Socks with Mini-Cables ...

... or "It Is Important to Choose the Right Yarn"

I wanted to knit a pair of socks with some sock yarn (slightly variegated) that I had bought a few years ago. My pattern "requirements" were simply that I wanted an easy pattern, but not too boring. So I decided on a pattern of mini cables - C2B cables to be precise.
When I had knitted a few of the pattern repeats I noticed that the cabling was barely visible :/ Nevertheless, I finished because ... well ... I wanted a sock that fitted me and I didn't mind too much about the pattern. But I learned (again) that it is quite important to choose a yarn that fits the stitch pattern you're using. The yarn that I used was a bit too wild in color (and probably too dark), so that the stitch pattern didn't really show.
But anyway, I've got a new pair of socks - knitted toe up with an afterthought heel.
Below (in section "Stitch Pattern) you find a photo of the same pattern knitted in yarn with a solid color.

This is NOT a complete knitting pattern, but just a sketch or rather a stitch pattern (over 8 stitches and 12 rows) that can be used for socks. It only works for socks with a number of stitches that is a multiple of 8.
For socks there are many general instructions and tutorials around, I have linked to some in the Techniques section of this post.


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




Materials

• about 60 to 80 grams of fingering weight yarn
• 2.5 mm needles, e.g. dpns
• a tapestry needle (for grafting and weaving in ends)
• scrap yarn (for afterthought heel)

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.
• C2B cables without a cable needle - as shown in this video by Purl Avenue 
• Afterthought heel: A great overview how to do an afterthought heel can be found here at dummies.com. Knit Purl Hunter has a series of three YouTube videos where the steps to knit an afterthought heel are shown.
  - placing the scrap yarn
  - removing the scrap yarn
  - knitting the heel.
• And knitting an afterthought heel includes kitchener stitch: e.g. as shown in this YouTube video by Very Pink Knits (even though she uses it to graft the toe of a cuff-down sock :) 
• Cutting a sock template of your feet: To make the finished piece fit your feet, it is useful to measure your feet and to cut out a card template. Here's a blogpost at knitbettersocks.blogspot.com that explains the idea. For the heel as knitted here, make a mark at 5 cm from the end of the heel.
  If you want to knit a pair for someone else and cannot get a template, here are standard shoe size templates.  

Stitch Pattern
The stitch pattern consists of a repeat of 8 stitches and 12 rounds.
Round 1: * p1 C2B p1 k2 p1 repeat from *
Round 2 and all even rounds: * p1 k2 p1 repeat from *
Round 3 = Round 1
Round 5 = Round 1
Round 7: * p1 k2 p1 C2B  p1 repeat from *
Round 9 = Round 7
Round 11 = Round 7
Below you can find a chart as well as a photo of this stitch pattern in a solid color yarn.

Instructions

Toe

With the magic CO cast on 2x10 stitches

To get a rounded toe, my usual toe is:

• 4 x increases in every row
• 2 x increases in every 2nd row
• 2 x increases in every 3rd row
• then increases every 4th row ... until wide enough

This means:

Round 1: Knit all - while placing stitch markers after 10 sts and at the end of the round - alternatively divide the stitches on your needles in such a way that you know exacly where one half of your stitches are.

Round 2 (increase round): * k1, kfb, k to one before marker, kfb, k1, slip marker repeat from *

Rounds 3 to 5 = increase rounds

Round 6 (neutral round): k all 

Round 7 = increase round
Round 8 = neutral round
Round 9 = increase round
Rounds 10 to 11 = neutral round
Round 12 = increase round
Rounds 13 to 14 = neutral round
Round 15 = increase round
Rounds 16 to 18 = neutral round
Round 19 = increase round
Repeat rounds 16 to 19 until the sock is wide enough and your stitch count is a multiple of 8.

Remove the marker that marks the middle of the round, but leave the one that marks the beginning of the round.

Foot
Knit the front part in pattern (I knitted 3.5 repeats - in width) and the back (sole) part in plain stockinette.

Continue until the piece is long enough to start the heel.

Heel Preparation
Slip the front stitches and knit the stitches of the sole with scrap yarn.

Cuff
Like foot, but with pattern on front and back

Ribbing
Knit 9 rows of p1k2p1-ribbing (i.e. k2p2 ribbing with an offset of 1 purl stitch) and bind off in pattern.

Finish heel.

Weave in ends.
Make two.

