Edelweiss - Flower Ornament

Where I live, carnival is quite important. I usually don't go to carnival events, but this season a friend had bought quite a few tickets and asked me whether I wanted to come and bring my mom. Only after I'd accepted I learned that I had to wear fancy dress for it :/
Since I already had a fancy dress dirndl, I decided to go for an "Alpine" look, by trying to create something like an edelweiss and wear it in my hair.
So, I crocheted several of these little edelweiss flowers and glued them onto small jaw clips. Of course, they can be used to decorate other objects as well ...
The pattern is given in written form and as a chart.

This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.






Materials

• I used DK weight cotton
• 3mm crochet hook
• a tapestry needle to weave in ends

When I put 8 of these flowers on my kitchen scales, they showed about 10 grams. So, I guess 1 flower weighs about 1.5 grams, but since these scales are not exact with such a small weight, I cannot be exact.

Techniques
Besides, chain stitches, single crochets and slip stitches, you need to be able to do a magic ring. Here's a YouTube video by MJ Carlos that shows how to do it. If you don't want to do a magic loop, you can alternatively start with a ring of 6 chains, work rounds 2 and 3 and afterwards sew the little ring closed with your yarn tail.


Chart

On the right hand side you can see a chart of the pattern (click to enlarge).

Round 1 is a magic ring.
Round 2 consists of petals that are worked into the back loops of the sc's of the magic ring.
Round 3 consists of petals that are worked into the front loops of the same sc's.
Since rounds 2 and 3 are basically worked on top of each other, there are charts for each round, the rounds that have already been worked are depicted in light grey.

Instructions

Round 1: Do a magic ring, and work 6 sc into the ring (your piece should now look like illustration 1), close the ring with a slip stitch and draw the loop closed

Round 2 (outer, bigger petals): sl st into the back loop of the first sc, do five chain sts (4 chains and 1 turning chain, see illustration 2), do 4 sc's into the chains and connect to ring by doing a slip st into the back loop of the next sc - this loop is marked pink in illustration 2. Now your piece should look similar to illustration 3.
Repeat 4 more times, the back loops into which to place the slip stitches are marked pink in illustration 4.
For the sixth petal do 5 chains and 4 sc's into the chains and connect the last petal with a slip stitch into the front loop of the first sc of the ring.

Round 3 (inner, smaller petals): do 3 chain sts (2 chains and 1 turning chain), do 2 sc's into the chains and connect to ring with a slip stitch into the front loop of the next sc of the ring.
Repeat 4 more times.
For the sixth petal, do 3 chains and 2 sc's into the chains and connect to the ring with a slip stitch into the front loop of the first sc of the ring

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Seitwärts Hat - or Sideways with Stripes

This easy hat can be knitted up fast - using about one skein of yarn plus some leftovers of the same weight. Apart from some intermediate techniques, it is quite an easy pattern. The techniques are the use of the magic CO at the start and grafting at the end. So it may be a good project for a beginner who wants to practice these techniques.

As you may have guessed, seitwärts is the German word for sideways.


This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.






Materials

• about 60 to 70 grams of DK weight yarn - I used one full skein (as MC) and the leftovers from 3 other skeins (CC1, CC2, CC3)
• 3.5mm circular needles
• a tapestry needle to weave in ends
• two stitch-markers

Techniques

• Judy's Magic Cast-On is a technique that gives you live stitches on both sides of your needle - it is generally used for toe-up socks (e.g. in this pattern), but it can be used for other purposes as well. Here's a written description (from Knitty) and here's a YouTube-video by Cat Bordhi and another YouTube-video by Very Pink Knits. 
• Grafting in Stockinette Stitch: A technique to get an invisible (knitted) seam that looks like stockinette stitch https://youtu.be/W7i5JwEReW0
• Grafting in Garter Stitch: A technique to get an invisible (knitted) seam that looks like garter stitch - as shown in this YouTube Video by knittinghelp.com.
• If you don't like grafting, you can use the Three Needle Bind Off as an alternative: https://youtu.be/Ph93jWSzTa0

Gauge and Measurements
In stockinette stitch, I had the following gauge: 34 rows gave 10 cm in height and 24 stitches gave 10 cm in width.
Since you're knitting sideways until you've reached the desired girth the height of your hat (i.e. the width of your knitting) is all you need to get right at the beginning. The hat I knitted with the gauge above measures 21 cm in height, so if you want to a different height, adjust your CO accordingly.

