KNITmuch | Issue 07

KNIT much.com 

much KNIT 

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Issue 7 

NEW 

Uptown DK Magix & Chic Sheep 

! 

* make knitted 

swatches do dual duty 

* what designers 

consider when writing 

a knitting pattern 

* easy patterns to 

knit with Uptown DK 

Magix 

* the anatomy of a 

knitted beret for baby 

* Bunny Ear decreases 

make this stitch 

pattern best for 

knitted baby blankie

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Knitting with Uptown DK Magix yarn 

This antipilling acrylic yarn gets an ‘A’ 

Easy patterns to knit with Uptown DK Magix 

The anatomy of a knitted beret for baby 

Bunny Ear decreases make this stitch pattern best for knitted baby blankie 

NEW! Red Heart Chic Sheep yarn by Marly Bird 

A simple lace triangle shawl is luxurious knitted with Chic Sheep yarn 

Steam blocking a shawl knitted with Chic Sheep goes from good to great! 

Knitting the Road to Success Chic Hat 

The anatomy of a pompom 

Papyrus – cottony soft knitting! 

Make knitted swatches do dual duty 

Patterns for Papyrus, a summery yarn 

What designers consider when writing a knitting pattern 

How to write patterns for beginner knitters 

Red Heart Dreamy yarn 

Dreamy Relaxation Socks 

How Dreamy yarn is perfect for knitting throws 

Knitting a lace shawl using a brushed acrylic yarn makes it Dreamy 

How does a scalene triangle relate to knitting? 

contents 

KNITmuch | issue 7 

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4 KNITmuch | issue 7

editor's letter 

I consider carefully what I 

choose to knit. I ask myself, 

will I wear the style? Do I like 

the yarn? What about the 

color? These are important 

elements that make my 

knitting worthwhile! 

I also take these elements 

into consideration when 

knitting for others. But let me 

tell you a little story about a 

recent cardi I knit for myself 

during a KAL. I was so excited 

to participate because I rarely 

get a chance to do so. 

I knew I wasn't crazy about 

the style and I wasn't crazy 

about the suggested yarn 

either. But good news, one 

can change the yarn which I 

did. 

After four weeks, my cardi was 

done, and although the style 

didn't quite flatter my body 

type it was still quite a lovely 

cardi. I wore it only once. 

A year later, I heartlessly 

frogged the cardi once I 

found a top pattern that 

flattered me. I was happy to 

find as I knitted the new top 

that the yarn wasn't pilling 

as I worked it. Great relief, 

as one of my pet peeves is 

garments that pill. 

More good news, the new 

version of Uptown DK yarn, 

Magix, is phenomenal when 

it comes to its anti-pilling 

properties, especially when 

knitting for children. The 

people at Universal Yarn 

created bright a playful 

colors for Magix, so as color 

and anti-pilling yarn are a 

perfect pair when knitting for 

children. 

Another new yarn, Chic Sheep, 

is the newest 100% wool 

by Red Heart. Its softness 

and colors satisfy natural 

fiber lovers without the 

fuss required to wash it. 

Because it's mercerized 

wool, it can be washed by 

machine in cold water and 

layed out flat to dry. 

Let's not stop here, in this 

issue, get to know the 

very lovely Papyrus yarn, 

synonym to baby-soft 

cotton and silk yarn. It's 

never too early to knit for 

next summer or perhaps 

you're a 'snowbird' heading 

towards the warm south for 

the winter! 

Lastly, have you come 

home from a very busy 

day wishing there was 

something special yet 

unpretentious to snuggle 

up to? You might want 

to consider Dreamy yarn. 

It's an acrylic yarn with a 

dream-like halo. 

There's so much yarn to 

explore. Enjoy! 

Share the love of knitting. Own the obsession. 

Cheerfully, 

follow me 


5

Self-striping Uptown Magix DK is a super-soft machine washable yarn. 

Ok! We’re looking at a new 

version of Uptown DK yarn, 

Uptown DK Magix. This yarn is 

produced by Universal Yarns 

in Turkey. There are six fun 

colorways that we’ll explore in 

more detail further on, but what 

I want to write about now is the 

yarn texture and structure. 

As you know if you’ve read 

some of my past posts, I’m not 

a fiber snob. I like natural fibers 

and synthetics, but I believe 

each type of yarn has its pros 

and cons or at least its suitability 

for certain projects. 

I’d honestly say that Uptown DK 

Magix, and its sister solid yarn, 

Uptown DK (which is available in 

51 colors) is suitable for any knit 

project. I mean, it wouldn’t work 

for a trivet, because it would 

melt, but for garments, hats, 

accessories, slipper-socks…it is a 

great yarn. Let me tell you why. 


These teal and red blends are some of my favorite 

colorways ever. 

The above swatch is in the Swing 

Set colorway. And while it’s 

hard to capture in a photo, the 

drape of the knit fabric is lovely 

– there’s no stiffness when I knit 

with it at the recommended 

needle size. The yarn has about 

10 to 12 twists per inch, which 

gives it a really sound structure 

and also provides the stitches 

with great definition. 

After knitting and frogging 3 

times and then washing it, there 

is a slight, very slight fuzzy halo, 

but true to the label, it’s resistant 

to pilling. 

Very soft fibers, in four single plies, spun together 

at 10 twists per inch, create a squishy, stable and 

well-defined yarn. 

I did find as I knit a small fuzzball 

occasionally formed around the 

yarn at the point where I tension 

it in my hand, but it was easily 

removed, and it wasn’t constant. 

The hand of the yarn and of the 

fabric is very interesting. It’s very 

soft and has no scratchiness to it. 

There isn’t the squeakiness that 

many synthetics have, either.

Even though it isn’t made out of rayon, Uptown DK 

Magix has a rayon-like feel to it (I call it scrunchy, 

but that’s not the right word). People who want to 

knit garments that will look good for a long time, 

and those who want to knit easy-care items like 

baby blankets or kids’ clothing will find Uptown DK 

Magix to be a great go-to yarn. 

