Cinematic is a simple but stylish triangular shawl knit sideways in garter stitch. With its generous size, it’s perfect to wear as an elegant scarf. Eyelet rows and stripes in a contrast color, combined with a gradient yarn, make for a highly customizable accessory. Wear it with a shirt and jeans for a casual look or with that little black dress for a more dramatic look.
The KAL will start this Friday, August the 30th and will run for a month until and including September the 30th 2019. The pattern can be found on Ravelry and, of course, on the La Visch Designs website. Every person posting a picture of the FO before or on September 30th will receive a 25% discount code for a La Visch Designs pattern of choice 😃
Want to share your progress social media? Go ahead, I love to see what folks do with my designs! Make sure to tag your posts with #cinematickal, #lavischdesigns and #cinematicshawl so I can find your post.
So, get your yarn and pattern today, I’m looking forward to seeing you over in the KAL group for the Cinematic knit-a-long!
In one of the designs I’m working on, I’m using a lovely intricate stitch pattern from the Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible by Hitomi Shida. In this particular stitch pattern, a Left Twist stitch is used. So, in this post, I’ll go into the details on how to work this stitch.
The basic characteristic of a Left Twist is that it switches the order of 2 adjoining stitches, one “main stitch” and one “background stitch” to make it appear that the main stitch travels to the left. The background is usually reverse stockinette. The main stitch is usually worked twisted (working the stitch through the back loop) stockinette. This way it pops even more against the background.
The instruction from the Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible for this stitch consists of the following text:
With RN, go behind first st and p
second st without removing it from LN; ktbl first
st and slip both off LN.
Now, I don’t know if you’ve tried this, but following the above instruction didn’t give me anything resembling the picture of the worked left twist. It may be due to where I had my yarn or the fact that I knit weird, who knows? Anyway, I did some more research and found that this type of traveling stitch is also used quite a lot in Bavarian knitting. I also found that there are quite some ways it can be worked. Take for example this one from leethalknits.com, the one described in this Interweave article or the elaborate description of methods by Rox over on Ravelry.
Personally, I found just changing the order of the stitches before actually knitting them (as one would do for cabling without a cable needle) to be easiest. So that’s what I will show you in this tutorial.
Materials used
Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 125 Spearmint Green.
Needles: KnitPro Zing Fixed Circular Needles. In this tutorial, I used the 4 mm (US 6) size with a cable length of 80 cm (32 inches).
Some words about the swatch
In this swatch, I’ve taken part of the stitch pattern in which I encountered the Left Twist stitch. It consists of a k3, p4 rib in which the left-most knit stitch travels across the purl stitches until it joins the next column of knit stitches. As you can see, I’ve already worked one RS row with a Left twist, as well as it’s accompanying WS row.
Working a Left Twist step by step
1. The first 2 stitches on the left-hand needle in the picture
below, are the ones we’re going to work the Left Twist over. In other
words: we’re going to switch the order of the knit and the purl
stitch, to make it appear that the knit stitch travels to the left.
2. First I make sure to move the working yarn to the front of the work since the first stitch to work will be a purl stitch. Next, I grab the yarn directly below the 2 stitches to be switched and pinch down as pictured.
3. Next, I move these stitches off the left-hand needle. Keeping the fabric pinched, makes sure that the stitches won’t ladder down.
4. Then insert the left-hand needle knit wise into the loose stitch on the right to put it back on the needle. Make sure to keep pinching the fabric underneath the other stitch! Especially now we’re placing some stress on the yarn.
5. Now insert the left-hand needle knit wise into the remaining loose stitch and put it back on the needle. This can be somewhat fiddly.
6. Now it’s time to insert your right-hand needle purl wise into the first stitch from the tip of the left-hand needle.
7. Next, wrap your yarn around the needle, pull it through and let the stitch slide of the needle to complete the purl stitch.
8. Next is to work the traveling stitch itself. To make it pop against the background and tighten it up a bit, this stitch is worked through the back loop. So, insert your right-hand needle knit wise into the first stitch from the tip of the left-hand needle.
9. Next, wrap your yarn around the needle, pull it through and let the stitch slide of the needle to complete the twisted knit stitch.
Then what?
On the following wrong side row, work the stitches as they present themselves. In other words: what looks like a knit stitch is knit, what looks like a purl stitch is purled, and the “traveling stitch” itself is purled through the back loop. Below is how it looks after a couple of more rows have been worked. Please note this piece has not been blocked!
Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.
