretty button.

We are at the beginning of a severe winter. The Seven Sisters are bending against this morning’s savage sleet, and snow is in the air, although it feels too cold. The Houghton Road is an icy corridor, where wild imaginings of ghosts accompany every chill, and the sky is dark and white, all at the same time.

This’ll fill that inevitable gap between your warm winter jumper and your snuggly cowl, will keep your delicate amnd rather beautiful neck warm.

And it’s very stylish.

The lovely and most talented Kirsten Johnson made Seven Circles – a completely different construction method. This is a curtsey to Kirsten, a humble nod to her phenomenal design skills. Please do make them both. I will.

If you like the retailer Anthropologie and their rare but lovely handmade knitwear, you may have seen this looped scarf on the US website. If you’re a member of the Anthropologie Knits Group on Ravelry, you’ll know that some of us have been talking about it. It’s not available in the UK and Europe, so I thought it would be worth writing a set of instructions for a double-thick version which uses left over skeins of ColourMart cashmere yarns. It is so soft, it’s unbelievably nice.

The Loop is begun with a provisional cast-on and is worked in the round, to the length you desire, and closed by joining the ends using a Kitchener graft.

You will need:

• A small pile of little balls or lengths of yarn and two left-over full balls of some very soft non-itchy DK yarn.

Quantities? The orange in this one is approx 50g of ColourMart DK cashmere merino from what they call a scrap set. The tweedy grey is approximately the same amount. I suggest you get two different but toning colours like these to make the backbone of the pattern, so approx 50g of each will be enough. For the contrasting stripes, 20-30g will be enough for each colour. This Loop uses six colours, two main colours (MC) another four contrast colours (CC).

• a good length of scrap yarn, any smooth cotton or bamboo, in a completely different colour.

• one 3.5mm circular needle (min 60cm long) or 5 double point needles (dpns), whichever you prefer.

• a 4mm crochet hook. You can manage with a bigger one if you haven’t got that exact size.

• a large eyed blunt needle for the grafting.

[It does go without saying, but more stitches will make a deeper loop, and knitting fewer stripes will make it more cowly. You could knit more stripes and make a warm double-Loop. Chunkier yarn will give a different effect and you’d need fewer stitches. Mega-chunky yarn and you might want to do only 2 or 1 rounds per stripe. Sock yarn, if you want a drapier one, will work, but cast on more stitches and try 8 rounds per stripe.]

Casting On:

With your crochet chain and the smooth scrap yarn, tie a slip knot to begin and then make a simple crochet chain long enough to make at least the same number of stitches you want to cast on, plus a little bit more. Tie the end off by pulling through the last loop.

In the size I made, you will need a crochet chain of at least 112 stitches. This will be enough to cast on 55 stitches for each side plus 1 for each edge ‘seam’.

If you’ve never crocheted before, here are some instructions for making a chain. She leaves a longer tail than I would, but her hint to make the chains loose is spot on, and it’s very clear.

Make a chain of 114 or more crochet loops and tie off.

Then, gather up your circular or DPNs and pick up and cast on one stitch in each of the crochet loops by knitting into the little bumps in the back of the chain. Here are some instructions for a crochet chain provisional cast on. She shows exactly which bumps to knit into.

Here is another slightly different method. Stitch Diva is a genius.

If you really, really don’t crochet, can’t find your crochet hook or are nervous about trying it, just knit the first two rows in your smooth contrasting yarn using your normal cast-on. The stitches will be pulled out later when you’re ready to graft your Loop.

However you do it, knit through the loops to make a total of 112 stitches on your needle.

Start Knitting:

Set up Round – Knit 55, Purl 1, Knit 55, Purl 1.

Join to start working in the round, being careful not to twist.

Continue as set.

The Stripes

Each stripe is FOUR  rounds of stocking stitch.

There are FOUR blocks of stripes, with TWO colours in each block. You can make SIX or EIGHT blocks of stripes if you want to make your Loop long enough to go around your neck twice.

Be creative. Use your inner stylistic genius to create stripes that will tone beautifully with your wardrobe, or use bring zingy colours that will brighten the dullest more drear winter commute.

Don’t copy this one exactly. Use up your own yarn, and your own quantities and inner resources. But for guidance,  this Loop has 4 Sections:

• 12 stripes orange, 11 russet (cashmere/merino)
• 7 stripes grey, 6 cream (vision tweed cashmere silk merino)
• 8 stripes orange (cashmere/merino), 7 ivory (100% cashmere)
• 7 stripes grey, 6 nutmeg tweed (cashmere merino)

Total = 64 stripes

If you are very observant you might notice that one of my russet stripes is a couple of shades darker than all the rest. It’s a lucky find in my stash of just enough burgundy toned tweedy cashmere, and it hasn’t gone to waste.