One of the pluses to Uptown DK Magix, and why 

I think it fights pilling so well is the length of the 

staple. I untwisted the yarn to its original 4 plies, 

and then I took 1 of them and, with tweezers, I 

teased out several individual filaments. Each one 

was between 2½″ and 3¼″ long. 

This staple length helps ensure that a lot of short 

fuzzy ends don’t come to the surface and twist 

into pill bumps. It also contributes to the sturdiness 

of the twist. The yarn has a slight sheen – nothing 

like silk or viscose or rayon – but a nice glint that 

catches the light. This helps to create good, crisp 

stitch definition when it’s knit up. 

A slice of pie? No, just a few garter stitch short rows, making up a quarter of 

a circle. 

One of the best features of Uptown DK Magix is 

that it’s an antipilling acrylic. As we explore this 

yarn over the next few days we’ll look at patterns 

and colors, and yesterday we looked at its 

structure. We’ll look at what happens to this yarn 

with some wear and tear! 

One of the reasons I give Uptown DK Magix top 

marks is because it truly lives up to its antipilling 

label. There are certain pima cotton yarns and 

merino wools, both lovely, and often quite pricey, 

that pill as I’m knitting across the needles, and that 

is SO disappointing. 

I’ve knit a comfort blankie, 2 swatches, and a hat 

with 1 skein of Uptown DK Magix and there has 

been NO pilling while on the needles. I also sat 

and watched a 1-hour TV show and rubbed 

these two swatches together, and wrung them, 

and spun them and fidgeted with them the 

whole time…not one pill. 

I put these 2 swatches through one more 

experience! A load of laundry in hot water (they 

swam around with kitchen cloths and bath towels) 

and a trip through the dryer saw these two 

swatches come out unscathed. 

Here are two un-washed swatches of Uptown DK Magix. 

Two swatches that have been through the laundry. 


7

After a stint in the wash, this swatch has a slight halo of fuzz, but no pills. 

As you can see in the photo above, the washing 

and drying experience didn’t result in pills on these 

acrylic yarn swatches. The slight halo of fuzz that is 

visible doesn’t even seem to matt and form those 

pre-pilling wads which often happens to acrylics 

when they go through the laundry. 

I tried to find out as much as I could about how 

antipilling yarn is manufactured, but the information 

must be buried outside of Google’s “eyes”. I even 

looked at fiber engineering resources and really 

came up with little, so I’m guessing it’s a tightly 

guarded trade secret. 

What I could gather from my research is that the 

polymers used to produce a longer, stronger more 

resilient staple (individual strand of fiber), that 

handles being spun by large spinning machines 

really well. I tried to see if there is a chemical 

bath, like the ones superwash wool or mercerized 

cotton get dumped in, that would change the 

properties of the acrylic yarn, but I couldn’t find 

anything to indicate that’s a thing. There’s a 

lot more experimentation with microfibers and 

blending nylon and different types of viscose and 

polyesters with acrylic as well, but the label would 

reflect that, I think. 

Suffice it to say, I may never be able to find out what 

the secret sauce is, but I don’t need to. I’m happy 

knitting with this yarn, and it will be one of my go to 

yarns for gifts that need easy care. 

Another reason I give Uptown DK Magix a high 

score is the six colorways it comes in. They are 

bright and they don’t fade in the wash. I really like 

pairing green with purple, and this use of a seafoam 

green in Purple Party would be perfect for 

mermaid fans. If you’ve read any of my earlier blog 

posts, you’ll know that teal is my absolute favorite 

color, and when it’s paired with red, like in Swing 

Set, I just love it. The blues in Blue Shades will be the 

choice of many knitters, I’m sure. 

3 bright colorways of Uptown DK Magix in warm colors 

Yellow Slumber reminds me of some marshmallow 

Easter candies we would have in the house every 

spring. All of the items I knit this week are knit in 

Summer Flies, a fitting name with the sky blue and 

meadow greens used in this colorway. Pink Tango, 

is a saucy, fun name for a colorway, and captures 

this blend of pinks perfectly. 

Just a last note: the washing instructions on the ball 

band say wash in cold water and tumble on low. I 

hadn’t paid attention to that before I washed it in 

hot water and dried it in full-blast heat on a towel 

load. I’m guessing if you follow the ball band, you’re 

knit items will look lovely even longer, but if you 

must disinfect anything, it’ll all turn out fine. 

3 bright colorways of Uptown DK Magix in cool tones 

Summer Flies colorway of Uptown DK Magix is a cheery combination of 

summer skies and green meadows. 


Now that I’ve described the 

anatomy of Uptown DK Magix 

and looked at its resilience in the 

laundry, and studied its colors, 

I’m sure you’d like to see what 

you could knit with this yarn. 

One good way to use Uptown 

DK Magix is to pair it with a 

solid-colored yarn from the 

Uptown DK line. In this sweater 

called ‘Hey Baby‘ we can see the 

colorway Yellow Slumber knit 

together with a complimentary 

granite gray. The solid-colored 

ribbing and pompom in the 

contrasting color makes the 

subtle colors of Yellow Slumber 

really pop. 

Uptown DK and Magix yarns don’t 

have to be used for kids’ knits 

only. Here’s a seamless cowl with a 

unique texture stitch pattern knit 

with the Purple Party colorway 

of Magix and combined with the 

solid color, silver. This warm cowl 

can be worn right next to the 

neck with no fear of prickliness. 

The designer who came up with 

the next free pattern combines 

squares knitted in the Roman 

Stripe quilting design connected 

with solids that complement 

Uptown DK Magix. Some of them 

are paired with several Magix 

colorways in this blanket pattern. 

Combine a solid Uptown DK yarn with one of the 

Uptown DK Magix colorways for a vibrant look! 

This seamless cowl uses 1 skein each of Uptown 

DK Magix and a solid color of Uptown DK. 

Roman stripe squares knitted on the diagonal are 

joined log-cabin style in a join-as-you-go fashion 

to perfectly combine solid shades of Uptown DK 

and self-striping Uptown DK Magix. 

This stunning blanket makes the most of these 

self-striping yarns and highlights them by 

framing them in intensely saturated solid colors. 