Instructions
With MC do a magic CO of 2x50 stitches - i.e. on each of your needles there are 50 sts.
Turn your piece so that you're looking at the side with the garter stitch bumps.
Set-up Row (WS): ktbl 15, pm, ptbl 35 (now your at the point where you change to the other needle and turn), p35, pm, k15
Row 1 (RS): sl1, k all
Row 2 (WS): sl1, k to marker (or k14), p to next marker (or p70), k to end (or k15)
Repeat rows 1 and 2 nine more times and then insert stripes:
In CC1: knit rows 1 and 2 twice
In CC2: knit rows 1 and 2 twice
In CC3: knit rows 1 and 2 twice
In CC2: knit rows 1 and 2 twice
In CC1: knit rows 1 and 2 twice

Then continue rows 1 and 2 in MC until the hat is wide enough to fit your head.

Of course, you can do any striping pattern you want. The striping pattern I choose is mainly due to the amount of yarn I had left over, plus I wanted something non-semetrical.

Once the lower edge fits around your head (when you stretch it a bit), finish the hat as follows:

• Knit 50 stitches (to half of the row). Make sure, that you are really in the middle of the row, i.e. count your stitches, because it isn't fun to undo grafting if you have not counted correctly (believe me!).
  Graft 35 sts in stockinette and 15 sts in garter stitch.
• Alternatively, turn the hat inside out and do a three needle BO.

Weave in ends and block.

La Chocolatière Mitts

Shortly after finishing my knitted Helgoland Mitts, I thought that it might be a good idea to pursue the same concept in crochet ... and it actually worked better than I had hoped. As with the Helgoland Mitts, it took me quite a while to write up the pattern, given that I finished them in March. But - finally - here it is.

These mitts are crocheted flat and each in one piece. They are started at the thumb, which is worked flat and joined into a tube. Afterwards, the main part starts with an additional chain, and then is worked back and forth around the thumb. Working through the back loop only gives them an interesting texture.

As to the name, the finished pieces reminded me of creamy, wavy layers of a rich chocolate cake.

This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.




Materials

• a total of about 40 to 45 grams of fingering weight yarn in two colors (called C1 and C2) - I used beige and dark (chocolate) brown
• 3mm crochet hook
• 2 removable stitch markers (e.g. safety pins)
• tapestry needle to weave in ends 

Size
The finished mitts - as knitted by me - are about 19 cm long. The width is adjustable - in part 3 of the pattern.


Stitches and Abbreviations

• ch: chain 
• sc: single crochet (American notation)
• sctbl: single crochet through back loop: http://crochet.about.com/od/crochetterms/tp/back-loops-only-or-blo.htm
• sl st: slip stitch: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-crochet-the-slip-stitch.html
• inc: increase by working 2 single crochet stitches into 1 sc below (in case of this pattern, it's 2 sctbl into the sctbl below): http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-increase-with-single-crochet.html
• dec or sctog: decrease by working 2 single crochet stitches together: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-decrease-single-crochet.html 
• join or connect: joining pieces with crochet: in order to join to pieces (or, in case of this pattern, the two sides of one piece) hold the pieces together with wrong sides on the outside and insert the crochet hook into both pieces at the same time, a foto tutorial can be found here (scroll down to “Joining with Crochet” http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter08/FEATwin08TT.php)
• [y]*x: repeat the sequence y (within the square brackets) x times
• [y] to x sts before marker: repeat the sequence y until there are x stitches before you reach the marker
• In the pattern, there will also be abbreviations for the wave sequences in parts 2 and 3, namely:
• A = inc, sctbl3, dec, dec, sctbl3, inc
• B = dec, sctbl3, inc, inc, sctbl3, dec