Dreieck - Triangular Garter Stitch Coasters

I seem to have lost my knitting mojo ... somehow all ideas for bigger items (such as scarfs) don't work the way I'd like. Plus, it's quite hot over here - too hot for holding a bigger project. So I decided to knit small geometric shapes from cotton yarn.
I started with an oblong rectangle ... and here's a free knitting pattern for an equilateral triangle - constructed with short rows and all in garter stitch.
The finished pieces can be used as coasters, doily or potholders.
As to the name, "Dreieck" is the German word for triangle.

Eine deutsche Version dieser Anleitung findet sich hier.
There is also a german version of this pattern - available here.



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






Materials

• yarn - for the small one I used about 8 grams, for the bigger one 13 grams of Schachenmayr yarn (Catania Color, if I remember correctly)
• appropriate knitting needles (I used 2.5 mm needles)
• scrap yarn and a crochet hook for the provisional cast on
• tapestry needle for grafting and to weave in ends

Techniques

• Provisional CO: My favorite method for a provision CO is the crochet provisional CO - it is shown in this Youtube video by New Stitch a Day.
• Short rows with wrap and turn (w+t) - as shown in this YouTube video by Very Pink Knits.
• Picking up and knit stitches from the side: Insert the needle into the front leg of the edge stitch from back to front and draw your working yarn through. In case of this pattern you only need to pick up one stitch at a time.
• Grafting in Garter Stitch: A technique to get an invisible (knitted) seam - this technique is shown in this YouTube Video by knittinghelp.com.

Construction

When knitting this piece you start with a provisional CO. During the first part, the rows are getting shorter (1 stitch every 2nd rigde) - and getting longer again during part 2 (also by 1 stitch every 2nd row). This is repeated three times - and then the piece is finished by grafting in garter stitch.


Size
The pattern is written in a way that it can be adapted to different sizes. The length of your cast on is about one forth of the height of the triagle.

For the smaller one, I did a CO of 10 sts - its height is about 13 cm, each side measures about 16 cm.
For the bigger one, I CO 13 sts, its height measures a bit more than 16 cm and each side 19 cm.


Instructions

Do a provisional CO of the calculated number of stitches (e.g. 10 sts) and knit the first row.

Part 1
Ridge 1: k up to last st, w+t, k to end
Ridge 2: k up to last wrapped st, turn (without wrapping), sl1, k to end
Ridge 3: k up to 1 st before the last wrapped stitch, w+t, k to end
Repeat ridges 2 and 3 until the last knitted row consists of 1 st and the w+t.

Part 2
Ridge 1: k1, w+t, k1
Ridge 2: k up to and including first wrap, pick up one st from the side, turn (without wrapping), ssk, k to end
Ridge 3: k up to and including ssk from last row, w+t, k to end
Repeat ridges 2 and 3 until you've wrapped the last st of the row.

Inbetween Ridge: k to end, turn, sl1, k to end

Part 3 = Part 1
Part 4 = Part 2

Inbetween Ridge: k to end, turn, sl1, k to end

Part 5 = Part 1
Part 6 = Part 2

Finishing
Put the stitches from the provisional CO on the second needle - cut your yarn, but leave a tail long enough for grafting.
Graft in garter stitch.
If there is a small hole in the middle of the piece, use the end to sew it closed.
Weave in ends.

Dreieck - Kraus rechts gestrickter Untersetzer

Derzeit habe ich das Gefühl, dass alle meine "größeren" Strick-Ideen (z.B. für Schals oder Tücher) nicht wirklich funktionieren - außerdem ist es derzeit sowieso zu heiß, um ein großes Teil beim Stricken auf dem Schoß liegen zu haben. Daher habe ich angefangen, kleinere geometrische Formen zu stricken (mit Baumwolle, weil es in diesem Wetter angenehmer ist :)
Angefangen habe ich mit einem sehr länglichen Rechteck (hier die Anleitung dazu auf Englisch). Und hier jetzt die Anleitung für ein gleichseitiges Dreieck - komplett kraus rechts gestrickt. Das Projekt ist eine interessante kleine Übung, wie verkürzte Reihen dazu verwendet werden können, um Formen zu stricken.
Das fertige Stück kann als Untersetzer, Topflappen o.ä. verwendet werden.

Dieses Werk von Knitting and so on ist lizenziert unter einer Creative Commons Namensnennung - Nicht-kommerziell - Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 4.0 International Lizenz.