Photos this page courtesy of Universal Yarn 


9

Uptown DK Magix, makes a colorful, warm and soft, and fun-to-wear hat 

with a beret-style shape. 

The strategically placed purl stitch makes a nice turning edge and a nice, flat 

crown for our beret. 

I’d like to share a recipe to knit 

a beret or a beret-like beanie 

(it depends on the width of the 

band) for a baby, or for that 

matter, for any wearer. We’ll use 

short rows to make a flat circular 

top, and then jump right in. 

For beginning knitters, short rows 

worked in garter stitch knitting 

are the easiest to learn, as you 

don’t need to worry about 

gaping holes or wrapped stitches 

because the ridges of the garter 

stitch tends to keep everything 

neat and tidy. 

Short rows are worked by knitting 

partially across the stitches on 

the needle at which point you 

stop, turn the work around 

and knit back in the opposite 

direction. This can cause a 

gap which can be avoided by 

wrapping a stitch at the point 

where the work is turned. Please 

watch the following video for two 

easy ways to do this. 


I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t 

swatch for this pattern. I just cast 

on stitches, stretched them as far 

apart as I could on the needle 

and measured across to get what 

I thought would be the radius of 

the top circle of the hat. I wanted 

an infant-size hat, and, according 

to this chart, I needed a 19″ 

[43cm] circumference, which 

meant I needed about 3″ [7.5cm] 

worth of stitches because 3 x π, 

aka 3.14 comes very close to a 

radius of 10, which gets me very 

close to a diameter of 19. Then I 

added 3 more stitches to create 

a turning ridge at the outer edge 

of the circle. 

Well, as I’ve preached for many 

years, I should have swatched, 

because my gauge in garter 

stitch turned out to be 20 sts 

per 4″ [10cm] using size 5 US 

[3.75mm] needles and 22 stitches. 

What came off my needles was 

a “pie” with a 3¼″ radius and a 

hat that is 20¼″ around –perfect 

for a toddler. Now, if you can find 

a toddler who cooperates with 

wearing hats, you may be in luck. 

I remember playing hat-pickup 

with my two sons for a few 

winters – it’s not a fond memory. 

In my experience, it’s a lot easier 

to keep hats on infants. 

As I mentioned above, you need 

3 additional stitches for the 

turning ridge, then do what I 

should have done: knit a garter 

stitch gauge swatch, figure out 

how many stitches you’ll need for 

the desired radius for the size/ 

circumference you want (which 

is the measurement around the 

head just above the ears), and 

add 3 more stitches to determine 

the total number of stitches to 

cast on. 

I used the Old Norwegian cast 

on because its bottom edge 

looks similar to garter stitch, 

which leaves a nearly invisible 

seam when you graft together 

the two short ends of the “pie” 

you’re about to knit. My editor, 

who has an annoying penchant 

for doing Kitchener stitch, has 

said she would use a waste-yarn 

provisional cast on and graft all 

the live stitches at the end.

Next…how to calculate the short 

rows. 

Can you find the seam that joins the two ends? It 

is barely perceptible because of the ways I cast on 

and bound off. 

Take the number of stitches 

you have and find the nearest 

multiple of 4 that’s lower than 

the total. For me, with 22 sts, 

20 is the nearest multiple of 4. 

Divide that number by 4 to get 

the interval for short rows. 20 

divided by 4 is 5 for my hat, so 

my interval is 5. 

Proceed as follows: 

Row 1 (WS): Slip first st purlwise 

with yarn in back, knit to 

last 3 sts, p1, k2. 

Row 2: With yarn in front, sl 1 

purlwise, return yarn to back 

of work (selvedge stitch 

made – begin all even rows 

like this), knit across. 

Row 3 and all following odd 

rows: Repeat Row 1. 

Row 4: Selvedge st, knit to last 2 

sts, wrap and turn. 





Row 10: Selvedge st, knit to last 

17 sts, wrap and turn. 

Row 12: Selvedge st, knit across 

including all wrapped sts to 

the last 3 sts, wrap and turn. 


to last 8 sts, wrap and turn. 


to last 13 sts, wrap and 

turn. 


to ast 18 sts, wrap and turn. 


including all wrapped sts. 

This makes 1 wedge. 

Repeat Rows 1-20 until the two 

short ends of the “pie” shape 

touch without any puckering 

or buckling in the circle. Bind 

off purlwise and sew the ends 

together to form a circle. Run 

a tail of yarn in out of the ends 

of rows in the center of the “pie 

slices” and cinch the hole closed. 

If you look closely, you can see 

the 5-stitch intervals of my short 

rows. Use your interval number 

that you calculated above to 

prescribe where to turn your 

short rows. 

The selvedge edge around the 

outside of the crown is perfect 

for picking up stitches for the 

hat band. Rejoin the yarn and 

pick up and knit one stitch 

under both strands of “chain” 

along the selvedge. Join to 

work in the round. 

Purl the first round. 

Count the stitches, then, refer to 

your gauge swatch to determine 

the number of stitches you 

need to go around the desired 

circumference. If you want a 

comfortable fit, add 2 extra 

stitches to the result. If you want 

the hat to fit snugly, decrease 

2 stitches. I have 80 sts exactly, 

which is 20″ [51cm]. That’s ¼” 

[5mm] tighter than the actual 

measurement for a toddler. 

Hopefully, it will stay on without 

being too tight. 

Once you know how many 

stitches you need, increase or 

decrease the necessary number 

of stitches on the next (knit) round. 

From this point on, alternate 

purl and knit rounds until you 

the brim of the hat is the desired 

depth. Bind off loosely – I 

recommend using a needle one 

or two sizes larger. 

The turning st and the selvedge stitches make for 

a neat join between the crown and the band. 

I hope you try this recipe 

to make several berets with 

Uptown DK Magix yarn, or 

even with other yarns in your 

stash. I topped this one off 

with a pompom, but a simple 

crocheted chain would make a 

traditional “stem.” The top could 

even be left plain! 