General Construction

• Part 1 is the thumb - worked flat and ends with joining the sides to get a little tube. 
• Part 2 starts with a chain of 36 sts and is worked flat (back and forth) around the thumb - the rows consist of the wave sequences (at the beginning and end of a row) and the increases in round sequences (in the middle of the row, around the thumb). The increases around the thumb are calculated to form a part of a flat circle. (The general idea how to crochet a flat circle is explained in this blogpost, i.e. the Kreisel Mitts crochet pattern).
• Part 3 is also worked flat, it widens the mitt to fit your hands and ends by crocheting the edges together.

Instructions

NOTE 1: all increase and decrease stitches in this part are crocheted through the back loop of the underlying stitch only.

NOTE 2: Please note that the sequences in brackets don't always match the number of stitches left (e.g. it might say [dec, sctbl 5], but there are only 4 stitches left) - that's OK. Just continue with the sequence until the condition is met and then stop (in case of the example above, just make one decrease and sctbl the 3 stitches to the end)

NOTE 3: Whenever you encounter a marker, work that stitch and replace the marker up to the current row - unless indicated otherwise.

First mitt

Part 1 (Thumb)
With C1
Row 0: ch 10 and 1 turning-chain
Row 1: sc 10; 1 turning-chain
Row 2: sctbl 10; 1 turning-chain
Row 3: sctbl 8, dec; 1 turning-chain
Row 4: sctbl 9; 1 turning-chain
Row 5: sctbl 7, dec; 1 turning-chain
Row 6: sctbl 8; 1 turning-chain
Row 7: sctbl 6, dec; 1 turning-chain

(Your piece should now be as high as half of your thumb circumference. If it's too small for that you can add an even number of "sctbl all, 1 turning-chain"-rounds.)

Row 8: sctbl 7; 1 turning-chain
Row 9: sctbl 6, inc; 1 turning-chain
Row 10: sctbl 8; 1 turning-chain
Row 11: sctbl 7, inc; 1 turning-chain
Row 12: stbl 9; 1 turning-chain
Row 13: sctbl 8, inc; 1 turning-chain
Row 14: sctbl 10; 1 turning-chain

Now your piece should look like in illustration 1.

Fold the edges together (chain edge and your last row) and connect.

Illustrations

Part 2

Row 0 (C1): chain 36 + 1 turning chain - now your piece looks similar to illustration 2
Row 1 (WS, C1): [A]*3, place marker, sc around the rim of the thumb (from the inside, I picked up 24 sts, if you added a few rows between row 7 and 8 of part 1, you will have a different stitch count), place marker [B]*3
Row 2 (RS, C2): [B]*3, dec, [sctbl2, inc] to 2 before marker, dec, [A]*3
Row 3 (WS, C2): [A]*3, sctbl1, dec [sctbl1, inc, sctbl2] to 3 bef marker, sctbl1, dec, [B]*3
Row 4 (RS, C1): [B]*3, dec, sctbl2, [sctbl2, inc, sctbl2] to 4 bef marker sctbl2, dec , [A]*3
Row 5 (WS, C1): [A]*3, dec, sctbl3, [sctbl3, inc, sctbl2] to 5 bef marker, sctbl3, dec , [B]*3
(Now your piece should look similar to illustration 3.)