Keep going in pattern, with purls in between the 55 knit stitches. The purls offer up a simple and elegant side seam, helping the Loop to sit flat, and hiding the ‘jog’ where one round ends and another begins, rather nicely.

Keep going. Try it around your neck from time to time to see when it’s long enough. This one is approx 30″ or 76cm around, which is long enough to stand off my neck, but also to be snuggly enough not to need folding. You might need more or fewer stripes to make it shorter or longer.

Joining The Ends

When you’re ready, when the Loop is long enough, carefully unpick your provisional cast-on and put the stitches back on a circular needle (or your spare set of dpns). It doesn’t matter what size this needle is, it’s just to hold the stitches, not to work them.

Now, think carefully about which part needs joining to which. Hold the loop at arms length with the two ends together and look carefully around to see that it’s not twisted in any way.

You will be joining using the yarn from your last stripe, so your very last stripe needs to be only THREE rounds. The fourth round will be the sewn kitchener graft.

Line up the purl stitches, and hold your Loop with the wrong sides together, and with the Loop on your lap with the right side facing you, as in the picture. Turn off the TV, chase the distractions out of the room, put on some very gentle, relaxing music and read these instructions from lovely Knitty.

Thread your needle, and work slowly and carefully round, not too tight, not too loose. Knit, purl, purl, knit.

When you get to the purls in the first side seam of your Loop, stop and think. On the exact purl stitch on both sides, reverse the instructions for just that stitch. Where the graft wants you to knit, you purl. Where the graft wants you to purl, you knit. Just that one stitch, on both sides.

Stop, check your work and be proud.

Go around the other side exactly as you did the first side, gently shuffling the Loop around on your lap as you go.

Ta-Da!!

Does it look great?

I swear to you, NOBODY can see my join. Nobody.

Blocking

Don’t skip this step!!

If you’re a regular ColourMart user, you will know all about blocking. Their yarns all need soaking in very hot water to remove the machine oils and allow them to bloom. Don’t rub, just swish gently in the water. For any other yarn, soak in some lukewarm water with a dash of added Eucalan or any leave-in hair conditioner.

Press out the excess water, and spin in your machine or press between two towels. Lay flat and smooth out any wrinkles, adjusting the sides where your purl stitches will have vanished magically, leaving you with two lovely edges and a smooth transition between your stripes.

Ask your Grandma if she can see where you did your graft. Laugh, lightly and secretly to yourself when she coos and flatters and then offer to make her a Loop of her own.

Apologies for my casual nightshirt photo – I was keen to get this pattern onto the internet. Trendy photos where I’m fully clothed will be added soon, I promise.

If you like this pattern, feel free to use it to make as many Loops as you like, but please don’t use it to make money from teaching or by selling them, without contacting me first. Any charity uses are absolutely fine, though.

Enjoy!

A short note about the Yarn. ColourMart is a UK company that retails mill ends of high end luxury yarns that are spun and dyed for the top Italian fashion houses and couture knitwear designers. They are incredible. Their customer service is second to none and their range is vast and glorious. It takes time and patience to get to know how to work with them, but do give them a try.

The perfect wrap for cool days and evenings. It’s loose and lovely, it’s warm and flattering too. What’s not to like? The pattern is for size L-XL. Other sizes may or may not be included in later versions. If so, you will receive an update for free!

Materials:
The yarn is the wonderful, lovely, fantastic, Faroese Sirri 2-ply yarn. Organic too. 4 bundles of 100 grams/300 meters each. Available in both natural and dyed colours.
Needles: 3 mm or 3½ mm
Tension: 22 stitches = 10 cm
Techniques: Knit in one piece, garter stitch, short rows, modular knitting, round yoke, increasing, decreasing. Not difficult!

The patterns is for sale on Ravelry.

I conceived this sweater on vacation in Brittany – Bretagne. A play on the traditional fisherman’s jersy. In the little town in Brittany I stayed in, they grow a special curvy-edged oyster in the Belon ( sea arm). The tide rushes inland for several miles if it’s high, and retreats as far at low tide. So I actually walked between the oyster beds ( never knew they came in sacks) and watched French people tease fresh seafood from the fragrant mud….
Hello Sailor! Is a bottom up garment with set-in, ¾ length sleeves and a cleverly constructed mid-front ruffle. The vintage feel of the sweater is right on trend.
The optional Breton stripe adds freshness and visual interest.