If you don’t have tiny heads to 

wear your work, you can donate 

them to mitten drives, centers 

for grieving children, or even 

to nearby schools to hand out 

to children who have forgotten 

theirs, or who don’t have a hat 

they can call their own. 

Keep reading! we’ll look at 

another pattern that really takes 

advantage of the stripes created 

by Uptown DK Magix. 


11

This soft, cuddly blanket is the perfect comfort for 

your little one. 

This swatch shows the progression I took from flat 

stripes to rippling ones. 


Let's take advantage of one of 

the best features of this yarn, and 

that is its softness. 

I’m always exploring new stitches, 

new techniques, and ways to 

blend them into new patterns. I 

knew the moment that I received 

this yarn I wanted to work up a 

ripple or chevron stitch blankie. 

But I didn’t want it to be the 

traditional scalloped or zigzag 

chevron stitch. So I set out to try 

something else. 

Over the last few weeks, in 

my explorations of new-tome 

stitches, I had come across 

horizontal braids, and bunny 

ear decreases, and so I thought 

I’d try these out. As you can see, 

starting on the left of the photo, 

my stripes stayed fairly even keel 

despite my attempts to disrupt 

them with mid-row bind offs and 

bunny ear decreases. 

As I moved further along, I 

figured out how to get a W-like 

ripple in the stripes, so I worked 

enough repeats that I fine-tuned 

the issues with the large eyelets 

and the placement of the other 

little lace motifs which remind me 

of evergreen trees. I abandoned 

the braids early on. I’ll save them 

for a future project, but I kept the 

bunny ear decreases. 

Bunny Ear decreases are so 

called because of the shape 

the 2 stitches have as they stem 

forth from the 3 stitches that are 

used to work the decrease. To 

work this decrease, you insert 

the right-hand needle into the 

next 2 stitches as if to knit them 

together through the front legs 

and you wrap the yarn and bring 

it up between the 2 front legs 

and then slide everything of 

the left-hand needle. Then you 

knit the next st, then take the 

dropped leg, which now looks 

like an obvious diagonal strand 

and you pass it over the first 2 

stitches on the right-hand needle. 

This creates a nice symmetrical 

decrease, with the “bunny ears” 

protruding upwards. Here’s a 

video to help see how it works. 

The other stitch pattern that I 

swatched for a while to get it right 

are these large eyelets that have 

6 stitches germinating from them. 

It’s actually 5 stitches at first, but 

the 6th is added shortly after. In 

this next video, I demonstrate how 

to work these eyelets. 

I’ve combined these two 

techniques into the pattern that 

I’m sharing below. But I just 

wanted to revisit blocking though, 

because it really made these 

stitches stand out well in this yarn. 

While Uptown DK Magix is 100% 

acrylic, it responded well to 

blocking. I did a wet soak in warm 

water and pinned it out to dry.

un-dec-w-yo (Bunny Ears Decrease 

with YO): Insert RH needle to 

knit next 2 sts together through the 

front legs, wrap yarn to knit, bring 

RH needle up between the two legs 

and slide all off LH needle, yarn fwd, 

knit next st, pass 3rd strand on RH 

needle over first 2 sts. 

k: knit 

k2tog: knit 2 stitches together 

through the front legs 

lki (lifted knit increase): lift the stitch 

2 rows below the first stitch on the 

RH needle onto the LH needle and 

knit this stitch. 

p: purl. 

ssk: slip 2 stitches knitwise, then knit 

slipped stitches together through the 

back legs 

S1 (slip 1): with the working yarn in 

back, insert the RH needle into the 

next stitch as if to purl and transfer the 

stitch from the left needle to the right. 

S1 wyif: With the working yarn in front, 

insert the RH needle into the next 

stitch as if to purl and transfer the stitch 

from the left needle to the right. 

s2tog-k1-p2sso: Slip 2 stitches 

together knitwise, knit 1, then pass 

slipped stitches over. 

yo: wrap the working yarn over the 

right needle, from front to back 

(counter-clockwise). 

(k, yo, k, yo, k) in next st: knit, leaving 

the stitch on the needle, then yarn 

over, knit, yarn over, and then knit (5 

stitches total) into the same stitch. 

1/1 LC (left crossed sts): Insert RH 

needle between next 2 sts on the LH 

needle from the back, and then into 

the front leg of the 2nd st, knit 2nd 

st, then knit first st on LH needle and 

slide both off. Or, slip 1 stitch to cable 

needle and hold in front; k1; k1 from 

cable needle. 

1/1 RC (right crossed sts): Insert 

RH needle from right to left under 

the front leg of the 2nd st on the LH 

needle an loosen leg loop, knit this 

loop, then knit the first st on the LH 

needle separately, slide both off. Or, 

slip 1 stitch to cable needle and hold 

in back; k1; k1 from cable needle. 

needles and yarn 

1 ball Uptown DK Magix in 

Summer Flies 

US 5 [3.75mm] needles 

gauge 

22 sts and 32 rows = 4″ [10cm] in 

stockinette stitch 

When you work this stitch 

pattern, the number of stitches 

for each repeat will increase and 

then gradually decrease. This is 

in part what forms the ripples. 

Stitch counts are provided on all 

rows where there’s a change in 

the total number. 

Cast on 93 sts. 

Work in Garter Stitch (knit every 

row) for 4 rows. 

Work in Stockinette Stitch (knit 1 

row, purl 1 row) for 2 rows. 

Then you can begin the W-ripple 

motifs in the following stitch 

pattern rows: 

W-ripple Stitch 

Row 1: S1 wyif, k2, p1, k1, 1/1 LC, 

p1, [k5, bun-dec-w-yo, k2, 

s2tog-k1-p2sso, k3, k2tog, 

yo, ssk, k3, s2tog-k1- 

p2sso, k2, bun-dec-w-yo, 

k5, p1, k1, 1/1 LC, p1] twice, 

k3 (83 sts). 

Row 2: S1 wyif, k2, {[k1, p3] twice, 

p2, [p1, yo] twice, p17, [yo, 

p1] twice, p5} twice, k1, p3, 

k4 (91 sts). 