Die englische Version dieser Anleitung findet sich hier.
An english Version of this pattern is available here.




Material

• Garn - ich habe Catania Color von Schachenmayr verwendet (wahrscheinlich, finde leider die Banderole nicht mehr), für den kleineren Untersetzer habe ich ca. 8 gr benötigt, für den größeren 13 gr 
• Stricknadeln - ich habe 2.5 mm Nadeln verwendet
• einen Garnrest und eine Häkelnadel für den provisorischen Maschenanschlag 
• eine Nähnadel für den Maschenstich und um Enden zu vernähen 

Techniken

• Provisorischer Maschenanschlag mit Häkelnadel - erläutert in diesem YouTube-Video von nadelspiel * Stricken & Häkeln mit eliZZZa
• Verkürzte Reihen mit Wickelmasche - gezeigt in diesem YouTube Video von Maschenfein Berlin für glatt rechts. In dieser Anleitung verwendet ich die englische Abkürzung w+t (wrap and turn, zu deutsch: wickeln und wenden).
• Maschen vom Seitenrand aufnehmen - gezeigt in diesem YouTube Video von Sylvie Rasch - CraSy creative things - im Video nimmt sie die Maschen aus einem Knötchenrand auf, in dieser Anleitung nimmt man die Maschen von einem Kettrand auf, was das Einstechen in die Masche etwas einfacher macht, aber sonst gleich ist.
• ssk: zwei Maschen nach links geneigt zusammenstricken (siehe dieses Video von Drops)
• Maschenstich in Kraus-Rechts-Gestrick - hier ist ein deutsches YouTube-Video von Mausbrot, das diese Technik zeigt. In diesem (englischen) Video von knittinghelp.com (in besserer Bildqualität) wird dieselbe Technik gezeigt. Eine sehr gute (deutsche) Erläuterung findet sich in diesem Blogpost von Lanade.

Konstruktion

Du beginnst mit einem provisorischen Maschenanschlag. Während du den ersten Teil strickst, werden die Reihen kürzer - und zwar um eine Masche alle zwei Rippen. Im Teil 2 werden die Reihen wieder länger - auch um jeweils eine Masche alle zwei Reihen.
Dies wird insgesamt dreimal gestrickt - und dann mit einem Maschenstich beendet.


Größe
Die Anleitung ist so geschrieben, dass du sie auf eine beliebige Größe anpassen kannst.
Dabei entspricht die Länge des provisorischen Maschenanschlages in etwa einem Viertel der Höhe des Dreiecks (von Unterkante bis zur gegenüberliegenden Spitze).
Ich habe für den kleineren Untersetzer 10 Maschen angeschlagen (Höhe etwa 13 cm, Kantenlänge ca. 16 cm). Für den größeren waren es 13 Maschen (Höhe etwas mehr als 16 cm und Kantenlänge etwa 19 cm).



Anleitung

Provisorischen Maschenanschlag der gewünschten Maschenzahl (z.B. 10 M) und allererste Reihe in Arbeitsgarn stricken.

Teil 1
Rippe 1: re. M. bis vor die letzte Masche, w+t, re. M. bis zum Ende
Rippe 2: re. M. bis vor die Wickelmasche, wenden (ohne zu wickeln), erste M. wie zum links stricken abheben, re. M. bis zum Ende
Rippe 3: re. M. bis zu einer Masche vor der Wickelmasche, w+t, re. M. bis zum Ende
Rippen 2 und 3 sooft wiederholen bis die letzte Reihe nur aus einer gestrickten Masche und einer Wickelmasche besteht.

Teil 2
Rippe 1: 1 re. M. w+t, 1 re. M.
Ridge 2: re. M. bis zu erster Wickelmasche, diese Wickelmasche abstricken, eine Masche aus der Seite aufnehmen (aus abgehobenen Randmasche), wenden (ohne zu wickeln), ssk, re. M. bis zum Ende
Ridge 3: re. M. bis zum ssk der letzten Rippe, diese ssk-Masche abstricken, w+t, k re. M. bis zum Ende
Rippen 2 und 3 sooft wiederholen, bis die letzte Masche der Reihe gewickelt wird.