Design notes
Edging: The edges of the waterfall ruffle are designed to curl. The hem and sleeve hems are folded and sewn on. The seeves have a slight fullness in the shoulder.
Sizes 1X-3X/busty girls: there are optional bust darts for your sizing. However, these don’t combine with stripes!

Yarn:
Colourmart Cashmere fingering
700 (800,900,1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400 yards) cream(A), 200(200, 200, 200, 250, 250, 250, 250) yards charcoal(B),

Gauge: 23 st and 36 rows in (striped) stockinette.
Needles: 3.5mm 32″ circular needles; I use Addi Turbos.

Notions: 6 stitch markers, yarn needle

Length from neck to hem: 56 (58, 60, 62, 62, 62, 62, 62)cm 22 (23, 23.5, 24.5, 24.5, 24.5, 24.5) inches.
Armpit to armpit (laid flat and closed): 39 (41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53) cm 15.5 (16, 17, 17.75, 18.5, 19, 20, 21) inches.
Model is 1.80m/5’11″ and is wearing a lengthened M.

Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL, 1X, 2X, 3X (86, 91, 96, 101, 106, 111, 116, 121) cm (34, 36, 38,40, 42, 44, 46, 48)inch bust circumference.

This elegant, slightly A-line long cardigan has a dramatically cabled front band, cuffs and pockets. The body of the cardigan is textured with the easy to knit elongated moss-stitch. Side seams are accentuated with a little cable.
Knit in easy DK, this fabulous cardigan will keep you warm and stylish!

This is a swingy cardigan without closure, but it would be perfectly possible to crochet a little loop at the edge and hide a button between the cables.

Shawl collar:

The shawl collar was knit  separately, since the yarn is extremely drapy. Also, because the flow of the body pattern and the shawl collar is different and could cause pulling.  If your yarn has less drape and more bounce, you could try knitting them continuously, but I’d make a pretty big swatch first.

The cardigan has  set-in sleeves, is knit in the round, bottom up. It has a shawl collar and slight A-line shape. Length from neck to hem in M: 95 cm(33 1/2 inches).

Armpit to armpit in size M: ( laid flat and closed): 46 cm(18 ¼ inch). (model is 1.80/5’11″ and is wearing an M)

Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL 86( 91, 96, 101, 106,) cm (34, 36, 38,40, 42,)inch bust circumference.

Yarn
Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK(or any similar DK yarn), 19 (20,20,21,21) skeins. 1900(2000,2000,2100,2100)

Gauge: 20 st and 24 rows in double moss stitch.

MOUSE-STAIRS TOP

by boknits design

The name of this easy to wear top was inspired by the Dutch “muizetrappetje” – a concertina kindergarten technique most of you learned long ago…

A geometric waterfall of simple folds runs down this simple vintage-inspired top. In red, it’s perfect for your mother-in-law’s Christmas dinner (because is it ever warm enough in MIL’skitchen at Xmas? Answer: no!).

In a more subdued color, it’s perfect for the office.

The scoop neckline is embellished with geometric filet crochet, to complement the waterfall ruffle down the front.

Design notes: A knit in the round, bottom up garment. The ¾ length sleeves are set in and the mid-front ruffle is knit on separately.

Sample Garment: Model is 1.80/5’11″ and is wearing a (lengthened) M.

Finished Measurements: 78 (86, 91, 96, 101, 106, 111, 117)cm or 30 (32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 46)inch bust, with no ease.

Sizes: XXS, XS (S, M, L, XL, XXL, 1X) 78 (86, 91, 96, 101, 106, 111, 117) cm 32 (34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46″) bust circumference.

Yarn: Lana Grossa Silk Hair ( alternatives: Kidsilk Haze, Habu Mohair, Artyarns Silk Mohair, Posh Yarn Miranda 2-ply)

600 (650, 750, 850, 950, 1100, 1200, 1300)yards

Gauge: 18 st and 28 rows in stockinette (size needled up or down until gauge is achieved)

Needles: 4 mm 29 or 32-inch circular needles; I use Addi Turbos.

Notions: 4 stitch markers, yarn needle, waste yarn in a different color, crochet hook 4 mm

You can download the pattern on Ravelry, or purchase it here . The price is €4.