Row 3: S1 wyif, k2, p1, 1/1 RC, k1, 

p1, {k7, [yo, k1] twice, k2, 

s2tog-k1-p2sso, k3, (k, yo, 

k, yo, k) in 1, k3, s2tog-k1- 

p2sso, k2, [k1, yo] twice, k7, 

p1, 1/1 RC, k1, p1} twice, k3 

(99 sts). 

Row 4: S1 wyif, k3, p3, k1, {p7, 

[p1, yo] twice, p21, [yo, p1] 

twice, p3, [p3, k1] twice} 

twice, k3 (105 sts). 


p1, {k9, s1, k4, s2tog-k1- 

p2sso, k5, lki, k4, s2tog-k1- 

p2sso, k4, s1, k9, p1, k1, 1/1 

LC, p1} twice, k3 (101 sts). 

Row 6: S1 wyif, k3, p3, k1, {p37, [p3, 

k1] twice} twice, k3 (101 sts). 


p1, {k5, [k8, s2tog-k1-p2sso] 

twice, k13, p1, 1/1 RC, k1, p1} 


Row 8: S1 wyif, k3, p3, k1, {p33, [p3, 

k1] twice} twice, k3 (93 sts). 


p1, {k36, p1, k1, 1/1 LC, p1} 


Row 10: S1 wyif, k3, p3, k1, {p33, 

[p3, k1] twice} twice, k3 

(93 sts). 

Row 11: S1 wyif, k2, p1, 1/1 RC, 

k1, p1, {k5, bun-dec-w-yo, 

k2, s2tog-k1-p2sso, k3, 

k2tog, yo, ssk, k3, s2togk1-p2sso, 

k2, bun-dec-wyo, 

k5, p1, 1/1 RC, k1, p1} 


Row 12: S1 wyif, k2, {[k1, p3] 

twice, p2, [p1, yo] twice, 

p17, [yo, p1] twice, p5] 

twice, k1, p3, k4 (91 sts). 

Row 13: S1 wyif, k2, p1, k1, 1/1 

LC, p1, {k7, [yo, k1] twice, 

k2, s2tog-k1-p2sso, k3, (k, 

yo, k, yo, k) in next st, k3, 

s2tog-k1-p2sso, k2, [k1, yo] 

twice, k7, p1, k1, 1/1 LC, p1} 


Row 14: S1 wyif, k3, p3, k1, {p7, 

[p1, yo] twice, p21, [yo, p1] 

twice, p3, [p3, k1] twice} 


Row 15: S1 wyif, k2, p1, 1/1 RC, 

k1, p1, {k9, s1, k4, s2tog-k1- 

p2sso, k5, lki, k4, s2tog-k1- 

p2sso, k4, s1, k9, p1, 1/1 RC, 

k1, p1} twice, k3 (101 sts). 

Row 16: S1 wyif, k3, p3, k1, {p37, 

[p3, k1] twice} twice, k3 (101 

sts). 


13

The unblocked lovey blankie is really rippling all over the place, but this acrylic yarn can indeed be blocked. 

Charles Voth 

twitter.com/stitchstud 

charlesvothdesigns.ca 

Row 17: S1 wyif, k2, p1, k1, 1/1 

LC, p1, {k5, [k8, s2tog-k1- 

p2sso] twice, k13, p1, k1, 1/1 

LC, p1} twice, k3 (93 sts). 

Row 18: S1 wyif, k3, p3, k1, {p33, 

[p3, k1] twice} twice, k3 (93 

sts). 


p1, {k36, p1, 1/1 RC, k1, p1} 


Row 20: S1 wyif, k3, p3, k1, {p33, 

[p3, k1] twice} twice, k3 

(93 sts). 

Repeat rows 1-20 the desired 

number of times, ending with a 

row 18. 

Work 2 rows Stockinette and 4 

rows Garter Stitch. 

Then you can bind off. 

The dimensions of my lovey 

blankie are 10″ x 16″. 

To make this blanket wider, you 

simply need to add multiples of 

41 to the current 93 sts. 

If I didn’t have tens of other 

things to knit, and design, and 

dream up, I’d start a larger 

W-stitch blanket, but for now, the 

next friends who have a baby will 

have some sort of gift wrapped 

up in this lovey blanket made out 

of Uptown Dk Magix. 

After blocking, the edges settle down to their true W-ripple and the motifs are crisp and neat. 

The W-stitch lovey blanket getting blocked so its 

motifs can really stand out! 


10 Night Aran Islands, Donegal & Causeway Coast (Ireland) 

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• 06 Jul 2019 

• 07 Sep 2019 

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on Inis Mór, one of the famous Aran Islands! 

Workshops with Edel McBride, Lisa Sisk from This is Knit and 

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15

NEW! Red Heart 

Chic Sheep yarn 

by Marly Bird 


Chic Sheep in the color Sterling 

The newest addition to the Red Heart family is Chic 

Sheep yarn by Marly Bird. This is really exciting for a 

number of reasons, but mainly because this yarn is 

100% merino wool. Yes, you heard me, it’s all wool. 

This makes Chic Sheep stand out from the rest of 

Red Heart yarns, which are typically a wool blend. 

With this yarn being 100% merino wool you’d 

think the washing instructions would get really 

complicated. Something along the lines of, hand 

wash by the light of a full moon in cold water 

made of pure unicorn tears. This is so not the case! 

Machine wash in cold water and lay flat to dry. If 

you have a newer washing machine, there is a wool 

cycle you can use. 

I have frequently washed my hand knit garments 

on the wool cycle with a bit of wool wash and have 

never had a problem with felting or damage. I’ll 

admit to being slightly apprehensive about it the 

first time, but I have never had any issues with a 

superwash or mercerized yarn. 

Another amazing thing about Chic Sheep, is the 

sheer volume of colors it comes in! There are a total 

of 24 colors, which means you’ll be able to find the 

color you’re looking for no matter the project. I’m 

always pleasantly surprised when a new yarn comes 

out in a whole lot of colors. I’m a huge color person, 

so when I’m able to pick bright hues and pair them 

with neutrals to get an amazing garment, I’m all for 

it. Mind you, Red Heart is rarely short on colors. 

