Custom Shawls for the Curious and Creative Knitter

Atherley Kate Atherley

Description

A knitting sourcebook full of patterns and techniques for making shawls and wraps with ease Kate Atherley and Kim McBrien Evans aim to equip adventurous knitters with the skills to knit and create shawls and wraps of all shapes and sizes and to help them forge their own shawl-knitting paths. Tips and tutorials address the technical aspects of shawl knitting, from shaping to adapting stitch patterns to making color and fabric choices. A gallery of patterns using a variety of yarns both mainstream and indie provides knitters with inspiration for customizing and creating their own designs. More than a dozen patterns illustrate the featured knitting techniques. One-third of the patterns are aimed at beginning knitters, one-third teach intermediate knitters new skills for intriguing results, and one-third offer creative instruction in customizing. The featured yarns are a mix: some luxury fibers, some classics. Together, Atherley and McBrien Evans provide a 360-degree view of the shawl-creation process from designing to knitting

Informations

• Publié par: ABRAMS BOOKS
• Date de parution: 15 septembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781647000172
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 7 Mo

Extrait

Custom

Shawls

for the Curious

and Creative

Knitter

Kate Atherley &

Kim McBrien Evans

Abrams, New York
Introduction 4

How to Use the

Book 5

The Shapes

and Recipes 6

Techniques 22

Yarn and Fabric 42

Color 66

Stitch Dictionary 86

contents
Breaking the

Rules 110

Patterns 128

Glossary 188

Further Reading 189

Acknowledgments

189

Index 190
Custom Shawls

4

Our methods are rarely the same, but combined

they give all sides of the puzzle, giving confidence to

knitters and allowing them to create the shawls of their

dreams. We share deep respect for our craft, for each

other, and for you: the knitters.

If you are a beginning shawl knitter, we will take

you through the basics. You ll learn everything from

shapes and techniques to color theory and stitch

selection.

If you ve knit several shawls, we will strengthen

your shawl knitting by expanding your vocabulary

of techniques and ideas. You ll learn how to make

better fabric, how to mix and match shapes with stitch

patterns, and how to combine color like a boss.

And if you are an expert, we will show you how

to leap off the cliff to create your own beautiful

shawl. To take chances and experiment. To improve

your technique, to improve your knowledge of yarn

management, and to express yourself in shawl form.

Introduction

Look in various dictionaries, and you ll find

diverse definitions of the word shawl . Some

define it by shape. Others, by material. Still

others by age or gender or geography. Yet

say shawl to a contemporary knitter and

we all generally agree: A shawl is a piece of

fabric of any shape you wish that you wrap

yourself up in for warmth, for comfort, to

make yourself feel elegant and sophisticated

on a special occasion, or to simply revel in the

I made this! joy that comes from completing

a project you re proud of. Shawls are for all

ages, genders, and walks of life.

So who are we, and why did we write this book? We

are two lifelong knitters, teachers, and designers who

come to knitting from very different perspectives:

Kate is analytical and enjoys symmetry. Her

favorite color is black. She loves formulas and

spreadsheets. Her approach is orderly and technical.

She will build your shawl vocabulary of basic shapes,

techniques, and stitches so that you can tell the best

stories through your hands. She believes that we all

have in us the ability to create whatever we put our

minds to. And she s created the tools we need to do

just that.

Kim has never fully followed a pattern in her life

and believes Kate s favorite color is . . . not a color.

She likes breaking traditional structures, changing the

rules, and taking chances with color and shape. She

likes her world a little asymmetrical and off-balance

and doesn t see limits in anything she tries. She

believes that we all have creative muscles, primed to

flex in our knitting.
5

How to Use the Book

How to Use the Book

We ve provided recipes for a broad range of

standard shawl shapes, symmetrical and

not. They work with any yarn, and you can

follow them as written to create fantastic

straightforward, everyday sorts of shawls. You

can go further and customize them with the

addition of pattern stitches from the Stitch

Dictionary chapter and/or color changes and

patterns from the Color chapter.

The Techniques chapter provides information

and tutorials on the key shawl-knitting skills: casting

on (including the often-tricky and misunderstood

Garter tab), increases, bind-offs, blocking, and much

more. There are tools here to help you better knit

existing shawl patterns, or to allow you to customize

and create your own. Want invisible rather than

yarnover increases? We can help you with that. Want

a different edging effect? There are suggestions and

ideas. Unsure about blocking? We ve demystified it.

The Yarn and Fabric and Color chapters help

you become a better shawl knitter by teaching you how

to make choices that suit the pattern, your needs, and

your tastes.

And the Breaking the Rules chapter is all about

letting your creativity fly. Take Kate s recipes and

follow Kim s path to inspiration.