Zwischenrippe: re. M. bis zum Ende, wenden, erste M. wie zum links stricken abheben, re. M. bis zum Ende

Teil 3 = Teil 1
Teil 4 = Teil 2

Zwischenrippe: re. M. bis zum Ende, wenden, erste M. wie zum links stricken abheben, re. M. bis zum Ende

Teil 5 = Teil 1
Teil 6 = Teil 2

Ende
Die Maschen vom provisorischen Maschenanschlag auf die zweite Nadel nehmen. Garn abschneiden, aber so viel dran lassen, dass es für den Maschenstich über eine Reihe ausreicht.
Die beiden Seiten mit Maschenstich (in Kraus-Rechts) verbinden.
Falls sich in der Mitte des Dreiecks ein kleines Loch befindet, dieses mit dem Garnende zunähen. Die beiden Endfäden vernähen.
Fertig!

Rechteck - Rectangular Garter Stitch Doily

Currently, it's really hot in my part of the world ... so hot, in fact, that I really don't feel like knitting, especially not something like scarfs, cowls, fingerless gloves or other things that I usually like.
One of the few yarns that can be knitted comfortably in high summer is cotton ... and a project that is sufficently "summery" is a doily or coaster. For this one, I tried to do a bit of shaping to get  rectangle. This was actually a test knit for a bath rug I wanted to make out of t-shirt yarn, but I didn't like the shaping for that purpose. However, the piece can be used as a doily, a placemat, a washcloth or a potholder.

"Rechteck" is the german word for rectangle.



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






Materials

• yarn (for the grey piece I used about 60 grams of DK weight cotton yarn)
• appropriate knitting needles
• scrap yarn and a crochet hook for the provisional cast on
• tapestry needle for grafting and to weave in ends

Techniques

• Provisional CO: My favorite method for a provision CO is the crochet provisional CO - it is shown in this Youtube video by New Stitch a Day.
• Short rows with wrap and turn (w+t) - as shown in this YouTube video by Very Pink Knits.
• Picking up and knit stitches from the side: Insert the needle into the front leg of the edge stitch from back to front and draw your working yarn through. In case of this pattern you only need to pick up one stitch at a time.
• Grafting in Garter Stitch: A technique to get an invisible (knitted) seam - this technique is shown in this YouTube Video by knittinghelp.com.

Construction
When knitting this piece you start with a provisional CO. During the first part, the rows are getting shorter (one stitch every two ridges). In part 2, the ridges are getting longer again (two stitches for every ridge). Parts 3 and 4 are parts 2 and 1 backwards. You have then knitted a square and turned your knitting by 180°.
Parts 5 to 8, are a repeat of parts 1 to 4.
After knitting around four corners and the two sides (CO and last row) are grafted in garter stitch.

The pattern is written in a way, that you can adapt it to the size you want. To calculate the final size, multiply the width of the sts you cast on by 2 for the height and by 4 for the width.

Instructions

Provisionally CO the calculated number of sts with scrap yarn and knit the first row with your working yarn. I did 22 sts for the grey piece and 18 sts for the purple one.

Part 1
Ridge 1: sl1, k up to last st, w+t, k to end
Ridge 2: sl1, k up to last wrap, turn (without wrapping), sl1, k to end
Ridge 3: sl1, k to 1 sts before last wrap, w+t, k to end
Repeat ridge 2 and 3 until your last row was only 1 st long.

Part 2
Ridge 1: sl1, w+t, k to end
Ridge 2: sl1, k1, pick up 1 st (from a slipped stitch), w+t, k to end
Ridge 3: sl1, k up to last wrapped stitch, k1, pick up 1 st, w+t, k to end
Repeat ridge 3 until all stitch on your needle are used.
You should by then have knitted as many ridges in part 2 as the number of stitches that you cast on in the beginning of part 1 - and your stitch count should be twice the number of your CO.

Part 3
Ridge 1: sl1, k to end, turn, sl1, k to end
Ridge 2: sl1, k up to last st, w+t, k to end
Ridge 3: sl1, k to 2 bef last wrap, w+t, k to end
Repeat ridge 3 until the last row is only 1 or 2 sts long

Part 4
Ridge 1: sl1, w+t, k1
Ridge 2: sl1, k2tog, turn, sl1, k to end
Ridge 3: sl1, k up to and including k2tog of last ridge, w+t, k to end
Ridge 4: sl1, k up to last wrap, k2tog, turn, k to end
Repeat ridges 3 and 4 until all sts on your needle are used.