Chic Sheep is a medium weight yarn with a 

recommended needle size of US 8 [5mm]. This is 

an excellent standard size yarn, you can make just 

about anything with it; hats, socks, slippers, cowls, 

sweaters, mittens, skirts, blankets, shawls, etc. 

When I took the skeins out of the bag, I just wanted 

to keep squishing them. This is a four-ply yarn with 

lots of air space worked in. It has a lovely hand that 

makes me want to constantly keep touching it. 

Photo courtesy of Red Heart 

Recommended hook and needle size along with 

washing instructions. 


You can easily tell how many plies your yarn 

is if you un-twist one end. They’ll come apart 

separately, then you can twist them back up 

when you’re done. 

All the colors are so vivid, I’m having trouble choosing 

between them! 

Photos by Michelle Nguyen

A simple lace triangle shawl is luxurious 

knitted with Chic Sheep yarn 

From my previous articles lately, 

you may be able to tell I’m on a 

shawl kick, so it makes sense that 

the first thing I’d knit with Chic 

Sheep is a shawl. The pattern 

is named Simple Lace Triangle 

Shawl, it’s available for free on 

the Red Heart website. 

The shawl is originally written for 

Red Heart Super Saver Ombre 

yarn, but I chose it for this solid 

color because I think it will 

show off the stitches nicely. The 

eyelets and delicate lace of the 

pattern look amazing with the 

soft sheen of the natural wool. I 

was completely right, this pattern 

does an amazing job of showing 

how the yarn does with stitches 

and shows off the beautiful 

natural look of this fiber. Chic 

Sheep was a dream to knit with. It 

moved along the needles easily 

and never split. Not once did I 

have the issue of splitting yarn; 

even when I was knitting in a car 

in the dark. 

It helps that the pattern is very 

easy to memorize and alter. I 

did alter the top. There was a 

small triangle of garter stitch 

in the beginning, but I just 

made it stockinette because I 

have an unreasonable, undying 

love of stockinette. What? It’s 

a completely normal kind of 

psychosis!!! 


The lovely product photo of the Simple Lace 

Triangle Shawl. 

The knitted and blocked garment. Look at how 

beautiful those eyelets turned out. 

Chic Sheep in the yellow color of Mimosa and the 

blue color Royal. 

You could also weave in some 

other colors, for example, making 

each stripe between the eyelets 

a different color. I very seriously 

considered doing this, but really 

wanted to show off the yarn and 

pattern. I ended up nixing the 

idea because I thought it would 

have created too much interest, 

but it’s still in the back of my 

mind. Perhaps a future article will 

feature the Simple Lace Triangle 

Shawl pattern with more colors. 

I normally block all my knitting, 

no matter the fiber content. With 

100% wool this step becomes 

non-negotiable. Tomorrow I’ll 

cover the reasons you should be 

blocking and a couple of different 

blocking methods you can use. 

It really makes a huge difference 

in the way your finished object 

looks. I’d highly suggest sticking 

around to read tomorrow’s post! 

The Simple Lace Triangle Shawl 

pattern was an excellent pattern 

to really show off Chic Sheep. I’m 

so pleased with the way it turned 

out. After blocking, it looks 

absolutely perfect. The yarn 

was so easy to knit with and felt 

amazing while I was knitting it up. 

Chic Sheep is definitely a staple 

for any knitters stash. 

My shawl blocking on my craft room floor. 


17

Steam blocking a shawl knitted with 

Chic Sheep goes from good to great! 

When I blocked the Simple Lace Triangle Shawl, 

it went from this curly crumpled triangularish 

shaped garment to a beautiful shawl. One 

comment I receive from a lot of people is how 

perfect my stitches look on knitted garments. 

Blocking goes a long way to making those stitches 

look absolutely perfect. They lay flat and fall in line 

with their brothers and sisters. It even makes errors 

less noticeable. 

This is what the eyelets looked like before blocking. You might want to scroll 

back to this photo after you see the end result. 

Here’s my ‘before’ picture. This shawl was fresh off the needles, cast off and 

onto the blocking board. 

First thing is first when blocking, you need to decide 

how you’re going to do it. There’s wet blocking and 

steam blocking. Wet blocking takes a bit longer and 

I’d definitely suggest starting out with wet blocking if 

you’re not entirely familiar with the process. It’s a bit 

more forgiving. It’s easy enough to do, you saturate 

your entire garment with water, then gently press 

the excess water from it. You then lay it out on a 

surface where you can pin it out and leave it to dry. 

I know I’m going through this at rapid-fire speed 

but it's very easy to find highly detailed instructions 

on how to block your knitted garments. I just want 

to give you a brief overview and a couple tips and 

tricks that will make it easier. 

Steam blocking is my favorite way to block and, 

I’ve discovered lately, much less common. I steam 

blocked the Simple Lace Triangle Shawl made with 

Chic Sheep. When I block my garments. I usually 

don’t have 12-24 hours to leave something to dry. I 

have cats who get into everything and while I might 

be able to close off one whole room in my house to 

let something settle into its final shape, it’s just not 

practical for me to do all the time. 

This is the corner of the shawl after unpinning. No curling, no rolling, a perfect 

pointed corner. Look at those eyelets! They’re much bigger and more noticeable. 


With the Simple Lace Triangle Shawl, I pinned out 

the top first. Usually, you can get length or width 

from a garment, but not both. With shawls, I prefer 

width so I make that line first. Then I make sure all 

the eyelets are open and you can see that yarn 

detail. If you’re blocking a sweater and you think 

it might be a bit too short, you can block it a bit 

longer, or if your armhole is a bit too small, you can 

block that bigger. 

The beautiful thing about wool is its memory. 

Natural wool remembers the shape it wants to be 

in and when you use water or steam to set it in a 

shape, it will naturally want to bounce back. 

