I had a Noro Silk Garden cardigan. It was fabulous, perfect colour, cute design, soft feel, and.... way too big. After I finished the fully ribbed design, I wore it, then washed it and it grew, and grew and grew. The ribbing flattened and it was miles to wide for me, the shoulders fell over my shoulders and the arms needed to be rolled up.... twice.
This lovely garment sat in my closet for two years.
Then, that aha moment came. Unravel and reknit! The perfect luxury yarn, found again, and made into the perfect wearable garment.
Yarn: About 10 balls of Noro Silk Garden (reclaimed if you can!)
Needles: 4.5mm (US 7)
Size: 15 inches wide by 6 feet long.
Cast on 31 sts. Row 1: Knit 16, place marker, Knit 15. Row 2: Knit 13, knit 2 together, slip marker, knit one, knit 2 together, knit 13. Row 3 (and all odd rows): Knit to stitch BEFORE marker, purl that stitch, slip marker and knit the rest.
Row 4 (and all even rows) knit to 2 sts BEFORE marker, knit 2 together, slip marker, knit one, knit 2 together, knit the rest. Repeat until only 3 sts remain and knit all three together. (only one stitch on your needle.
With this stitch at upper right corner of square, pick up 15 stitches across the top of the just worked square (place marker just before last pick up). Cast on 15 more stitches. Now turn and work exactly like the first square starting with row 1.
When reduced to one stitch, begin the next square above the last. Continue to build squares above the last until you have a long line of squares about 6 feet in length!
Next row: Cast on 15 sts, then pick up bottom right corner stitch from first column of squares (A)(see drawing) Pick up 15 more stitches up the side of first row square A, and work as usual to make the new square. When you have one stitch left, pick up 15 across top of that square, one in the corner, then 15 more up the side of corresponding one from first column....(B)
Continue to build the squares and columns.
I used 4 rows and 15 blocks in each row.... You can make it a thinner scarf or a huge blanket, it can be built block by block until you feel you are done! (or you run out of yarn!)
Finishing, you can stop here, or make an edge like mine...
Pick up 60 stitches across the end, and knit back and forth for about 2 inches, then shape the endpiece by casting off 4 stitches at the start of every row until all are gone. (a gentle tapered point.) Work the same for the other short edge.
The thing I love about this is I have rescued from the land of "never-wear" a yarn I really love.... in my favourite colour. This is a wrap I WILL wear (if it weren't 30C - 84F, I would have it on NOW).... So in these times of penny pinching and worrying about where my next yarn will come from, resist the urge to settle for acrylic, and tap into that luxury yarn source - your own closet!
This is a wonderful repurposing save! I love the pattern on the wrap...its beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI have been knitting my own version of mitred garments for over 20years. I shape my blocks differently as this makes a less obvious diagonal line. I make my blocks larger or smaller to create contours to follow the body shape and eliminates the need for any sewing as the knitting is continuous. It is such a fun way to achieve so many colour and texture effects as well as being very flattering to wear.
ReplyDeleteNoro Silk Garden comes in a variety of weights. Because this is a shawl, it probably doesn't matter too much, but it would be helpful to post the weight of the yarn you used. The picture suggests that it was a light weight yarn--sock or DK--but you used 4.5mm needles, which suggests worsted weight. For those of us who might like to make this shawl in a different yarn, please let us know what weight yarn you would suggest. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAt the time that I created this wrap, Silk Garden only came in a worsted weight. That is what I used. Now, you are correct, it is available in several weights. The DK weight would be nice for this pattern as well. The lace weight would need to be on much finer needles, and more stitches per block used.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the question, so that I could update the yarn details!
Cheers, Chris