Knitting Friday

I read in some blog: The kids went back to school and I went back to bed. I know the feeling. The fact that almost three full days of this school break had lousy weather didn't help. No playing outside for any long period; cooped up in the house; no TV because that rots your brain (I would hate to see my brain.) It was an interesting week.

One promise I had made to myself this week: I will finish my pink fluffy shawl. I even draped in on the back of a chair for pictures. Alas! I was too hasty.

If you have 40 stitches on your needle (which is about 80 more rows if you decrease every other row) you can not rush the project and start decreasing every row. Well, you can and then the right edge of the right side will be slanted and stretched and you will spend precious time picking out each stitch (you cannot frog mohair down to any stinking life line) back to the beginning of your decreasing madness.

So, right now I have 80+ stitches back on the needle. This time I'm going to do it right.

But I do have a pattern. I finally worked out a pattern for The Odds and Ends Squares Shawl which has the center diagonals going in the same direction, has a nice single crochet row between tiers, and can be used on leftover yarn or one-color "new" yarn.

The Odds and Ends Squares Shawl (read more on 3/27/09 posting)

Equipment: yarn, circular needles (a must), stitch markers (opt.), crochet hook to fit yarn weight (hook makes picking up stitches easier)

(Added: Needle size is not as important as the needles being circular. Though I imagine knitting with small-sized needles would become a drag fast. I'm using US8.)

Abbreviations:
CO = cast on; CS = center stitch; PU = pick up; st = stitch
K = knit; P = purl; RS = right side; WS = wrong side
K2tog = knit two stitches together
P2tog = purl two stitches together
Sl1 = slip one stitch
ssk = slip one, knit one, pass slip stitch over knit stitch and off the needle (psso)
ssp = slip 1, purl 1, pass slip stitch over P stitch and off the needle (psso)
tiers = think of the rows of this project as the tiers on a wedding cake. Tier 1 is the first row of squares at the bottom followed by Tier 2, Tier 3, etc.
**...** = repeat between to end of row or next directions

Also very important: Always slip (Sl) the 1st st as the rest of row (Sl1K on K row; Sl1P on P row)

Skill Level: Intermediate

Square 1 on Tier 1: Mark RS.
CO 25 sts or any odd number using the cable CO. Mark CS.

**Row 1: Sl 1K, K to 2 sts before CS, ssk, K CS, K2tog, K to end
Row 2: Sl 1P, *P* ** Repeat 2 rows to 3 sts on RS.
End P 1 row, then sl 1, K2tog, psso for 1 stitch left.

Square 2 on Tier 1: With the RS of square facing you and last live stitch in upper left corner, PU 12 sts along the left edge ( your 12th PU st will be the CS) and then CO 12 stitches.(25 total) You will now have the WS facing.

Row 1: Sl 1P, P to 2 sts before CS, ssp, P CS, P2tog, P to end
Row 2: Sl1K, *K*
End K 1 row, sl1, P2tog, psso for 1 st remaining

Option for Square 2: After PU, P 1 row and work as Square 1 of Tier 1.

Note: If you decide to P 1 row first, keep the same number of rows as the first square by finishing the square on the P row - sl 1, P2tog, psso for 1 stitch left.

Second Note: At times a square will have an extra row of stitches on one side - for ex. if you CO 12, K back, and then PU 12 more stitches for the other side of the square, the CO side will have an extra K row before you start the pattern: don't worry about this.

Final Note: Be sure the center stitch is at the right angle of the square.

At end of second square continue to make squares in Tier 1 to your desired size. (I’m making a shawl so it was 7 squares at 4 inches each.)

Single Crochet Row: Once you are finished with Tier 1, from WS, work a row of single crochet in the slipped stitches on the top of Tier 1 squares (you will be happy you slipped them now) back to the beginning edge of first square. You should have 12 sc + 1 sc for CS at junction of next square for each square across.

Square 1 of Tier 2:
Option 1: CO 11 sts (total 12 sts on needle). K back, PU 13 sts from single crochets across top of square from 1st Tier for 25 stitches total on needle. With WS facing, start square with P2tog and ssp decreases or:

Option 2: PU 13 sts from single crochets across top of square from 1st Tier. P back. Then CO 12 sts. for 25 sts total on needle. You will have RS facing so begin square with K2tog and ssk decreases.

Either option is very easy. You'll find that the single crochet between tiers gives a nice design. (I picked up my stitches through both sc loops but you can use front or back loop PU if you want.)

Square 2 of Tier 2: You will end with 1 st on the upper left corner of the RS of the 1st Square.

PU your 25 sts down the left edge and then across the single crochets. With WS facing:

Row 1: Sl 1P, P to 2 sts before CS, ssp, P CS, P2tog, P to end
Row 2: Sl1K, *K* End square with: K 1 row, then sl1P, P2tog, psso.
End K 1 row, sl1, P2tog, psso for 1 st remaining

Continue across as for Tier 2 square 2. When you have finished the second tier, single crochet back to the beginning and start the directions for Tier 2 again for the length of your shawl.

That's it. You can decide whether to use K or P decrease rows; just be consistent. This is an easy knit and can be a "pick up" project whenever you start getting a load of odds and ends.

Now, it's back to my pink shawl. I am going to finish that this weekend and hopefully wear it one day before the warm weather kicks in for good.

Next week: The Odds and Ends Squares Shawl gets a border.