Row 6 (RS, C2): [B]*3, dec, sctbl3, inc, [sctbl1, inc, sctbl5] to 6 bef marker, dec, sctbl3, inc, [A]*3
Row 7 (WS, C2): [A]*3, inc, sctbl3, dec, sctbl1, [sctbl1, inc, sctbl6] to 7 bef marker sctbl1, inc, sctbl3, dec, [B]*3
Row 8 (RS, C1): [B]*3, dec, sctbl3, inc, [sctbl4, inc, sctbl4] to 6 bef marker, dec, sctbl3, inc, [A]*3
Row 9 (WS, C1): [A]*3, inc, sctbl3, dec, [inc, sctbl9] to 6 bef marker inc, sctbl3, dec, [B]*3
Row 10 (RS, C2): [B]*4, [sctbl2, inc, sctbl8] to marker sctbl2, [A]*4
Row 11 (WS, C2): [A]*4, [sctbl4, inc, sctbl7] to  marker, [B]*4
Row 12 (RS, C1): [B]*4, [sctbl8, inc, sctbl4]] to marker, [A]*4
Row 13 (WS, C1): [A]*4, [inc, sctbl13] to marker, [B]*4
Row 14 (RS, C2): [B]*4, dec, sctbl3, inc, [sctbl2, inc, sctbl1] to 6 bef marker, dec, sctbl3, inc, [A]*4
Row 15 (WS, C2): [A]*4, inc, sctbl3, dec, [sctbl2, inc, sctbl12] to 6 bef marker inc, sctbl3, dec, [B]*

Part 3
Row 1 (RS, C1): [B]*4, dec, sctbl3, inc, 1 turning chain
Row 2 (WS, C1):  inc, sctbl3, dec, [B]*4, 1 turning chain
Row 3 (RS, C2): [B]*4, dec, sctbl3, inc, 1 turning chain
Row 4 (WS, C2):  inc, sctbl3, dec, [B]*4, 1 turning chain
Row 5 (RS, C1): [B]*4, dec, sctbl3, inc, 1 turning chain
Row 6 (WS, C1):  inc, sctbl3, dec, [B]*4, 1 turning chain
Try or measure whether the piece fits your hands. If it is not wide enough, repeat rows 3 to 6.
Your piece should look similar to illustration 4.

Hold right sides together (aligning at the lower edge) and connect both sides.

Cut yarns and weave in ends.

Second Mitt
If you want one mitt to be the mirror image of the other, you need to exchange the wave sequences, i.e. every time the pattern for mitt 1 says "A", you need to crochet sequence B and vice versa. The increases around the thumb are the same for both mitts.
I also switched the colors, i.e. whenever I used C1 for mitt 1, I used C2 for mitt 2 - and vice versa.

This post was featured on Oombawka Design's Wednesday Link Party #226 . Thank you!

Halsvarmer med chevrons - Chevrons All Round Cowl in Danish

In addition to translating the Hexagon Mitts into Danish, Marianne Holmen from strikkeglad.dk has also written a translation for the cowl that matches these mitts, the Chevrons All Round Cowl. The translation called "Halsvarmer med chevrons" is available here on strikkeglad.dk. Thank you very much for this translation!

The original english version of this pattern can be found here.

This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Hexagon Mitts in Danish - Fingerløse vanter med sekskanter

Marianne Holmen from strikkeglad.dk has written a Danish translation of the Hexagon Mitts pattern. Thank you very much or rather "mange tak"!
Here is a link to the Danish version of this pattern on strikkeglad.dk.
The original (English) version can be found here.

A list of all translated versions of my patterns can be found in this blogpost.


This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Bonus: Tannenbäumchen Christmas Cookies

Don't worry. I promise I won't become a food blogger :) But this recipe went so nicely with the Tannenbäumchen Potholders that I couldn't resist. So here - for the first time - is a recipe for christmas cookies.
These cookies are not too sweet and they have the fine Matcha taste, that I love. Furthermore, the green color makes them look like christmas trees (or Tannenbäumchen in german :).
Depending on the type of margarine and the white chocolate you use, the cookies can even be vegan.

Ingredients

• 200 grams of flour
• 10 grams of Matcha powder
• 70 grams of confectioners' sugar
• 130 grams of margarine
• 2 table spoons of cold green tea
• white chocolate coating (couverture) - plain white chocolate will do as well

The knitting pattern for the potholder is available here

Directions

• Mix the dry ingredients (flour, Matcha powder & icing sugar together).
• Add margarine and tea. Knead until it forms a smooth dough.
• Form into a ball, wrap with clingfilm and let it rest in the fridge for at least one hour.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• On a floured surface (or between two sheets of baking paper), roll the dough out to about 5mm thickness. 
• Cut cookies with tree shaped cookie cutter - or cut your dough into triangles with an acute angle. 
• Bake about 12 to 14 minutes - but keep an eye on them since they burn easily.
• When the cookies are cooled, melt the chocolate coating and decorate the your cookies and wait till the chocolate sets.
  As you can see on all photos, my piping skills are non-existent - however, I melted the chocolate in a freezer bag and cut a small hole into one of the corners and decorated with this makeshift piping bag. So, the use of a real piping bag might have helped ... 