Monegros is a simple yet stylish triangular shawl knit sideways on the bias, named after the Monegros Desert in northeastern Spain. The combination of garter stitch in a variegated hand-dyed yarn and simple lace in a solid/tonal yarn makes it a perfect choice to get the best of both worlds. Due to its shape and generous size, it’s perfect to wear as an elegant scarf.
The pattern contains both fully written out as well as charted instructions for the lace section.
Pay what you want: (minimum €6.50)
€
Difficulty level
Stitches used include knit, yo, k2tog, skp, kfb and a centered double decrease. This pattern is suitable for the intermediate knitter.
Sizes and finished measurements
Finished dimensions of the sample shawl: 195 cm (76 ¾ inches) along the upper edge and a depth of 66 cm (26 inches), measured after blocking.
The shawl can be made larger by adding more repeats of the garter stitch and/or by working more repeats in the lace section. This will, of course, increase the amount of yarn needed.
Pattern details
Gauge: 14.6 sts / 26 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) over garter stitch, measured after blocking. Gauge is, however, not critical in this design.
Pattern languages included: English, the Dutch version will be available soon. (Dit patroon omvat zowel een Nederlandse als een Engelse versie)
Digital PDF has 4 pages (letter size)
Materials
Yarn: C1 – 1 skein Sticks & Cups Sockstravagance (80% Merino, 20% Nylon; 400 m (437 yds) / 100 g) in “Santorini”, C2 – 1 ball Rauma Baby Panda (100% Merino; 175 m (191 yds) / 50 g) in 54 “Orange”. Substitute any variegated fingering weight yarn for C1 and any solid or tonal colored fingering weight yarn for C2 for a similar result.
Size 4 mm (US 6) / 80 cm (32 inches) circular needles.
Removable stitch marker to denote the RS of the shawl (optional)
Worked in this lovely fade yarn, hand-dyed by AG2N Hand Dyed Yarns, the Full Fade Hap makes for a wonderful, cozy shawl, which is perfect to wrap up in on a chilly day. This shawl is made in the tradition of the shawls from the Shetland Isles, making for a very interesting construction.
Start the Full Fade Hap at one corner of the center square and increase until big enough, then decrease. Pick up stitches along the edges, and work the stunning border outwards. Each color band in its own lace patterning. The shawl is finished with a gorgeous edging that is knitted on sideways and attached to the live stitches of the border as it is being worked.
Want to knit this shawl in the smaller, triangular version? Take a look a the Half Fade Hap!
Pay what you want: (minimum €6.50)
€
Difficulty level
This shawl is worked both flat back and forth as in the round. Techniques used include working a knitted-on edging and grafting remaining stitches together using Kitchener stitch. Stitches used include knit, purl, yo, k2tog, k3tog, skp, and various double decreases.
This pattern is suitable for the intermediate to advanced knitter.
Sizes and finished measurements
Finished dimensions of the sample shawl: 146 cm (57 ½ inches) square, measured after blocking.
Pattern details
Gauge: approx. 12.7 sts / 25 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) over the center square, measured after blocking Gauge is not critical in this design.
Pattern languages included: English and Dutch (Dit patroon omvat zowel een Nederlandse als een Engelse versie)
Digital PDF has 8 pages (letter size)
Yarn
In the sample hap shown, AG2N Hand Dyed Yarns Softy Sock Fingering (75% Merino, 25% Nylon; 422 m (462 yds) / 100 g) in the following colors and amounts was used:
C1: 211 m (231 yds) / 50 g in “Fade 1” C2: 211 m (231 yds) / 50 g in “Fade 2” C3: 211 m (231 yds) / 50 g in “Fade 3” C4: 211 m (231 yds) / 50 g in “Fade 4” C5: 211 m (231 yds) / 50 g in “Fade 5” C6: 422 m (462 yds) / 100 g in “Fade 6”
Substitute wool fingering weight yarn of comparable thickness, in a fade sequence for a similar result, or with 1477 m (1617 yds) / 350 g yarn in a single color.
Materials
Size 4 mm (US Size 6) 80 cm (32 inches) or longer circular needle.
Extra needle in size 4 mm (US Size 6) for the applied edging and grafting.
Yarn needle
7 stitch markers to denote the corner stitches/quarter sections
Russian grafting is a method of joining live knitting stitches together. It’s an alternative to the Kitchener stitch and is a quick and easy method for finishing off your knitted piece. In this post, I’ll show you the specifics for Russian grafting garter stitch. Of course, this method has pro’s and cons when compared with the Kitchener stitch, which I’ll go into below.
Pro’s
When used to join garter stitch pieces together, the seam blends in with the garter stitch ridges.
