Recently in Simple Yarn Over Category

A while back Ronni asked about a pattern or information on the simple yarn-over shawl I knit for my brother-in-law's mother. There was no pattern, really; it was something I made up along the way and fortunately it turned out fine. The body is made of a series of yarn-overs and and stockinette in multiples of 2. I'm putting my "pattern" here for anyone who wants to knit something mindblowingly easy in 3-4 days.

Yarn: I estimated that the original shawl used about 300 yards of mohair yarn, slightly thicker than Rowan Kidsilk Haze. To be safe, estimate 300 to 400 yards. Also, waste cotton yarn of the same weight.
Needles: Depends on how open you want your shawl to be.

Gauge: None taken. Knit some stockinette with a row of yarnovers and decide how open you want your shawl to be.

Finished Size: Depends on how much yarn you have! And how many yarnover multiples you want to do.

Skill Level: Beginner. Stockinette stitch, garter stitch, yarn-over.

Using waste yarn, cast on two stitches and knit 3 rows. Drop waste yarn and pick up working yarn. K 6 rows. Turn, k 2 sts, pick up 3 garter stitch ridges, then undo your waste yarn and pick up the 2 live sts. You know have 7 sts total.

Keep in mind the formula for creating a neck-down triangular shawl: use a two-stitch garter stitch edging, yarnovers for increasing, and two identical triangular panels separated by a knit stitch and a pair of yarn-overs. From this point yarn-overs will be known as "yo".

Row 1: K2, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k2.
Row 2: K2, p to the last 2 sts, k2. (7 sts)
Row 3: K2, yo, k3, yo, k1, yo, k3, yo, k2.
Row 4: K2, p to the last 2 sts, k2. (9 sts)

On every odd row, you'll be increasing the size of the triangular panels by 2 yo sts. On every even row, you'll be incorporating those yos into the knitted fabric.

*K 8 rows of stockinette. Then:
Row 1: K2, (yo, k2tog) to the last 2 sts, k2.
Row 2: K2, p to the last 2 sts, k2.**

Repeat * to ** 4 times.

*K 4 rows of stockinette. Then:
Row 1: K2, (yo, k2tog) to the last 2 sts, k2.
Row 2: K2, p to the last 2 sts, k2.**

Repeat * to ** 2 times.

*Row 1: K2, (yo, k2tog) to the last 2 sts, k2.
Row 2: K2, p to the last 2 sts, k2.**

Knit * to ** 8 times.

On the last 8 rows, your row 2 will be all knit. This creates a garter stitch edge, barely noticeable when fully blocked. It prevents the dreaded stockinette curl! If you're nearing the end of your yarn, don't forget to thread in a lifeline, because you may/will misjudge how much yarn you have left. I certainly did!

After your last eyelet row, turn the work over. Bind off in knit.

Block it to your heart's desire--I personally like to stretch it to its limit!

© 2005 - Present Mary Joy Gumayagay and Indus3ous.com. All rights reserved. This pattern may be freely distributed as long as the pattern, images, text, and this copyright notice remain intact and no profit is made from its distribution or use. For pattern assistance please post in comments below.

Pattern: Generic neck-down triangular shawl in stockinette stitch and yarn overs.
Yarn: Henry's Attic Kid Mohair dyed by Stitchin' Girl Toni, gifted last year. About 300 yards?
Needles: US10

Here's the answer to "What can I do with 300 yards of mohair?" This shawl was made last year and finally blocked. I've given it to my brother-in-law's mother, who has been feeling sickly. I imagine she's draping it around her shoulders to ward off the evening chill. Even if it is hot outdoors, inside it can be downright cold for someone who's elderly...

It's pure stockinette, with the last 4 rows in garter stitch to prevent the omnipresent curling typical of stockinette. My eyelet pattern went like this: yarn overs every 9th row 4 times; yarn overs every 5th and 9th row 2 times; yarn overs every other row 4 times. Then cast off. It took about 4 days, mainly because I debated on adding a more intricate border. I think it looks better like this. As you know, I'm a fan of simple lines.

This shows off a bit of the color. God, I love the color: pale, watery, silvery blue with streaks of purple. Toni did a fabulous job, don't you think? Thanks, Toni!

Fab Five Friday: All Over The Place

1: There's a bit of a long intro to Tokyo Plastic's Drum Machine, but worth the wait. Turn up the volume!
2: A good Banana Bread recipe. Read the comments for additional tips. Mine were: substitute 3/4 cup brown sugar, substitute cinnamon and nutmeg, 325°F and check after 50 minutes. The neighborhood babies like it very much.
3: It's really all about portion control: why French women don't get fat. Here you go, the Healthy Body Calculator.
4: Cute, soft shoes from Robeez. Makes me want to have a kid. Almost.
5: Quilter's Buzz posted an entry on the Gammill $100,000 Quilting Challenge Winner, an incredible beauty in whitework. Additionally, here are the 2007 winners of the Road to California quilt competition.

Thanks for the compliments on Gnome #2! He was really fun to make. I still have over half the yarn left over--Lion Brand Wool-Ease is great on the yardage. A good and a bad thing, you know?

I've been busy trying to write the mother of all kal updates (lo, 150 knitters), in addition to doing some freelance. And getting sick (I finally caught the bug that's been going around and has incapacitated one-third of our gym members). I did find a good link to share this week: Shake the Globe, an OfficeMax "fun" site. Shake it a lot! If you mouse over the tab at the bottom right, you can find more fun goodies.

Other things I'm working on:

A simple shawl.

Yummy merino/silk.

A colorwork hat for this sweet little girl, who obligingly posed for her auntie.