Blanket Square #6: Ripple Stripe Pattern

The weather here in Michigan has been such a flirt. Last week we had the mercury upwards of 55-60F and this week we had snow. SNOW! Granted it did all melt but its officially Spring and we are still getting snow. I was informed by Sydney that Spring is coming because the birdies are coming back and that means spring. How did that child get so smart?

This weeks square is the Ripple Stripe Pattern and according to Barbara it is excellent for an easy knit. She also says it is excellent for sweaters, skirts and dresses.


Ripple Stripe Pattern

From "A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns" by Barbara Walker

Multiple of 8 sts plus 1

Row 1: (RS) K4, *p1, k7; rep from *, end p1, k4
Row 2: P3, *k3, p5; rep from *, end k3, p3
Row 3: K2, *p2, k1, p2, k3; rep from *, end last repeat k2
Row 4: P1, *k2, p3, k2, p1; rep from *
Row 5: K1, *p1, k5, p1, k1; rep from *
Row 6: purl

Repeat rows 1-6

Raglan Cardi

Signs of spring are all around us here in Michigan. The birds are chirping, the snow is all but gone, and the weather is upwards of 50 degrees F most days. With this said, we are working our way into what I refer to as Spring Sweater Weather. Spring Sweater Weather is when we wear our sweaters that are still made of wool but perhaps it has some cotton blended with it and its full of pastels and lighter colors as opposed to the warm and complex colors of the Fall Season.



I've been working with Elann.com's Peru Soft quite a bit lately and just love this yarn. I'm a bit disappointed that it is currently discontinued but grateful for the 100+ balls I have stashed away. The yarn is quite soft and makes for a fast knit because of its bulkyness (is this a word?) but more importantly its machine washable. With 2 very active little girls this is a desirable quality in a yarn.



I decided Sydney needed a Spring Sweater and chose to knit up a quick and simple raglan cutaway. This is a personal pattern and while I did not take notes of any kind, its just a variation of a generic raglan cardigan that is knit from the top down.

Generic Raglan Cardi

Start out by casting on one or two stitches for the front right, place a marker, one or three stitches for the right sleeve, place a marker, enough stitches for about 5 - 6 inches (for a child) for the back, place a marker, one or three stitches for the left sleeve, place a marker, and then one or two stitches for the left front. Knit one row even and purl back. On the next right side row, increase one stitch before and after each stitch marker, a total of 8 stitches will be increased in this row. Purl back. Continue to increase 8 stitches every right side row until the armhole measures about 5 - 6 inches (for a child). At this point, place the sleeve stitches on some waste yarn (we will come back to them later) and knit only the right and left fronts along with the back. Knit until the garment reaches the desired length and bind off.

Return the sleeve stitches to your needles, join in the round and place a marker to indicate the end of each round. Feel free to use whatever method you find easiest for knitting in the round on sleeve stitches. I find that using 2 circular needles works best for me. Knit 3 rounds even and on the next round decrease 1 stitch at the beginning and end of the round (a total of 2 stitches will be decreased this round). Decrease 2 stitches every 4th round until the sleeve is about 4 inches around (approximately the width of the arm). Knit even to desired length and bind off the sleeve stitches loosely. You can easily add a 2x2 rib or a simple lace pattern for style at the end of the sleeve if you so choose. Repeat for the other sleeve.

At this point, I picked up stitches all around the garment and did a simple knit 2 purl 2 rib for about 2 - 3 inches and then loosely bound off all my stitches.

PS. See that pillow that Sydney is cuddling with? Its Betsy's and it matches the blanket we made her!

Blanket Square #5: Square Lattice

Don't let this pattern fool you because it certainly fooled me. It is harder than it looks because I kept loosing my place in the pattern. I would strongly recommend marking your place. Overall, this was quite fun and I love the resulting square.


Square Lattice
Multiple of 14 sts plus 2

Row 1: Knit
Rows 2, 4 and 6: P2, *(k1, p1) twice, k1 p2; rep from *
Rows 3, 5 and 7: K3, *p1, k1, p1, k4; rep from *, end last repeat k3.
Row 8: P2, *k12, p2; rep from *
Row 9: K2, *p12, k2; rep from *
Row 10: Purl
Rows 11, 13, and 15: K2, *(p1, k1) twice, p1, k2; rep from *
Rows 12, 14, and 16: P3, *k1, p1, k1, p4; rep from *, end last repeat p3.
Row 17: P7, *k2, p12; rep from *, end k2, p7
Row 18: K7, *p2, K12; rep from*, end p2, k7

Repeat Rows 1 - 18

Blanket Square #4: Moss Diamond and Lozenge Pattern

This pattern looks harder than it actually is. It is a rather ingenious arrangement of Moss Stitch "diamonds" - which arn't true diamonds, as they are off-center by one stitch - with lozenges of knit and purl.

Moss Diamond and Lozenge Pattern
A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, pg 17

Multiple of 12 sts.

Rows 1 and 2: *K6, p6; rep from *
Rows 3 and 4: * P1, k5, p5, k1; rep from *
Rows 5 and 6: *K1, p1, k4, p4, k1, p1; rep from *
Rows 7 and 8: *P1, k1, p1, k3, p3, k1, p1, k1; rep from *
Rows 9 and 10: *(k1, p1) twice, k2, p2, (k1, p1) twice; rep from *
Rows 11 and 12: *P1, k1; rep from *
Rows 13 and 14: *K1, P1; rep from *
Rows 15 and 16: *(P1, k1) twice, p2, k2, (p1, k1) twice; rep from *
Rows 17 and 18: *K1, p1, k1, p3, k3, p1, k1, p1; rep from *
Rows 19 and 20: *P1, k1, p4, k4, p1, k1; rep from *
Rows 21 and 22: *K1, p5, k5, p1; rep from *
Rows 23 and 24: *P6, k6; rep from *
Rows 25 and 26: *P5, k1, p1, k5; rep from *
Rows 27 and 28: *P4, (k1, p1) twice, k4; rep from *
Rows 29 and 30: *P3, (k1, p1) 3 times, k3; rep from *
Rows 31 and 32: *P2, (k1, p1) 4 times, k2; rep from *
Rows 33 and 34: *P1, k1; rep from *
Rows 35 and 36: *K1, p1; rep from *
Rows 37 and 38: *K2, (p1, k1) 4 times, p2; rep from *
Rows 39 and 40: *K3, (p1, k1) 3 times, p3; rep from *
Rows 41 and 42: *K4, (p1, k1) twice, p4; rep from *
Rows 43 and 44: *K5, p1, k1, p5; rep from *

Repeat rows 1-44.