Inbetween Ridge: sl1, k to end, turn, sl1 k to end

Part 5
= Part 1

Part 6
= Part 2

 Part 7
= Part 3

Part 8
= Part 4

Finishing:
Put the stitches from the provisional CO on the second needle - cut your yarn, but leave a tail long enough for grafting.
Graft in garter stitch.
If there is a small hole in the middle of the piece, use the end to sew it closed.
Weave in ends

It's more comfortable to rest my arms on a piece of knitted cotton than right on my desk - especially in hot weather

Negative Spaces Scarf

I like experimenting with my knitting. At the same time I think limitations lead to (more) creative solutions and designs. One of my preferred limitations is that I do not like to cut my yarn before I've completely finished a knitted piece. So when I saw a picture of knitted “holes” somewhere on the internet, I resolved to find a way to do this without cutting yarn.
This scarf is knitted in garter stitch only, but with square shaped holes. Once you've mastered how to do the square holes, it's good TV or travel knitting.

This pattern contains a photo tutorial on how to knit the square holes without cutting the yarn, instructions on how to knit a small swatch to get the hang of the technique and of course the instructions to knit this scarf.

The PDF is 6 pages long and available for purchase

• on Ravelry,
• on Loveknitting, 
• on Payhip, and
• on Gumroad.

Materials

• about 300 grams of lace weight yarn  – I used Wollmeise Lace – colorway “Pfefferminz Prinz”
• 3.25 mm knitting needles - I used circulars, but straight needles will do as well
• a removable stitch marker to mark the RS (scrap yarn or a safety pin works as well)
• a tapestry needle to weave in ends

Gauge and Size
In garter stitch 10 ridges (i.e. 20 rows) gave 5 cm in height, 11 stitches gave 5 cm in width. This was measured on a unblocked piece.
The finished scarf measures about 42 cm in width and about 200 cm in length (blocked).


Necessary Skills
Besides plain garter stitch you need the following skills to complete this project:

• Backwards Loop CO
• k2togtbl - knitting two stitches together through the back loop

Water Lily

Yes, I have more potholders and washcloths than any sane person could reasonably want. But I think - as small knitting projects go - they are great to try out shaping ideas and techniques. And the techniques that are used here are short rows and weaving in yarn (not ends!) while knitting. Other than that you only need to be able to do garter stitch.

These washcloths make great presents, e.g. to accompany a spa set. But you can also use the pieces as potholders or coasters.

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






An Arabic video tutorial for this pattern has been provided by Ma_Yarns: it is available here.


Materials

• about 25 to 35 grams of DK weight cotton yarn in two colors - called CC (contour color) and MC (main color)
• 3.5mm knitting needles
• (a stitch marker)
• a tapestry needle to weave in ends

Techniques

• Short rows with wrap and turn (w+t) - as shown in this YouTube video by Very Pink Knits. Since this washcloth is knit in garter stitch, you don't have to pick up your wraps - except in two rows, i.e. the rows where the wrapping color is different from the color of the wrapped stitch. These rows are indicated in the pattern. Here's a YouTube video that shows how to pick up your wraps (also by Very Pink Knits).
• Knitted Cast-On: See this Youtube-video by Very Pink Knits.
  A tutorial for the knitted cast-on that uses this (Water Lily) pattern has been written by Christina Garza-Brown and can be found here at knitfarious.com
• Weaving in yarn while knitting - carrying it towards the end of the row: This technique (and the next) are used to avoid a long float that runs parallel to your knitting - and to avoid cutting your yarn. When starting with the contour color yarn (lilac in the photos) before knitting a stitch you put the main coloryarn (white in the photos) over the contour color yarn (see illustration 1 below), then you knit the stitch. Before knitting the next stitch you twist the yarns again (see illustration 2). If you repeat these steps you can carry the yarn over a chosen number of stitches- so that it looks neat on WS (see illustration 3 below).
  A similar technique (to weave in ends) is shown in this YouTube video by So, I make stuff. 

• Weaving in yarn while knitting - towards the beginning of a row: This technique is similar to the one explained before and it serves the same purpose. You draw a long loop of the "new" yarn to the point where you want to knit it (picture 1). This gives you a really long float. Knit the first stitch. Before knitting the second stitch, catch the float by put the left hand needle under the float (picture 2) 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 3. (This is a bit like catching floats in stranded knitting as shown in this YouTube video by Knit Purl Hunter.)

In case the last two techniques are too fiddly, you can alternatively cut the yarn of the main color after each petal and weave in the ends.


Size
One piece - as knitted by me - is about 29 cm wide and 15 cm high.

