North Fork Variation is a knit-at-any-gauge, knit-to-any-size-within-reason (or not) shawl. The .PDF should go live tomorrow, barring any disasters with the editing.
North Fork Variation.
French Creek Shawl.
I’ve got a shawl in the final stages, but not quite ready to show, so here’s ferns instead.
Window Greens.
I finally finished the .PDF pattern for the design that preceded the 14-square scarf! It’s called Window Greens, because the original used green yarn and I was thinking about arugula. But the final version had some substantial changes—it calls for soft DK yarn instead of fingering-weight, and the button configuration is less straightforward (but not too convoluted) and a lot more functional.
(It’s free for a bit, too—through 10:00AM Mountain Time on April 29th. After that, it’ll be available for a small fee.)
Stay-at-Home Auxiliary Scarf, Day 14 (and counting): Two Approaches to Finishing.
There are two* ways to finish the Stay-at-Home Auxiliary Scarf: with a knitted border, which was the original idea but will definitely take some stitch management, or with i-cord, which might be easier, given the length of the edges of the 14-square scarf.
For the knitted border, you’ll need the longest circular needle available (I used a 48”/120cm needle, and it was tough going); for the i-cord, two DPNs are recommended.
*Or two ways I am going into, I guess.
I-Cord.
The I-cord border can be worked over 3 or 5 sts, depending on your preference. Two double pointed needles (in size used for overall gauge) will make it easier, but this can also be done with a circular, if you can’t find your DPNs and are only doing a few rounds to show how the technique should work. This is a weird, unlikely scenario, though, in no way related to the photos. (The sentence preceding this one is not sincere. I could not find my DPNs. I did the thing I am talking about.)
When finishing the 14th square, do not bind off.
This will leave you with 3 live sts.
Switch to DPNs.
(For the 5 st version only: flip to the WS, and, using the cable cast-on method, add 2 sts.)
Work attached I-cord border:
k3(5)
*slide sts to working end of the needle.
k2(4), slip last st as if to knit, pick up 1 st from next selvedge.
k last st tog with picked-up st, as if working a ssk.*
Repeat ** until i-cord edging has been applied all the way around. On the corners, you can pick up 2 sts in the same selvedge or cast-on bump, but other than that, pick up 1 st per selvedge.
Finish i-cord by weaving the live sts together with the first sts, as if working Kitchener st.
Weave in ends, block, and you’re done!
Knit Border.
(This version was the original, but it can be genuinely tricky to keep >902 sts on a long circular needle. Putting the project down can result in mild heartbreak and dozens of stitches popping off; there is a palpable risk of breaking a wooden needle. Mine held up, but it was a close thing for a while.)
Finish the 14th square according to the line instructions. You’ll be left with 1 live stitch on the needle.
Pick Up Sts.
With the RS facing up, working right to left, pick up 30 sts per each mitered square, for a total of about 420 sts. (See Note, below.)
Turn work 90 degrees. Pick up ~31 sts along this side. Place a removable marker on the first and 31st sts.
Turn work 90 degrees. Pick up ~420 sts along the side.
Turn work 90 degrees. Pick up ~30 sts along this side. Place a removable marker on the first st, and on the live stitch from the bindoff.
There will be about 902 sts.
Note: the exact number of stitches, especially on the long edges, isn’t too important; the instructions that follow will still be functional if the stitch counts are slightly off.
Work continues from here in the round.
Begin Work.
Round 1. [k1, p to next marked st] around.
Round 2. [k1, m1l, k to next marked st, m1r] around (8 sts inc) 910 sts total.
Repeat Rounds 1 & 2 two more times. (926 sts total)
End with a repeat of Round 2.
Bind off using the basic method. Break yarn, weave in ends, and block!
Definitely too many stitches.
There are going to two ways to work the finishing/border on the Stay-at-Home Auxiliary Scarf, because if you do all 14 squares and pick up stitches to knit the border the way I had planned it, you are going to have something like 902 sts crammed on a 48”-60” needle, and that is not the most fun knitting I have ever done. (I’m doing it, because it is wrong to tell people it could be done without trying it and finding out how potentially frustrating it really is, but I think the alternate method also looks nice, and you probably don’t have to be painstakingly careful about how you set the knitting down to keep 20+ sts from coming off the needle just because there is No Room.)