If you just want to get knitting, we ve got thirteen

patterns for you. In each case, there are notes to guide

you with yarn substitution and alteration. After all, it s

all about creating exactly the shawl you want. In this

section, we ve provided some guidance on how to wrap

and wear shawls-because even if the shawl is perfect,

it s no good unless you wear it!
chapter

one

The

Shapes

and

Recipes

Custom Shawls

8

This chapter provides recipes for all the key

shawl shapes. For those that have shaping-

that is, all of them but the simple squares and

rectangles-the recipes are all written to be

worked from the inside out, from the smallest

stitch count to the largest. We ve done it this

way to give knitters the most flexibility with

size and yarn usage: You can work until it

hits a specific size, or until you ve used up a

specific quantity of yarn.

Many of these shapes can be worked from the outside

edge to the inside, from the largest stitch count to the

smallest; indeed, some of them, including the Faroese

shawl, are traditionally done this way. This direction

avoids a hard bind-off edge, which can impede the

stretch of blocking, but working this way is more

complicated since you need to determine the desired

finished dimensions in advance and make sure you

have plenty of yarn. We ve chosen to make all our

recipes for the smallest-to-largest direction to avoid

these challenges. And of course, we ve got tips so you

can make sure your bind-off isn t too tight.

Notes on the Recipes

For shawls that are worked flat in rows, the recipes

use Garter stitch for the body of the shawls. Unless

otherwise noted, you can work in Stockinette stitch

without significant change to the shape. For shawls

worked flat that have increases at the edges, we ve

used a standard three-stitch Garter stitch border. This

can be modified-two stitches work well, or see the

Techniques chapter ( page 27 ) for other ideas.

For shawls that are worked in the round, the

recipes use Stockinette stitch. Unless otherwise

noted, you can work in Garter stitch without significant

change to the shape.

For shawls that use only increases for shaping, the

recipes use yarnovers to create visible increases. If

you prefer invisible increases, substitute your favorite

Make One increase. See the Techniques chapter

( page 27 ) for more information about increases.

For shawls that use both increases and decreases

for shaping, the recipes use invisible increases. This

keeps the look of the piece balanced-that is, you don t

have half with yarnover holes and half without. You can,

of course, change the increases to yarnovers for open

increases or substitute an increase like kyok for kfbf. If

you do this, you ll likely want to make yarnover holes in

the decrease section, to match the decrease shaping

to the increase shaping. You can do this by working a

yarnover accompanied by a double decrease, in place

of a single decrease. This is discussed in detail in the

Techniques chapter ( page 27 ).

See the Techniques chapter for information on

the various stitches and techniques used.

+

Note on Needles and Yarn

See Yarn and Fabric ( page 42 ) for

information on needles to use. Unless

otherwise noted, a shawl is worked flat

and you can use your preferred needles

for that.

See page 55 for information on yardage

required.
The Shapes and Recipes

9

Which Shape Should

I Choose?

If you have lots of

yarn and time

Rectangle or square

Circle or semicircle

If you have a

limited amount of

yarn or time

Asymmetrical triangle,

narrow

Top-down wide triangle

Vortex

Shallow crescent

If you have a very

specific size in

mind

Rectangle

Square, straight or on the

diagonal

If you like

symmetry

Rectangles

Squares

Tip-up, top-down, side-

to-side symmetrical

triangles

Crescents

Circles and semicircles

If you prefer

asymmetry

Side-to-side asymmetrical

triangles

Vortex

Kite

If you don t like

Garter stitch and

you aren t keen on

purling

Square from center

Rectangle from center

Circles

If your pattern

stitch easily

accommodates

increases

Square from center or

point

Triangles

Circles and semicircles

with the rays method

If your

pattern stitch

doesn t easily

accommodate

increases

Rectangles and squares

worked straight

Circles and semicircles

with the pi method

Crescents-particularly

the wider, shallow version
Custom Shawls

10

Measuring Your

Stitch Gauge

To measure your stitch gauge, look at the needles suggested on the

ball band, and look for the number of stitches expected in 4 inches

(10 cm). (Most list it that way; some brands list it over 1 or 2 inches

[2.5 or 5 cm]. In that case, multiply appropriately.)

Using the needles suggested or those appropriate to you (if you

know you re a tight knitter, you ll probably want a size larger; if you

know you re a loose knitter, you ll probably want a size smaller), cast

on about one and a half times the 4-inch (10 cm) stitch count.

Work about 4 inches (10 cm) in the pattern stitch you want to

use. Bind off and wash the piece as you intend to wash the finished

item, stretching and pinning if appropriate ( page 38 ).

Once it s dry, measure the swatch, counting the stitches over

4 inches (10 cm) of width. Measure in a couple of places to allow for

variances in yarn, fabric, and stitch pattern. The average of them is

your stitch gauge over 4 inches (10 cm). Divide that by four to get the

number of stitches in 1 inch (2.5 cm), or by 10 to get the number of