Week 4: Pattern 3 Blocks and Triangles

Hello All! Here we go with pattern 3. Pattern 3 comes from this book:It is available from Amazon here. We recommend purchasing this book - it is a fantastic "dictionary" of new patterns. Also the authors will be rewarded for their genious as they should be, and if you don't want another book lying around after this project, you can always donate it to your local public library. They would be thrilled to have it!

Alright - moving on. This is pattern #32 called Blocks and Triangles. Its fun and not as difficult as one might think. Here are images of the first two rows.side one.

side two.

Note: you will need one double pointed needle the same size or smaller as the needles you are currently using. For those of you who are new to knitting, a double pointed needle is pointed at both ends. It's usually used for knitting socks, and so they come five in one package. A cable needle would be fine instead as long as it is smaller than the needles you are using to knit.

I am re-writing this pattern to make it conform to our requirements.

To start: This pattern is multiple of 5, so we will maintain five stitches of our border rather than four. The pattern is designed for 20 rows. The first 10 have pictures. The second ten are almost the same, just reversing the order of the increases.

abbreviations:
p= purl
k=knit
yo=yarn over
dpn= double pointed needles
sts=stitches

row 1: work 5 stitches of border, (p4, k1) repeat 6 times, 5stitches of border
for all remaining rows work first five and last five stitches in border pattern.
row2: p1, yo, k4, repeat 5 times for a total of six repeats
To make a yarn over, take the yarn from the back of the needle and wrap it around the top of your needle. Keeping that loop in place, continue knitting as normal. Disclaimer: (again) I knit continental style (yarn in left hand), and I make things up as I go along - as long as things look good I keep going. So if this is wrong - someone please correct me! :)
row3: p4, k2, repeat 5 times
To knit the yarn overs - be sure to close the hole. Make sure the loop criscrosses. See below:
The yarn over as you come to it in knitting.

Insert right needle to the left of the loop.

You can see the start of the criscross. Knit now.

Finished stitch on the right needle.

row4: p2, yo, k4, repeat 5 times
row5: p4, k3, repeat 5 times
row6: p3, yo, k4 repeat 5 times
row7: p4, k4, repeat 5 times
row8: same as row 7

You should now have something which looks similar to the above. 5 border stitches on each side, and 48 stitches in the middle. The next step is to knit the 48 middle stitches down to 24. Here we go:

row9: work 5 border stitches, [slip next 4 stitches (sts) to double pointed needle (dpn). Hold the dpn to the back of the work (behind the regular needle you are using). Knit two stitches together using one stitch from the front needle and one from the back (dpn). Repeat for the next three pairs of stitches.] you have now overlapped the knitted and purled stitches. Repeat the pattern between the [ ] five times. Work 5 border stitches as normal.

Some more images of what everything should look like:
slipping stitches to the double pointed needle. To "slip a stitch" insert the dpn to the loop of the stitch on the left needle and transfer it to the dpn.

For the second repeat you will hold the dpn to the front of the work - both needles in the left hand. Try to line them up so that the points are even. To hold the dpn to the back do the same and hold them together in the left hand.


Knitting through both stitches, one on each needle.

After knitting the two stitches together, you should have double layers on the purl side. These are the last four stitches on the right hand needle. You will have an entire row of doubled up purls.

The second "row" of boxes and triangles:
row 10: k4, yo, repeat 5 times.
row 11: k1, p4, repeat 5 times.
row 12: k4, yo,p1, repeat 5 times.
row 13: k2,p4, repeat 5 times.
row 14: k4, yo, p2, repeat 5 times.
row 15: k3, p4, repeat 5 times.
row 16: k4, yo, p3, repeat 5 times.
row 17: k4, p4, repeat 5 times.
row 18: same as row 17.
row 19: work 5 border stitches, [slip next 4 sts to dpn. Hold the dpn to the front of the work. Knit two stitches together using one stitch from the front needle and one from the back. Repeat for the next three pairs of stitches.] Repeat the pattern between the [ ] five times. Work 5 border stitches.

row 20: yo, k4, repeat 5 times.

At this point I recommend repeating rows 1 - 9 only, so that we have three rows of blocks and triangles. For my yarn that will give me a 4 inch swatch. However - nothing is set in stone, if you wish to do the full repeat - please do. However - you will want to finish with row 9 or 19.

Hope everything is clear - please be in touch if it's not! Happy knitting!