With synthetic fibers, they usually relax when 

blocked, but wool reacts differently. If you’re 

knitting with a new yarn, whether it’s Chic Sheep or 

something else, I would highly suggest knitting two 

swatches and blocking them. You need to know 

how the yarn will react to steam and/or water. This 

is very relevant to garments you intend to wash. If 

the wool is going to bloom, the garment will have 

a very different look. You can never have too much 

information when it comes to your knitting. Swatch! 

Knitting the Road to 

Success Chic Hat 

Here’s my ‘after’ picture! First of all, look at the size difference. That’s the same 

iron and board. The blocking has increased the size, but mostly because I 

aggressively blocked it to open all the lacework. 

Talking of blocking made 

me think of things that are 

more difficult to block, hats, 

for example, need to have a 

specific shape and not have a 

line down the length of them. I 

like to combine steam and wet 

blocking for things like the Road 

to Success Chic Hat. This pattern 

is available for free on the Red 

Heart website. 

What really drew me to this 

pattern were the cables on 

the front and clean lines they 

create within the hat. It was 

also designed by Marly Bird, 

the inspiration for this yarn and 

National Spokesperson for Red 

Heart yarns. I would check out 

her website if you get a chance 

or even her podcast Yarn Thing. 

I personally really like Marly Bird 

and love her podcast. She is a 

lively lady with a love of yarn. 


The Road to Success Chic Hat is the perfect spring fashion item! 

Considering the sheer volume of patterns she has written for Ravelry, 

I was really excited to see her writing style and how Ravelry measured 

it. Marly Bird didn’t disappoint, the pattern is well written and charted. 

I love when designers give you the option to go with a chart or written 

instructions. Not everyone works the same and visual learners, like 

myself, may have a hard time with purely written instructions. 


19

My finished product, post-blocking of course, in the color royal. 

The color Polo really shows off the cables nicely. The shimmer of the yarn 

adds depth to the hills and valleys of the cables. 


Guys, I'm so happy I got the opportunity to knit 

this pattern with this yarn! They went together 

beautifully, like peanut butter and jelly. 

The color Polo really shows off the cables nicely. 

The shimmer of the yarn adds depth to the hills 

and valleys of the cables. 

We all know I 

have a slight 

apprehension 

about cables, 

but this 6 row 

repeat is easy 

peasy. It’s not 

too bad to 

memorize and 

it’s very easy 

to see if you’ve 

crossed a cable 

the wrong way 

or went astray 

in another way. 

The pattern 

almost knits 

itself. The little 

bit of interest 

the cables add, keep you knitting through the 

stockinette sections and looking forward to the next 

cable piece. 

When a pattern is written specifically for a particular 

yarn you know the two are will go well together. 

Especially in this case when one person has designed 

the yarn and the pattern for each other. The yarn 

captures Marly Bird’s light-hearted spirit and the hat 

shows off her clean design aesthetic. 

The anatomy of a pompom 

The Road to Success Chic Hat happens to have a 

pompom on the top. There are several different 

ways to make a pompom and a couple different 

trains of thought about them. As a cat-mom, I 

usually forgo pompoms on my knitting, because 

they’re just too tempting for little feline instincts to 

pass over, but occasionally I make a whole bunch 

for my kitties to play with. 

He doesn’t look like he is jonesing for a pompom does he? 


The first and easiest way to make 

pompoms is with a pompom 

maker. You can buy these from 

your local big box craft store, 

they usually come in a pack with 

a couple different sizes. There 

are a few different styles, but I 

like the ones pictured below. You 

can open them up to thoroughly 

wrap the yarn around for a really 

fluffy pompom. 

This innocuous looking device is a pompom maker. 

There are some that look like two 

circles you wrap the yarn around, 

then cut between them, and 

pull the circles off. The best part 

about this method is, if you’re in 

need of a pompom and the craft 

store is closed, you can always 

make two circles from cardboard 

and DIY. 

TIP For using this kind of 

pompom maker. I cut a long 

length of yarn and fold it in half, 

thread the middle through the 

hole and push the ends though 

on the other side. This makes a 

knot around the little pompom 

doughnut so your yarn doesn’t 

slide off. It gives you a good 

anchor to work from. I also use 

a crochet hook to pull the yarn 

through the hole. This way you’re 

easily pulling the yarn through 

the hole with a crochet hook and 

it will go quickly because you’re 

working with two strands. 

One side all wrapped and ready to go, the other 

side is next, then a cut down the middle. 

One of the most important parts 

of your pompom is to tie the yarn 

around the middle very securely. If 

it’s too loose then your pompom 

will fall apart in a million small 

threads. It’s not the best when 

you’re making it for tiny ferocious 

felines who are going to be 

pulling at it with their little teeth. 

I’ll usually use a smaller yarn size 

than the type my pompom is 

made from. This will ensure you 

get a very solid knot. I’ll also leave 

these ends long if you’re looking 

to secure it to something, like the 

top of a hat. 

Snip, snip, snip. To avoid pulling your yarn in strange 

ways, only use the tips of your scissors to make small 

precise cuts to the pompom in progress. 

Pompoms are tons of fun to 

make and can add a little bit of 

whimsey to a garment. The Road 

to Success Chic Hat knit with Chic 

Sheep is already a sharp looking 

hat, but the pompom gives it a 

little something extra. It could 

also double to cover the seam 

at the top of the hat if it wasn’t 

finished neatly. 


stitchesbeslippin.com 

I roll the pompom around in my hands and give 

it a little haircut if there are any very long strands 

that need to be trimmed. 


21

Papyrus – 

cottony soft 

knitting! 


A decorative box in cream and gold is the perfect work box for 

Papyrus’ luxurious softness! 

On the left is the full double knitting strand of Papyrus. On the right, the two 

“S” twists have been separated out to show the thin, silk plies and how they 

trap the lofty, soft cotton fibers. 

How should I even start this article about Papyrus? 

Papyrus is SOFT – baby’s bottom soft. And, it’s 

strong! Here’s how they did it: 

Papyrus is not a blend of cotton and silk – it’s 

made of strands of cotton and silk. The cotton is 

very softly spun in a “Z” direction. The silk is spun 

quite firmly in the same direction, but it’s much 

thinner than the cotton strand. Silk gives Papyrus 

its strength. Without it, the softly spun cotton fibers 

(each of which is about the length of a memory 

card for a camera) would drift apart. 