No working yarn is necessary, this makes this method, not a “true” grafting method.
When grafting with this method, the stitches of the pieces to be joined align better than with Kitchener stitch grafting. This can be desirable when using patterning.
Con’s
Since Russian grafting is worked by pulling existing stitches through other stitches, there is no way to adjust the tension of the graft.
The seam will be visible if it’s used on a very open lace fabric, even if it’s garter-stitch-based.
Materials used
Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the colors 125 Spearmint Green and 155 Vintage Pink.
A crochet hook in the same size or slightly smaller than your knitting needles. For example, this Pony Aluminum Crochet Hook in size 4 mm.
Russian grafting step-by-step
I’ve read that Russian grafting is a seaming technique commonly seen in patterns for traditional Orenburg shawls with garter-stitch-based lace edgings. For this reason, in this tutorial, I’m showing you how it’s done with the help of a swatch of an applied garter stitch lace border. It’s a miniature version of the edging on my Full Fade Hap.
Since I didn’t have the time to knit it all around the center square, I just did the provisional cast-on followed by one repeat on the right in the below picture. On the left, you can see a repeat of the edging plus turning the corner minus the very last row, just as in my Full Fade Hap. The reason I’m omitting this last row is that we otherwise have a row of purl bumps on each needle. When grafted together, this gives a very bulky and visible seam. Without that last row, the grafted seam is much less notable.
Preparation
First is undoing the provisional cast-on on the right piece and placing it on a knitting needle, starting at the body side of the waste yarn. It isn’t visible in this picture, but that’s where the waste yarn chain is, indicating the point where it can be undone easily. Make sure to place the stitches correct (not twisted) on the needle.
Please note that in this example the provisional cast-on was 15 stitches (needed for the lace patterning to start correctly), while there are 16 live stitches on the left (15 from the border and 1 remaining live body stitch). To solve this, I picked up an extra stitch at the shawl body side.
I’ve turned everything 90 degrees clockwise. Make sure the right side is facing, and the yarn tail is on the left side. Now we’re ready to start the actual Russian graft.
Set-up
1. Back needle: Insert the crochet hook purlwise through the first stitch on the needle ….
2. … and slide it off the needle.
3. Front needle: Insert the crochet hook purlwise through the first stitch on the needle and slide it off the needle. This is similar to what you did in steps 1 and 2.
4. Now pull this second stitch through the first stitch on the hook, so only 1 loop remains on the crochet hook.
Repeat
1. Back needle: Insert the crochet hook knitwise through the first stitch and slide it off the needle.
2. Pull this last stitch through the first stitch on the hook, so only 1 loop remains on the crochet hook.
3. Front needle: Insert the crochet hook knitwise through the first stitch and slide it off the needle.
4. Pull this last stitch through the first stitch on the hook, so only 1 loop remains on the crochet hook.
Repeat steps 1-4 until all stitches have been worked. At this point, you will have 1 stitch remaining on the crochet hook:
To finish the graft, pull the yarn tail through this last stitch to secure it. And there you have it! The seam may seem bulky, but that’s mostly because I’ve used relatively thick yarn here. When using fingering weight yarn at a loose gauge, it will blend in nicely in garter stitch!
Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.
The Ramalina shawl, named for the greenish lichen, was inspired in both construction and coloring by this wonderful part of nature. The plain stockinette body lets the subtle variegation of the silk yarn used really shine.
Ramalina is a semi-circle Pi shawl worked from the top-down in one piece, starting at the neck edge with a garter stitch tab. Finish the shawl with a gorgeous lace edging in the contrast color. The instructions for the lace are provided both charted and written out.
Pay what you want: (minimum €6.50)
€
Difficulty level
Ramalina is a half-circle shawl, knit from the top down, starting with a garter tab cast-on. Stitches used include knit, purl, yo, m1, kfb, k3tog, a left-leaning double decrease, and lifted-over knot stitch.
This pattern is suitable for the intermediate to advanced knitter.
Sizes and finished measurements
One size – finished dimensions: 186 cm (73 ¼ inches) along the upper edge and a depth of 65 cm (25 ½ inches), measured after blocking.
Pattern details
Gauge: 20 sts / 27 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) over stockinette, measured after blocking. Gauge is, however, not critical in this design.