Tannenbäumchen Potholder

I love baking for christmas. Apart from the result - sweet cookies - there is also the experience of making them with your own hands and it makes your home smell lovely. This experience can even be more fun, if you have a bit of christmas themed equipment - like these lovely potholders with a christmas tree motif.
This potholder is knitted in a combination of short rows and intarsia. That way you don't have too many ends to weave in and the WS of the piece looks presentable

As to the name, Tannenbäumchen is the german word for a small christmas tree - or fir tree to be exact.


This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.






Materials

• a total of about 30 grams of DK weight cotton yarn - about 10 grams of C2 (color of Xmas tree) and 20 grams of C1 (background color)
• 3.5 mm needles - if you use yarn of a different weight, use a needle that is one size below the size that the yarn calls for
• scrap yarn for provisional CO
• a tapestry needle for grafting and to weave in ends

Techniques & Notation

• Intarsia: Changing colors with the intarsia technique - as shown in this YouTube video by knitwithpat; or this YouTube video by Francoise Danoy. That way you don't have to carry long strands on the WS and the WS looks presentable. The picture below shows the RS and WS of the piece.

• Throughout the pattern, the following notation is used:  C1 (k4), C2 (k10, w+t, k10), C1 (k to end) means, knit 4 stitches in C1, change to C2 and knit 10 sts, do a wrap and turn, knit 10 stitches and then change back to C1 and k to end. I.e. color is indicated before the knitting instructions for that yarn and the knitting instructions for that yarn are given in brackets after the color. 
• Short rows with wrap and turn (w+t) - as shown in this YouTube video by Very Pink Knits.
  Even though this potholder is knit in garter stitch, I picked up the wraps, i.e. two wraps that are on top of each other. Here's a YouTube video that shows how to pick up your wraps (also by Very Pink Knits).
• Note: in some rows the wrap has to be made just at the color change in the row below, e.g. Ridge B11 where you knit 11 sts in C1 and the 12 stitch that is to be wrapped was knitted in C2. In this case, it's advisable to change the color (as if to knit the next stitch in the new color), wrap and turn in the new color, and then to change back. This gives nicer color edges.
• Provisional CO: My favorite method for a provisional CO is the crochet provisional CO - it is shown in this Youtube video by New Stitch a Day.
• Grafting in Garter Stitch: A technique to get an invisible (knitted) seam - this technique is shown in this YouTube Video by knittinghelp.com. 
• Weaving in (ends) while knitting: as shown in this YouTube video by So, I make stuff. This technique is used here to carry yarn of another color to point further along in your row while avoiding a long float.
• Weaving in yarn while carrying it back: Draw a long loop of C2 (white in the illustration) to the point closer to the beginning of the rowwhere you want to knit it (picture 1). This gives you a really long float. Knit the first stitch (picture 2). Before knitting the second stitch, catch the float by put the left hand needle under the float (picutre 3) and then knit the stitch with your working yarn as usual. If you catch the float every second stitch, the WS will look as shown in picture 4. (This is a bit like catching floats in stranded knitting as shown in this YouTube video by Knit Purl Hunter.)
  The last two techniques (this and weaving in (ends) while knitting) will are used to avoid a long float that runs parallel to your knitting - and to avoid cutting your yarn. 



Click to enlarge

Construction

This potholder is knitted in 5 parts. It starts with a provisional CO. Then each row is a stitch shorter than the last one, One part ends, when the row is only 1 stitch (plus 1 w+t) long - then the next part begins and each row is one stitch longer than the last one until all stitches are knitted and we've sucessfully knitted around a corner. Then the row length is getting shorter again for the next corner. 

