Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 04:34:53 -0500 From: CAROLE NICHOLE To: Knit@bolis.com Subject: Knit: Gift pattern: Quick-knit throw Hi knitfriends! With the holidays just around the bend, and because knitgifts of all kinds seem to be a year-round part of any knitter's life, I want to share the following very simple, deliciously foolproof, and guaranteed-to-delight pattern for a knitted throw (smallish afgan) with you. I have to thank Claudia, of Hudson Valley fame and A.R.A.N. acclaim for the original idea. A (re)inspiration, actually, because the pattern stitch is that ol' knitter's favorite Feather & Fan, and I've let F & F more or less drop out of my repetoire over the past few years. Claudia wrote me that she was knitting an afghan as a wedding gift in natural colors, using chenille and cottons on size 15 needles, and that hers was about 42" wide. Sounded lovely to me. As my mother's birthday approached this month, a perfect opportunity arose for me to knit one up, and (without suffering a bit) I finished mine over 5 days. I chose to knit mine using one strand deep green mohair, one strand KW. I used three different shades of greens in KW, going dark to light to the middle and then reversing the colors on the second half. There are literally endless possibilities for yarn and color choices. Claudia's and mine are merely two ideas to go from. So here goes: "BUTTERFLY WINGS" QUICK- KNIT THROW* (*so called because my son gasped when I held up the finished result, saying "oh wow, it looks just like butterfly wings!") Blocked size: 38" W x 58" L With mohair and worsted weight wool, knit with one strand of each throughout, size 17 (12 mm) circular needle (knit back and forth) Here's the color-change pattern I used for the KW strand, but color choice is really a matter for your own creativity (and yarn on hand, of course!) I cast on (and off) with MC, did 3 patterns MC, 3 patterns A, 3 patterns B, 3 MC, 3 A, 5 B. Knit to end reversing: 3A, 3 MC, etc.... Cast on 78 stitches Knit three rows garter stitch Keeping 3 sts at each end in garter stitch throughout for neat edge, and slipping first stitch of every row purlwise, repeat the following pattern, making color changes as desired. 4 row Feather and Fan pattern: Row 1: Knit Row 2: Purl (except for first and last 3 stitches: knit) Row 3: K 3 (edge), (K 2 tog) 3x, *(YO,K1) 6x, (K2tog) 6x)* to last 9 sts, end (K2 tog) x 3, K 3 (edge stitches) Row 4: Knit That's it. Repeat to your heart's delight until you reach desired length, or until your color pattern is completed. This is such a lovely, undulating pattern that it's sure to be treasured by whomever you knit it for. Trust me -- everyone who saw it while I was knitting it swooned, and many reached out just to touch it. Hope you enjoy this! @)-->-- Carole carolea@antioch-college.edu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "carolea" is: Carole Nichole, knitting in southwest OH ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 19:25:28 -0500 From: CAROLE NICHOLE To: epatters@NOTES.CC.BELLCORE.COM Cc: knit@bolis.com Subject: Re: Knit: Gift pattern: Quick-knit throw Hi Lise (with cc: to all interested KL friends) This is just one of the replies I've received to my gift pattern of the other day: Lise writes: >The pattern sounds wonderful--thanks so much for posting it. >would you mind giving me a guesstimate of the gauge you got >and how much yarn you used? Thanks! So here's: MORE INFO ON THE (amazingly popular :-D ) QUICK-KNIT F & F THROW Oops! Realized after I posted my gift pattern that I hadn't mentioned yarn amounts. I used about 600 yards of mohair and about 500 yards of knitting worsted. Gauge will depend, of course, on the yarns and needle size you use. For me, one pattern over the 18 sts on US 17 (12 mm) needles came to about 6" or so. I didn't worry so much about gauge but rather went for the look I wanted, and 78 sts gave me a width of about 38". This is about right for a throw, it seems to me. I wouldn't go over 40" - 44" in width, unless you're doing an afghan-sized project. Good luck to all of the (many, many!) KLsters who've written that the gift pattern is perfect for you. Feel free to make up your own color patterning, or go solid, and when you swatch, remember to cast on at least 30 sts -- do the (K2tog x 3, then the pattern sts * -- *, then end K2tog x 3). Knit several pattern repeats (the 4 rows) with different size needles, and/or changing yarn combinations and you'll quickly know what you want to go with. I also neglected to mention that when you get to the end of the pattern rows, knit three rows in garter stitch and bind off *very loosely* so that it won't bunch up. Block with steaming (do not iron directly on mohair!) and fluff nicely by air-drying in your dryer (no heat) -- I take a drop of rose essential oil (just one drop), place it on a paper towel and toss it into the dryer. Go easy with this -- don't overdo it, but you'll find it lends a lovely scent, subtle and (I think) one that replaces that dullish smell mohair can have with quite a special scent. If not rose, try lavender or jasmine or whatever you like (or you think the recipient would like.) Knit joyfully, @)-->-- Carole carolea@antioch-college.edu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "carolea" is: Carole Nichole, knitting in southwest OH ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ P.S. Many thanks to all those who've answersed me about surplice patterns. I'll collect and post your creative suggestions to the KL in a few days. --- This pattern downloaded from Wool Works: the online knitting compendium http://www.woolworks.org/