Pattern languages included: English and Dutch (Dit patroon omvat zowel een Nederlandse als een Engelse versie)
Digital PDF has 4 pages (letter size)
Materials
Yarn: Handmaiden Fine Yarn Swiss Silk (100% Silk; 400 m (437 yds) / 100 g) in the following amounts and colors: MC: 400 m (437 yds) / 100 g in “Peridot” and CC: 400 m (437 yds) / 100 g in “Moss”. This yarn and pattern are also available as a kit from Sweater Sisters! Substitute any silk (or other smooth and drapey) fingering weight yarn for a similar result.
Size 4 mm (US Size 6) 80 cm (32 inches) or longer circular needle.
Yarn needle
Stitch markers to denote repeats of the lace patterning (optional)
People usually shape knitwear by increasing or decreasing the number of stitches. There are, of course, lots of different versions possible. In this tutorial, I’ll focus on the purl-side right-leaning version of the lifted increase. If you’re looking for the knit-side right-leaning lifted increase, just click here.
What is a lifted increase?
Basically, it’s exactly how it’s called: an increase that you work from a stitch below the one next on the needle. This stitch is lifted to be able to work into it. The purl-side version is called the same as the knit-side version, only with “purl” added after it. Right Lifted Increase (Purl) with the abbreviation RLIP.
Materials used
Yarn: * Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color Marine Blue.
Working a purl-side Right-Leaning Lifted Increase step by step
I’ve made a little swatch (continuing the same one from the RLI tutorial!) and will be making the increases 4 sts in from the garter stitch border when viewed from the wrong (purl) side.
1. To start, insert your right-hand needle from bottom to top into the horizontal purl bump directly below the first stitch on the left-hand needle.
2. Next, place the lifted stitch on the left-hand needle, making sure that you place it non-twisted. In other words: the left leg of the stitch is behind the needle and the right leg is in front.
3. Now insert the other needle into the front of the stitch as if to purl….
4. … and complete the stitch by wrapping the yarn around the needle, pulling it through and slipping the worked stitch off the needle as usual. You have now increased one stitch.
5. I worked a couple of more rows, with increases on the WS (purl-side) rows only and 4 sts in from the garter stitch edge. This is how the piece looks:
Let’s turn the piece around
When turning the little swatch around to see how the RS of it looks, I found this:
Turns out that a purl-side Right Lifted Increase gives a rather lovely left-leaning result when viewed from the right side of the fabric. I’ve searched the internet to see if I could find any more information about it, but alas. So this is for now, good to know though!
Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.
The Half Fade Hap is the smaller, triangular sister of the Full Fade Hap. With its generous size, it makes for a wonderful, cozy shawl. This shawl is made in the tradition of the shawls from the Shetland Isles, making for a very interesting construction.
The Half Fade Hap starts at one corner of the center triangle and increased until big enough. Stitches are picked up along the edges and the stunning border is worked outwards. Each color band in its own lace patterning. The shawl is finished with a gorgeous edging that is knitted on sideways and attached to the live stitches of the border as it is being worked.
The instructions for the lace are provided both charted and written out.
Pay what you want: (minimum €6.50)
€
Difficulty level
This shawl is worked flat back and forth. Techniques used include working a knitted-on edging. Stitches used include knit, purl, yo, k2tog, skp, and various double decreases.
This pattern is suitable for the intermediate to advanced knitter.
Sizes and finished measurements
Finished dimensions of the dark green sample shawl: Wingspan of 192 cm (76 ½ inches) and a depth of 82 cm (32 ¼ inches), measured after blocking.
Pattern details
This shawl pattern is written for a gauge of approx. 25 sts / 30 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) over the center triangle, measured after blocking Gauge is not critical in this design.
Pattern languages included: English and Dutch (Dit patroon omvat zowel een Nederlandse als een Engelse versie)
Digital PDF has 8 pages (letter size)
Yarn
AG2N Hand Dyed Yarns Softy Squishy Fingering 2 (100% Merino; 399 m (436 yds) / 100 g) in the following colors and amounts: C1: 100 m, (109 yds) / 25 g in “Fade 1”, C2: 100 m (109 yds) / 25 g in “Fade 2”, C3: 100 m (109 yds) / 25 g in “Fade 3”, C4: 100 m (109 yds) / 25 g in “Fade 4”, C5: 100 m (109 yds) / 25 g in “Fade 5” and C6: 200 m (218 yds) / 50 g in “Fade 6”.
AG2N Hand Dyed Yarns has dyed several fade sets (with yarn enough for the full hap or 2 half haps), these can be found here.
Substitute
wool fingering weight yarn of comparable thickness, in a fade
sequence for a similar result, or with 742 m (812 yds) / 175 g yarn
in a single color.