After knitting around four corners and the two sides (CO and last row) are grafted in garter stitch.

Size
With DK yarn, the piece measures about 17 cm x 17 cm.


Instructions
With scrap yarn provisionally CO 17 stitches

Part A:
Setup row A0 (WS): C2 (k12), C1 (k5)
Ridge A1: C1 (k6), C2 (k10, w+t, k10), C1 (k6)
Ridge A2: C1 (k7), C2 (k8, w+t, k8), C1 (k7)
Ridge A3: C1 (k8), C2 (k6, w+t, k6), C1 (k8)
Ridge A4: C1 (k9), C2 (k4, w+t, k4), C1 (k9)
Ridge A5: C1 (k10), C2 (k2, w+t, k2), C1 (k10)
Ridge A6: C1 (k11), C2 (w+t), C1 (k10)
Ridge A7: C1 (k10, w+t, k10)
Ridge A8: C1 (k9, w+t, k9)
Ridge A9: C1 (k8, w+t, k8)
Ridge A10: C1 (k7, w+t, k7)
Ridge A11: C1 (k6, w+t, k6)
Ridge A12: C1 (k5, w+t, k5)

Ridge A13: C1 (k4, w+t, k4)

Ridge A14: C1 (k3, w+t, k3)

Ridge A15: C1 (k2, w+t, k2)

Ridge A16: C1 (k1, w+t, k1)

Part B:

Ridge B1: C1 (k1, w+t, k1)

Ridge B2: C1 (k2, w+t, k2)

Ridge B3: C1 (k3, w+t, k3)

Ridge B4: C1 (k4, w+t, k4)

Ridge B5: C1 (k5, w+t, k5)

Ridge B6: C1 (k6, w+t, k6)

Ridge B7: C1 (k7, w+t, k7)

Ridge B8: C1 (k8, w+t, k8)

Ridge B9: C1 (k9, w+t, k9)

Ridge B10: C1 (k10, w+t, k10)

Ridge B11: C1 (k11), C2 (w+t), C1(k11)
Ridge B12: C1 (k11), C2 (k1, w+t, k1), C1 (k11)

Ridge B13: C1 (k10), C2 (k3, w+t, k3), C1 (k11)

Ridge B14: C1 (k14 - over the last 4 sts carry C2 back and weave it in), C2 (w+t), C1 (k14)

Ridge B15: C1 (k13), C2 (k2, w+t, k2), C1 (k13)

Ridge B16: C1 (k12), C2 (k4, w+t, k4), C1 (k12)

Ridge B17: C1 (k11), C2 (k6, w+t, k6), C1 (k11)

Ridge B18: C1 (k10), C2 (k6, w+t, k6), C1 (k10)

Ridge B19: C1 (k9), C2 (k6, w+t, k6), C1 (k9)
Ridge B20: C1 (k8), C2 (k6, w+t, k6), C1 (k8)
Ridge B21: C1 (k7), C2 (k6, w+t, k6), C1 (k7)
Ridge B22: C1 (k11 - over the last 4 sts carry C2 back and weave it in), C2 (k1, w+t, k1), C1 (k11)
Ridge B23: C1 (k10), C2 (k1, w+t, k1), C1 (k10)
Ridge B24: C1 (k9), C2 (k1, w+t, k1), C1 (k9)
Ridge B25: C1 (k8), C2 (k1, w+t, k1), C1 (k8)
Ridge B26: C1 (k7), C2 (k1, w+t, k1), C1 (k7)
Ridge B27: C1 (k6), C2 (k1, w+t, k1), C1 (k6)
Ridge B28: C1 (k5), C2 (k1, w+t, k1), C1 (k5)
Ridge B29: C1 (k4), C2 (k1, w+t, k1), C1 (k4)
Ridge B30: C1 (k4), C2 (w+t), C1 (k4)
Ridge B31: C1 (k3, w+t, k3)
Ridge B32: C1 (k2, w+t, k2)
Ridge B33: C1 (k1, w+t, k1)

