Stacked Stitches

I've long admired the beautiful patterns with stacked stitches created by Xandy Peters - available on Ravelry or from her website "So I make stuff", e.g. the absolutely gorgeous Fow Paws pattern or Ribbon Candy. I really wanted to be able to do this technique and design something with it.

When I first tried the technique, it took me a while to get the hang of it - because, frankly, the stacked stitches all bungled up on the needles feel weird. But once I got over that (and got my maths right), stacked stitches have a certain rhythm to them and are really fun to knit.

The piece shown below is going to be a double-length cowl, knitted flat with the ends grafted together. (I like that construction :)

Videos explaining how to do stacked increases and stacked decreases can be found on the "So I make Stuff"-YouTube channel.

Cordillera Scarf

A beautiful scarf to show off the contrast of two skeins of the same variegated yarn started at different places in the color sequence. It is knitted from end to end all in garter stitch.

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




Materials

• a total about 150 grams of fingering weight yarn - in two colors  (I used two skeins of Noro Taiyo Sock but started at a different point in the color sequence)
• 3.5 mm needles (straights or circular)
• 1 stitch marker

Techniques and Notation

• Changing colors with the intarsia technique - as shown in this YouTube video by knitwithpat; or this YouTube video by Francoise Danoy.
• k8 (C1); k8 (C2) means knit 8 sts in C1 and knit 8 sts in C2 - i.e. the color is indicated in brackets after the stitches and color changes are indicated by a semicolon

Size
I did a total of 9 repeats before I started decreasing. My scarf is about 190 long and - at its widest point - 40 cm wide.

Instructions
CO8 (C1) and CO8 (C2)
Setup Row 0: sl1, k7 (C1); place marker; k8 (C2)

Increasing Part
Ridge 1: sl1, k to 1 st bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k1 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 2: sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k2 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 3: sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k3 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 4: sl1, k to 4 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k4 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 5: sl1, kfb, k to 5 sts bef marker (C1); k to last 2 sts, kfb, k1 (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k5 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 6: sl1, k to 4 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k4 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 7: sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k3 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 8: sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k2 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 9: sl1, k to 1 st bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k1 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 10: sl1, kfb, k to marker (C1); k to last 2 sts, kfb, k1 (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k5 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 11: sl1, k to marker, k1 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 1 st bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 12: sl1, k to marker, k2 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 13: sl1, k to marker, k3 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 14: sl1, k to marker, k4 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 4 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 15: sl1, kfb, k to marker, k5 (C1); k to last 2 sts, kfb, k1 (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 5 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 16: sl1, k to marker, k4 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 4 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 17: sl1, k to marker, k3 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 18: sl1, k to marker, k2 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 19: sl1, k to marker, k1 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 1 st bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 20: sl1, kfb, k to marker (C1); k to last 2 sts, kfb, k1 (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker (C2); k to end (C1)

If you prefer to work with charts, here's a chart of the increasing part.

Chart 1: Increasing Part of Cordillera Scarf

Repeat Rows 1 to 20 until you have reach half of your desired length.

Decreasing Part
Ridge 1: sl1, k2tog, k to 1 st bef marker (C1); k to last 3 sts, ssk, k1 (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k1 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 2: sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k2 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 3: sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k3 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 4: sl1, k to 4 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k4 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 5: sl1, k to 5 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k5 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 6: sl1, k2tog, k to 4 sts bef marker (C1); k to last 3 sts, ssk, k1, (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k4 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 7: sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k3 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 8: sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k2 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 9: sl1, k to 1 st bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k1 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 10: sl1, k to marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k5 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 11: sl1, k2tog, k to marker, k1 (C1); k to last 3 sts, ssk, k1 (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 1 st bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 12: sl1, k to marker, k2 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 13: sl1, k to marker, k3 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 14: sl1, k to marker, k4 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 4 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 15: sl1, k to marker, k5 (C1); k to last end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 5 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 16: sl1, k2tog, k to marker, k4 (C1); k to last 3 sts, ssk, k1 (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 4 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 17: sl1, k to marker, k3 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 18: sl1, k to marker, k2 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 19: sl1, k to marker, k1 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 1 st bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 20: sl1, k to marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker (C2); k to end (C1)

Chart 2: Decreasing Part of Cordillera Scarf

Repeat until there are only 8 sts of each color left. Instead of a the last WS row bind off in pattern.
Weave in ends and block.

This page was feature on Fiber Tuesday Link Party #51 by Ouicrochet and on the Knitting Love Monthly Link Party #8. Thank you!

  

Patterns with a Knitting and Crochet Version

Some people like to crochet - some people like to knit. I like both crafts and I really like designing fingerless gloves that have a bit of a special construction, e.g. started from the thumb or worked flat. They are all quite interesting for using up self-striping yarn. For some of these I have written both knitting and crochet versions - i.e. I have copied myself :)
Here's a list of these patterns.

U-Turn Mitts

These mitts are started with a magic cast on at the edge of the hand - and then forming a U shape around this cast on.
They mitts are worked flat - except for the thumb which is worked in the round.
The U-Turn mitts (crochet) were the first crochet pattern I ever published. Somebody's comment gave me the idea of trying to work out one of my patterns in crochet in the first place.

U-Turn Mitts (knit version)
U-Turn Mitts (crochet version)




Circle Mitts & Kreisel Fingerless Gloves
These mitts are started at the thumb and then grow in circle shape around it. When the mitt is big enough to fit around the hands, the sides are joined at the edge of the hand and the mitt is finished with the shaft. In the knit version, you switch between knitting in the round and knitting back and forth. In the crochet version, you only knit back and forth to achieve a continuous structure.

Circle Mitts (knit version)
Kreisel Fingerless Gloves (crochet version)



Pieces of Eight / Octavo
These mitts are also started at the thumb. Then the eight shape is worked - and finally the mitt is "widened" by back and forth rows. These mitts are a bit of a topological challenge, but the effect is quite beautiful.

Pieces of Eight Mitts (knit version)
Octavo Fingerless Gloves (crochet version)






Starburst / Sparkler
These mitts are worked flat. The shaping is achieved with short rows, which means that in the end there are more rows at the edges and less rows at the thumb.

Starburst Mitts (knit version)
Sparkler Mitts (crochet version)