Construction
Petals constructed of short rows and contour lines in a contrast color. It consist of five big petals and four small ones. The first two big petals are shaped in a way that they have a small "cut out" at the left side. The middle petal is symmetrical, and the last two big petals are shape mirror-inverted to the first two. Between two big petals there is a small petal. This is shown below.

After each petal - when knitting the contour lines, you bind off 8 stitches, and then you cast them on again. After doing this, you should carry the main color yarn first back to the beginning of the row.
The picture below shows how this looks on the WS of the piece. Alternatively you can cut the yarn of the main color after each petal and weave in the ends.

It may be helpful to place a stitch marker after the 9th stitch. This means when binding off, you don't have to count but the 8 stitches to BO, but only have to BO up to the stitch before the marker.
I knitted the first washcloth without a stitch marker and sometimes left track of how many stitches I had already bound off. So I used a stitch marker for the second washcloth which worked well with regards to counting. But while knitting the petals the stitch marker got in the way, so I took it out again.

Instructions

CO32 in CC
Setup Row: k all

Right Petal
When starting to knit a petal, you slip the first two stitches - they are knitted only in CC to achieve a contour.

In MC
Ridge 1: sl2, k28, w+t, k26, w+t
Ridge 2: k24, w+t, k22, w+t
Ridge 3: k20, w+t, k18, w+t
Ridge 4: k16, w+t, k14, w+t
Ridge 5: k12, w+t, k10, w+t
Ridge 6: k8, w+t, k9, w+t
Ridge 7: k6, w+t, k8, w+t
Ridge 8: k6, w+t, k8, w+t
Ridge 9: k6, w+t, k8, w+t
Ridge 10: k22, w+t, k25, sl2

Long Contour 
In CC
Row 1: sl1, k to end (carrying MC for the first 8 sts)
Row 2: sl1, k to 1 bef end, sl1
Row 3: BO8, w+t
Row 4: k1, CO8 with knitted cast on
Row 5: sl1, k8, k1tbl, k1, w+t
Row 6: k to end

Small Petal
In MC
Ridge 1: sl2, k14 (while carrying MC from the 8th stitch back to the 2nd stitch), w+t, k12, w+t
Ridge 2: k10, w+t, k8, w+t
Ridge 3: k6, w+t, k4, w+t
Ridge 4: k3, w+t, k4, w+t
Ridge 5: k6, w+t, k8, w+t
Ridge 6: k10, w+t, k13, sl2

Short Contour 
In CC
Row 1: sl1, k16, w+t  (carrying MC for the first 8 sts)
Row 2: k to last st, sl1
Row 3: BO8, w+t
Row 4: k1, CO8 with knitted cast on
Row 5: sl1, k8, k1tbl, k1, w+t
Row 6: k to end

Knit
- a right petal (while carrying MC from the 8th stitch back to the 2nd stitch in Ridge 1)
- a long contour
- a small petal
- and a short contour

Middle Petal
In MC
Ridge 1: sl2, k28  (while carrying MC from the 8th stitch back to the 2nd stitch), w+t, k26, w+t
Ridge 2: k24, w+t, k22, w+t
Ridge 3: k20, w+t, k18, w+t
Ridge 4: k16, w+t, k14, w+t
Ridge 5: k12, w+t, k10, w+t
Ridge 6: k9, w+t, k10, w+t
Ridge 7: k12, w+t, k14, w+t
Ridge 8: k16, w+t, k18, w+t
Ridge 9: k20, w+t, k22, w+t
Ridge 10: k24, w+t, k27, sl2

Knit
- a long contour
- a small petal
- a short contour

Left Petal
In MC
Ridge 1: sl2, k25  (while carrying MC from the 8th stitch back to the 2nd stitch), w+t, k23, w+t
Ridge 2: k8, w+t, k6, w+t
Ridge 3: k8, w+t, k6, w+t
Ridge 4: k8, w+t, k6, w+t
Ridge 5: k9, w+t, k7, w+t
Ridge 6: k10, w+t, k11, w+t
Ridge 7: k13, w+t, k15, w+t
Ridge 8: k17, w+t, k19, w+t
Ridge 9: k21, w+t, k23, w+t
Ridge 10: k25, w+t, k28, sl2

Knit
- a long contour
- a small petal
- a short contour
- a left petal

Last Ridge
in CC
Row 1: sl1, k all
Row 2: BO all

Cut yarns, weave in ends.
I used the tail to sew the little hole between the first and last petal closed.