Part C:
Ridge C1: C1 (k1, w+t, k1)
Ridge C2: C1 (k2, w+t, k2)
Ridge C3: C1 (k3, w+t, k3)
Ridge C4: C1 (k4), C2 (w+t), C1 (k4)
Ridge C5: C1 (k4), C2 (k1, w+t, k1), C1 (k4)
Ridge C6: C1 (k4), C2 (k2, w+t, k2), C1 (k4)
Ridge C7: C1 (k4), C2 (k3, w+t, k3), C1 (k4)
Ridge C8: C1 (k4), C2 (k4, w+t, k4), C1 (k4)
Ridge C9: C1 (k4), C2 (k5, w+t, k5), C1 (k4)
Ridge C10: C1 (k4), C2 (k6, w+t, k6), C1 (k4)
Ridge C11: C1 (k4), C2 (k7, w+t, k7), C1 (k4)
Ridge C12: C1 (k4), C2 (k8, w+t, k8), C1 (k4)
Ridge C13: C1 (k4), C2 (k9, w+t, k9), C1 (k4)
Ridge C14: C1 (k4), C2 (k10, w+t, k10), C1 (k4)
Ridge C15: C1 (k4), C2 (k11, w+t, k11), C1 (k4)
Ridge C16: C1 (k4), C2 (k12, w+t, k12), C1 (k4)
Ridge C17: C1 (k4), C2 (k13, w+t, k13), C1 (k4)

The middle of ridge C17 is also the middle of the potholder. From this point on, you have to knit the same rows in reverse order

Ridge C18 = Ridge C16
Ridge C19 = Ridge C15
Ridge C20 = Ridge C14
Ridge C21 = Ridge C13
...
Ridge C32 = Ridge C2
Ridge C33 = Ridge C1

Part D: Part B in reverse order
Ridge D1 = Ridge B33
Ridge D2 = Ridge B32
Ridge D3 = Ridge B31
...
D12 = B22, but carry the C2 yarn backwards and weave it in
...
D24 = B14, but carry the C2 yarn backwards and weave it in
...
Ridge D32 = Ridge B2
Ridge D33 = Ridge B1

Part E: Part A in reverse order
Ridge E1 = Ridge A16
Ridge E2 = Ridge A15
...
Ridge E15 = Ridge A2
Ridge E16 = Ridge A1

Take out your scrap yarn of the provisional cast on and put the live stitches on a knitting needle. Cut your yarns but leave tails long enough for grafting.
Graft in garter stitch: 5 sts in C1 and 12 sts in C2.

After grafting there is still a small hole in the middle of the piece - you can sew this closed with your C2 yarn tail. Sew in ends afterwards.

Chart
The chart below shows one half of the potholder. The numbers indicate the number of stitches per color of each ridge. The green number gives the stitches in C2 and the black number the stitches in C1.

Snowy Xmas Tree

The day after tomorrow is the first sunday of advent. To get in the mood for Christmas, knit yourself a lovely little ornament to decorate your home. This adorable little Christmas tree is available in two sizes. This project is great to use up some scrap yarn you may have leftover from a bigger project. The trees knit up quickly and you may even learn a new techique while knitting them - such as short rows or intarsia. The pattern contains instructions for a smaller and a bigger tree - both written and as a chart.
Further patterns for Christmas ornaments on my blog are the Garter Stitch Christmas Gnomes the Little Christmas Trees I published last year. Or - if you want to knit a pair of christmassy fingerless gloves, there are Zimtstern Mitts or Xmas Stary Mitts.

This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.