Dark
green version: Worked by I. Kooiman in Zettle Treviso (75% Wool, 25%
Nylon; 209 m (229 yds) / 50 g) in green.
Multicolored
version with the center triangle in yellow: Worked by M. Veldhuijzen
van Zanten in Geilsk 3 ply Bomuld og uld (55% Wool, 45% Cotton; 232 m
(254 yds) / 50 g) in multiple colors.
Materials
Size 4 mm (US Size 6) 80 cm (32 inches) or longer circular needle.
Yarn needle
4 stitch markers to denote the edge and center stitches
Stitch markers to denote repeats of the lace patterning (optional)
As you know, the ability to shape your knitting project is a valuable one. Without it, it would be pretty hard to make a sweater fit you right and make anything else than rectangles. Shape knitwear by increasing or decreasing the number of stitches. There are, of course, lots of different versions possible. In this tutorial, I’ll focus on the right-leaning version of the lifted increase.
With right-leaning I mean that the increase leans to the right, relative to the surrounding “normal” stitches. There is also a left-leaning version, which I’ll go into another time. Pair them together to symmetrically increase the number of stitches on your project.
What is a lifted increase?
Basically, it’s exactly how it’s called: an increase that is worked from a stitch below the one next on the needle, which is lifted to be able to work into it. There are, of course, both knit and purl versions. The knit-side version of the Right-Leaning Lifted Increase is usually named the somewhat shorter Right Lifted Increase with the abbreviation RLI.
Materials used
Yarn: * Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color Marine Blue.
Working a knit-side Right-Leaning Lifted Increase step by step
I’ve made a little swatch and will be making the increases 4 sts in from the garter stitch border when viewed from the right (knit) side.
1. To start, insert your right-hand needle from back to front into the right leg of the stitch that is directly below the next stitch on the needle.
2. Next, place the lifted stitch on the left-hand needle…
3. … and insert the other needle into the front of the stitch as if to knit.
4. Complete the stitch by wrapping the yarn around the needle, pulling it through and slipping the worked stitch off the needle as usual. You have now increased one stitch.
5. Next work the rest of the row as usual or according to instructions.
6. After I’ve worked a couple of more rows, with increases on the RS (knit-side) rows only, the piece looks like this:
Pretty neat type of increases, right?!
Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.
In one of the designs I’m working on, I’m using a lovely intricate stitch pattern from the Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible by Hitomi Shida. In this particular stitch pattern, a Right Twist stitch is used. So, in this post, I’ll go into the details on how to work this stitch.
The basic characteristic of a Right Twist, is that it switches the order of 2 adjoining stitches, one “main stitch” and one “background stitch” to make it appear that the main stitch travels to the right. The background is usually reverse stockinette. The main stitch is usually worked twisted (working the stitch through the back loop) stockinette. This way it pops even more against the background.
The instruction from the Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible for this stitch consists of the following text:
With RN, go in front of first st and ktbl second st without removing it from LN; p first st and slip both off LN.
Materials used
Yarn: Debbie Bliss “Piper” in Magenta. It’s a yarn with a composition of 50% cotton and 50% viscose. It has a great stitch definition, perfect for trying out those intricate Japanese stitch patterns.
Needles: KnitPro Zing Fixed Circular Needles. In this tutorial, I used the 4 mm (US 6) size with a cable length of 80 cm (32 inches).
Working a Right Twist step by step
1. The first 2 stitches on the left-hand needle in the picture below, are the ones we’re going to work the Right Twist over. In other words: we’re going to switch the order of the knit and the purl stitch, to make it appear that the knit stitch travels to the right.
2. To start, insert your right-hand needle knit wise into the back loop of the second stitch from the tip of the left-hand needle to work a twisted knit stitch. The yarn is at the back of the work.
3. Wrap your yarn around the needle…
4. ….and pull it through the stitch.
5. Next we’re going to work the first stitch we skipped before. Since that is a purl stitch we first have to move the working yarn to the front of the work.
6. Now it’s time to insert your right-hand needle purl wise into the first stitch from the tip of the left-hand needle.
7. Wrap your yarn around the needle…
8. … and pull it through the stitch.
9. Now both stitches are worked, slip them from the left-hand needle to complete your Right Twist stitch!
On the following wrong side row, work the stitches as they present themselves. In other words: what looks like a knit stitch is knit, what looks like a purl stitch is purled, and the “traveling stitch” is purled through the back loop. Below is how it looks after a couple of more rows have been worked.
And that’s it! In a new tutorial I’ll go into how to work a Left Twist stitch, stay tuned!
Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.