The first step for this project went out on April 2, so the official end date, if you’ve been doing a square a day, would be April 15th or 16th, depending on how you approach it (is the border part of Day 14, or something you do the day after?). The finishing step should be live within the next couple of days, so please watch this space. Take care!
Day 3.
Day ??? for me—but a good square, with some handspun merino/grey alpaca/sari silk, Malabrigo Yarn Rastita in Glitter, and Arroyo in some sort of blue. If you’re knitting along, and you’d like to share your squares, feel free to leave a link to your instagram, blog post(s), or link your project page on Ravelry.
Stay-at-Home Auxiliary Scarf: Day Two
Work continues where it left off on Day 1.
This entry is photo-heavy! Essentially, the steps are simple: with the WS facing you (and the tail from the cast-on edge on the lower righthand corner), pick up 31 sts from the RS along the selvedge sts. Once that’s done, flip the work again so it’s RS up, and add 30 sts using the cable cast-on, for a total of 61 sts. Work continues from there with a repeat of the mitered square instructions from Day 1. But this may not be intuitive at first, so we’re going the photo tutorial route.
Work Continues: Attached Mitered Squares (Make 13).
The previous step ended with a bound-off mitered square. One st is live on the needle, with the working yarn attached. The RS (right side) should look similar to the sample in the photo below.
Now turn the work so that the WS is facing up. Leave the live st on the needle, and continue not breaking the working yarn. (Note the angle of the decrease spine. For the first square, the cast-on tail will also be in the lower right corner; for the rest of the attached squares, the scarf will trail out from the lower edge, so it will be a little more obvious how to orient each new square.)
Using the working yarn, pick up 30 sts at the rate of 1 st per selvedge. Sts are picked up from the RS, with the WS facing you. With the loop left on the needle from the bind-off, you’ll have 31 sts total.
For the sample shown, I picked up sts from only the back leg of each selvedge st, to create a pronounced faux seam. You can pick sts up from both loops/legs or just one.
After picking up sts until you have 31 sts, turn work RS up again. It should look similar to the photo below.
Starting between the last two sts, CO 30 sts using the cable cast-on method, for a new total of 61 sts.
(I am working a few days ahead, so there’s more scarf in the photo than there should be at this point, but other than that, work should look similar to the photo below.)
Once all 61 sts are established, repeat Rows 1-5 from Day 1. (They’re reproduced below, so you don’t have to click back.)
Row 1 (RS). sl1, k remaining.
Row 2. sl1, k29, p1, k to end of row.
Placing a removable stitch marker on the purled middle stitch is optional. The purled stitch is referred to later as the middle stitch.
Row 3. sl1, k to 1 before middle st, s2kpo, k to end of row (2 sts dec) 59 sts remain.
Row 4. sl1, k to middle st, p middle st, k to end of row.
Repeat Rows 3 & 4 until 5 sts remain, ending with a Row 4 repeat.
Row 5 (Bind Off). sl1, s2kpo, slip previous st over, k1, slip previous st over.
Do not break yarn.
Leave last st on needle.
For squares 2-14, go back to the beginning and repeat this section.
Stay-at-Home Auxiliary Mitered Square Scarf, Day 1.
Okay! This is the official start. The instructions below make your first mitered square—which will be the starting point for the entire scarf. For materials, gauge, suggested needles, etc., see Day 0.
Begin Work.
First Mitered Square (Make 1).
Using the cable cast-on method, cast on 61 sts.
Row 1 (RS). sl1, k remaining.
Row 2. sl1, k29, p1, k to end of row.
Placing a removable stitch marker on the purled middle stitch is optional. The purled stitch is referred to later as the middle stitch.
Row 3. sl1, k to 1 before middle st, s2kpo, k to end of row (2 sts dec) 59 sts remain.
Row 4. sl1, k to middle st, p middle st, k to end of row.
Repeat Rows 3 & 4 until 5 sts remain, ending with a Row 4 repeat.
Row 5 (Bind Off). sl1, s2kpo, slip previous st over, k1, slip previous st over.
Do not break yarn.
Leave last st on needle.