Materials

• leftovers of green and white yarn - I used (really) old DK weight yarn (the bigger tree weighs 12 grams and the smaller one 8 grams)
• knitting needles that are slightly smaller than what the yarn calls for, I used 2.5 mm dpns
• a third needle for the three needle BO 
• scrap yarn for provisional CO
• a crochet hook for provisional CO

Techniques & Notation

• Provisional Cast on (pCO): My favorite method for a provision CO is the crochet provisional CO - it is shown in this Youtube video by New Stitch a Day.
• Intarsia: Changing colors with the intarsia technique - as shown in this YouTube video by knitwithpat; or this YouTube video by Francoise Danoy. That way you don't have to carry long strands on the WS.
  To explain the notation used in this pattern, here's an example of a typical row: "Gr (k14), Wh (k3, w+t, k3), Gr (k14)" means, k14 sts in green, change to white, k3 sts in white, wrap and turn, k3 sts in white, change back to green an k14 sts in green. 
• Short rows with wrap and turn (w+t): as shown in this YouTube video by Very Pink Knits.
• Three Needle Bind Off: https://youtu.be/Ph93jWSzTa0
  The picture below shows how the piece looks before the three-needle BO.

Instructions

Bigger Tree

With scrap yarn pCO 30 stitches, then start with your working yarns
Row 0 (Set-up row): Wh (k15), Gr (k15)
Ridge 1: Gr (k18), Wh (k2, w+t, k2), Gr (k18)
Ridge 2: Gr (k8, w+t, k8)
Ridge 3: Gr (k12), Wh (k10, w+t, k10), Gr (k12)
Ridge 4: Gr (k4, w+t, k4)
Ridge 5: Gr (k10, w+t, k10)
Ridge 6: Gr (k20), Wh (k6, w+t, k6), Gr (k20)
Ridge 7: Gr (k16, w+t, k16)
Ridge 8: Gr (k20, w+t, k20)
Ridge 9: Gr (k17), Wh (k11, w+t, k11), Gr (k17)
Ridge 10: Gr (k12, w+t, k12)
Ridge 11: Gr (k20, w+t, k20)
Ridge 12: Gr (k2, w+t, k2)
Ridge 13: Gr (k12, w+t, k12)
Ridge 14: Gr (k6, w+t, k6)
Ridge 15: Gr (k15), Wh (k15, turn, k15), Gr (k15)

Knit these ridges a total of 3 times. but only knit the RS for the last ridge.

Finishing: Put the stitches from the provisional CO on a knitting needle. Hold the piece rights sides together and do a three needle bind off. Bind off 15 stitches with green yarn, and 15 stitches with white yarn. Afterwards, turn the piece right sides out. Use a pen or something similar to get into the top.

Here's a chart of the bigger tree: each line is one ridge, i.e. two rows of garter stitch. The first number gives the number of stitches in white and the second number the number of stitches in green. The grey dotted vertical lines are included every 10th stitch to make counting easier.

Chart for bigger tree - click to enlarge

Smaller Tree

With scrap yarn pCO 24 stitches, then start with your working yarns
Row 0 (Set-up row): Wh (k12), Gr (k12)
Ridge 1: Gr (k10), Wh (k6, w+t, k6), Gr (k10)
Ridge 2: Gr (k14, w+t, k14)
Ridge 3: Gr (k4, w+t, k4)
Ridge 4: Gr (k15), Wh (k5, w+t, k5), Gr (k15)
Ridge 5: Gr (k8, w+t, k8)
Ridge 6: Gr (k18, w+t, k18)
Ridge 7: Gr (k10, w+t, k10)
Ridge 8: Gr (k13), Wh (k9, w+t, k9), Gr (k13)
Ridge 9: Gr (k6, w+t, k6)
Ridge 10: Gr (k12, w+t, k12)
Ridge 11: Gr (k2, w+t, k2)
Ridge 12: Gr (k12), Wh (k12, turn, k12), Gr (k12)

Knit these ridges a total of 3 times. but only knit the RS for the last ridge.

Below you find a chart of the smaller tree.

Chart for smaller tree - click to enlarge

Finishing: Put the stitches from the provisional CO on a knitting needle. Hold the piece rights sides together and do a three needle bind off. Bind off 12 stitches with green yarn, and 12 stitches with white yarn. Afterwards, turn the piece right sides out. Use a pen or something similar to get into the top.