To the Land of Confusion
Originally posted by Manny Olds, oldsma@pobox.com
It's basic and traditional. You knit on DP needles. For worsted weight cotton (such as Sugar 'N' Cream), I use US5 (3.75mm) needles. A set of 5 is much better for this than a set of 4. You work on 8 sections, with a YO at the beginning of each section on every other round. Then for a border, switch to garter stitch and replace the YO with a M1. The "swirl" comes from having the increases unbalanced--always at the same side of each section.
To be more specific:
Cast on 8 st.
Knit one round in the back of the stitches (to tighten up the hole in the center).
*YO, K1* 8 times
K around
*YO, K2* 8 times
K around
*YO, K3* 8 times
K around and so on until you have the size you want. For approx. 8 inches (what my DP needles will hold), go up to a total of about 120 stitches. This would put you at
*YO, K14* 8 times
P around
*M1, K15* 8 times
P around
*M1, K16* 8 times
P around
Cast off. When you weave in the thread at the beginning, use it to gather the starting stitches up tight.
Kate Winkler, winkgro@soltec.com
I used a set of 5 Size 2 dpns and Bernat Handicrafter cotton.
CO 8 st on 4 needles.
Rnd 1 and all odd-numbered rounds: K around.
Rnd 2: (k1 yo) 8 times [2 st/section]
Rnd 4: (k1 yo) 8 times [2 st/section]
Rnd 6: (k2 yo) 8 times [3 st/section]
Rnd 8: (k3 yo) 8 times [4 st/section]
Rnd 10: (k4 yo) 8 times [5 st/section]
Rnd 12: (k2 yo ssk k1 yo) 8 times [6 st/section]
Rnd 14: (k3 yo ssk k1 yo) 8 times [7 st/section]
Rnd 16: (k4 yo ssk k1 yo) 8 times [8st/section]
Rnd 18: (k2 yo ssk k1 yo ssk k1 yo) 8 times [9 st/section]
Rnd 20: (k3 yo ssk k1 yo ssk k1 yo) 8 times [10 st/sect ]
Rnd 22: (k4 yo ssk k1 yo ssk k1 yo) 8 times [11 st/section]
Rnd 24: (k2 yo ssk k1 yo ssk k1 yo ssk k1 yo) 8 times [12 st/section]
Rnd 26: (k3 yo ssk k1 yo ssk k1 yo ssk k1 yo) 8 times [13 st/section]
Rnd 28: (k4 yo ssk k1 yo ssk k1 yo ssk k1 yo) 8 times [14 st/section]
Rnd 30: (k2 yo ssk k1 yo ssk k1 yo ssk k1 yo ssk k1 yo) 8 times [15 st/section]
Note that you will now be knitting around on the even-numbered rounds!!
Rnd 31: (p15 m1) 8 times
Rnd 32: K around
Rnd 33: (p16 m1) 8 times
Rnd 34: K around
Rnd 35: (p17 m1) 8 times
Rnd 36: K around
Bind off as to knit.
Next time, I will use somewhat larger needles - maybe size 4 (US). This made a fairly firm fabric, though the lace still showed up well. If I made this larger, i.e. as a tablemat in a finer yarn/thread, I'd make a lacy border rather than the garter st border.
Last Modified 29 May 1997
Manny Olds, oldsma@pobox.com