Bella Paquita

Bella Paquita is a beautiful free sweater pattern by Marnie MacLean - available via Ravelry or directly on her website. I discovered it in my early Ravelry days (in 2011) and wanted to knit it right then, even though I wasn't a good knitter back then and lacked some of the skills necessary for it.

I even bought a beautiful and quite expensive (at least I thought so at the time :) grey alpaca yarn for it, but I was a bit too afraid to use it. So I first tried the pattern with some really old old bordeaux red yarn from a sweater I had started in the 1980s and frogged (here's the Ravelry page of the project). I made quite a few mistakes when knitting it for the first time - some due to my lack of knitting experience other due to not reading the pattern :/

But I finished it and really liked the look of it - except for the curve of the lace collar. To make the lace collar fit, the pattern suggests: "to sew two small darts in the lace" and later after you've sewn it with your sewing machine to "clip the excess fabric about a quarter inch from the outer most seam line". Cutting into my knitting is something that I don't think I could ever do. So when I knitted the first one, I just sewed the collar to lay flat on my shoulders, but I didn't cut the excess. The picture on the right shows how that looked from the inside.

So I resolved to use to use short rows to shape the collar - when knitting it again with my beautiful alpaca yarn. A project that I started soon after finishing the first sweater. I quickly did the main pieces (front, back and sleeves) - and then started the lace. It took me a few attempts to get a) the short rows and b) the curve right, but I guess I got it right in December 2012. And I know I knitted a piece of the collar on the train home after New Year's Day of 2013.

And then it became a WIP - a hibernating WIP. For a loooong time ...

I don't even know why I abandoned it, but this year (more than 5 years later, when I was going through a bit of an inspirational crisis :) I finally picked it up again and

• finished the lace collar (even though I had to try the lace pattern with the short rows a few times with scrap yarn)
• sewed up the pieces and
• inserted the lace collar.

It was finished (fireworks!), and I'm really happy with it ...

As it may help somebody else who also wants to knit this lovely sweater, here are the modifications I did. More photos can be seen on my Ravelry project page.

Firstly, I didn't knit the pieces in the order as given in the pattern. I started from the hip and knitted the front and back piece together in the round. After ribbing, I put 12 stitches (in the middle of the front part on a stitch holder (or rather scrap yarn) and started to knit in rows. When reaching the sleeves, I devided it into two front and one back part, that I finished seperately.

But the major modification was knitting the collar in short rows, which I did as follows:

• Short row (ridge) for regular lace: (RS) k3, yo, p2tog, yo, p2tog, ktbl, turn (just a normal turn, no w+t), (WS) sl1, p1, k2, yo, p2tog, yo, p2tog, k1
  Since this increases the stitch count by 1, in the next row I did a k2tog just over the gap, i.e. the two stitches I knitted together were the last stitch of the short row (RS) and the next stitch. If that next stitch was to be a k2tog (as stated by the lace pattern), I did a k3tog.
• Short row (ridge) for reverse lace: (WS), k1, p2tog, yo, p2tog, yo k2, p1, turn, (RS) sl1, yo, p2tog, yo, p2tog, k3
  As with the regular lace, this increases the stitch count by one, so I had to decrease by one in the following in row. And I did this also at the gap, where I did a p2tog instead of the normal p (as given in the lace pattern without short rows). 

On both sides (regular and reverse) I first knitted one normal repeat of the lace pattern (A in the picture below). Then 3 repeats with the short rows inserted every 2nd row (B, before rows 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 for the regular lace and before rows 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 for the reverse lace). Then one repeat with only two short rows (C, before the 3rd and 7th row for the regular lace, and before the 4th and 8th for the revers). Then I went on with normal pattern repeats (D).

Since I rarely knit sweaters that are sewn up (for my own stuff, I prefer top-down raglan constructions, e.g. this one), I had a hard time inserting the sleeves. On YouTube I found these helpful videos:

• Seaming a Set-in Sleeve by BeroccoKnitBits
• Knitting Help - Setting in Sleeves by VeryPink Knits and 
• Knitting Help - Mattress Stitch also by VeryPink Knits

This was the first time I actually finished a long term WIP - usually, I tend to frog them.
Do you have a WIP that has been lying around for quite a while? If so, do you think you'll ever finish it?

By the way, the background picture of my blog (the grey knitted ribbing) is a photo of the ribbing of this project :) ... and it has been the background picture for more than five years.