A few weeks ago I received an email asking me whether I
would mind reviewing a knitting pattern. The patterns looked lovely, and as my
Mum is a much more competent knitter than I am I asked her if she’d help.
There are three pattern in the booklet a top, a wrap and
a lace trim. My Mum offered to do the top and I’d have a go at the trim (more
about the wrap later).
A
note–
this pattern is American, so some of the abbreviations used aren’t the same as the
UK ones.
For example: this pattern uses SSK, which in UK
abbreviations would be SKPO (slip one, knit one pass slipped stitch over i.e.
losing a stitch). You can find out more on American knitting
abbreviations the Craft Yarn Council's website.
The
top
As the yarn mentioned in the pattern is American, my Mum
chose Stylecraft's Life DK as it knits with
the same size needles used in the pattern. Once she’d worked out what the American abbreviations
meant, the knitting of the front and back was fairly straight forward.
However, she did find a mistake on page one. The
instructions for the * repeat section for row 8. says *k2, yo, sk2p, yo, k3*
and she read sk2p to mean 'slip one stitch, knit 2 stitches pass slipped
stitch over the 2 stitches', but it should be 'slip one stitch, knit 2 together,
pass slipped stitch over' otherwise you
end up with too many stitches.
Knitting the arms and neck involved using circular, which she finds uncomfortable to use - the armholes particularly so. She is going to use straight needles next time. The seams in the collar can still be neatly done that way.
The top fits beautifully when it's on and the moss stitch collar (the moss stitch is also in the lace section) contrasts with stocking stitch beautifully.
The
lace trim
As I am going to use the trim I make onto a cushion (the
example in the pattern is for a pillow) I chose some green mottled wool from my
stash that knits using the same needles in the pattern.
The pattern is 14 rows in length and is straight forward.
It produces a lovely trim with a lacy bit on one side and a mock cable on the
other. You could use all sorts of yarn to knit the pattern (though the width
and length will vary depending on the yarn you use) and knit it for as long as
you’d like. I have some lovely purple yarn that I’m going to knit to trim a
lampshade in my bedroom.
However, I did
find a mistake in row 4, it reads "sl 1, k4, sl, k2tog, psso, k2 [yo, k2tog] twice, k1; 13 stitches"
The first K2tog should read K1, otherwise you end up with 12 rather than 13 stitches.
The
wrap
This looks beautiful in the picture (the first one) doesn’t it?
Unfortunately, the pattern is shown in a chart rather than written instructions
and neither of us likes to knit from those. It’s a common hindrance in a lot of
patterns. However, as this one is so nice, I am going to transcribe the chart
into words to enable either one of us to have a go at the wrap sometime in the
future.
In conclusion
We’ve both enjoyed knitting the two items from this
pattern. My Mum made the top for me and it fits beautifully. So much so, that
she has started to knit another one, in red this time, for me. They’ll be
lovely for when the weather become cooler, with a shrug or cardigan to cover
your arms if you need it.
Below there is the link to the pattern to download it for
yourself (it’s free - just add your email address and press the 'Get my free e-book' button.
Pop over to Handmade Monday to see what others have been up to.
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