One strand each of the cotton and silk are then 

twisted together in the “S” direction. The tightly 

twisted silk serves as a binding thread to trap the 

softly spun cotton fibers into place, keeping loft in 

the super soft cotton. But, that’s only half the story! 

A second of these cotton and silk twists are twisted 

together to make the full, double-knitting weight 

yarn. Interestingly, these two strands are also twisted 

in the “S” direction. 


Photos by Cynthia MacDougall

Here’s why that’s interesting: 

Ordinarily, a yarn needs to be spun in the opposite 

direction each time. Most knitting yarns, if you 

look at them have a dominant “S” twist. The fibers 

in each ply have been spun “Z,” then they all get 

twisted in the opposite (“S”) direction to balance the 

yarn. At spinning demonstrations, I compare it to 

spinning around on a swing. When we spin, we put 

energy into the ropes of the swing, and, when we 

let go, the energy tries to balance itself back out, so 

we “unspin” in the opposite direction. 

With Papyrus, the process begins with one twist of 

“Z” spun singles, that are twisted “S” as per usual, 

but then, two of these “S” twists are twisted together 

also in the “S” direction. Ordinarily, this gives what 

is called an “energized yarn” which would be very 

springy and could even coil into little twists on the 

surface of the knitted fabric, but because neither 

cotton nor silk have a lot of memory, it works, 

making a beautiful, soft yarn with a fabulous drape. 

When a yarn is out of balance, it will often “skew” in 

the knitting, which is to say that a stockinette stitch 

piece will lean like a parallelogram. Sometimes it’s 

severe and sometimes it’s minor. Sometimes it can 

be blocked out. 

Make knitted swatches do dual duty 

I’m swatching and talking about the qualities of the 

yarn in the knitted fabric. 

I’ve been reviewing yarns and knitting swatches 

from them for 16 years now. After a while, it’s hard 

to watch boxes filling up with 4″ bits of knitting. For 

the past couple years, I’ve been looking for ways 

to give these swatches a dual purpose. 

For lacy pieces, especially ones made from cotton 

or linen yarns, I’ve been making my swatches bigger 

and using them for dish and face cloths. Last year, I 

took my tension sample of Flax Lace and turned it 

into a beautiful bride’s handkerchief. 

I always recommend to my knitting students that 

they make their gauge swatches bigger than the 4″ 

[10cm] “bare minimum.” Why? First, because a larger 

swatch will give you the ability to do an “average 

tension” by measuring off 4″ in several places, 

and averaging the results. When you knit a wider 

piece, you more closely mimic the area of an actual 

sweater – even if it’s only the sleeve. When you 

knit short, little 4″ [10cm] rows, you can get a false 

indication of your gauge. For this reason, a wider 

swatch will be less likely to lie to you. 

The humble gauge swatch, elevated. This piece, made in Flax Lace, another 

Fibra Natura yarn, is a perfect handkerchief to put in with a bride’s bouquet 

for her “something blue.” 


23

A wider swatch will also tell you a 

bit more about the yarn – whether 

it will develop a nice halo, for 

example, if it’s a mohair yarn, or 

whether it will shed or pill. 

As well, when you knit a larger 

gauge swatch, if your tension IS 

out, it will be more noticeable: 

an 8″ square will be noticeably 

larger or smaller than a 4″ 

counterpart, even if your gauge 

is only out by a stitch or two. 

Am I now suggesting that I fill a 

box with 8″ or 10” squares? Not 

at all. 

Once our swatches have lived 

out their useful purpose, they 

can go on to do honorable 

service. 

In 2006, my Mom wrote an 

article about a knitting basket 

she found at Sunnybrook hospital 

when she was there waiting 

for my Dad at a specialist’s 

appointment. Fast forward 12 

years and now it’s me waiting for 

Dad at our local cancer center. In 

the appointment waiting room, 

there’s a basket with a pair of 

scissors tied to it. It’s brimming 

with balls of yarn and a few pairs 

of knitting needles. Beside it is a 

sign that says, “Knit an 8″ square 

while you wait. We’ll turn them 

into blankets for our chemo 

patients!” Isn’t that a great idea? 

For chemo blankets, the yarn 

has to be really washable. 

Papyrus squeaks in, as the 

care recommendation for it is 

machine wash in cold water. 

Eight inches [20cm] seems to be 

the standard for charity project 

squares, which is convenient for 

us knitters: all we have to do is 

double the number of stitches 

given for 4″ on the ball band. 

Papyrus’ ideal tension is 21 sts to 

4″ [10cm], so I cast on 42 stitches. 

Now, normally I get pretty 

close to tension. Wouldn’t you 

know that today’s not normal 

for me. But this is why, it is SO 

IMPORTANT to DO a gauge 

swatch, no matter how long 

you’ve been knitting! 

Instead of getting 21 sts to 4″ 

[10cm] – I’m getting 23 sts. The 

result of this seemingly tiny 

discrepancy means that my 8″ 

swatch now measures a modest 

7¼” [18.5 cm]. Worse, it means 

that if I had blindly cast on for 

a sweater for myself, it would 

come up at least 5″ [11.5 cm] shy 

of the desired finished size. To 

make it come up to the proper 

finished size I’d need another 23 

stitches if I continue to use US 

6/4mm needles. 

This tension swatch is a bit too 

tiny for any 8″ square charity 

project, but hey, my heart was in 

the right place, and your tension 

swatch might be perfect! 

Don’t give away your swatch 

away too quickly, though. They’re 

handy to keep around in case 

you need those few yards of 

yarn to finish your neckband or 

lengthen the cuffs of a young 

person’s sleeves. Some knitters 

even keep their swatches and 

wash them every time they wash 

the sweater. That way, if the piece 

ever requires mending, the yarn 

from the tension swatch will 

match it very very closely. The 

charity of your choice will never 

know what year your swatch was 

made when you donate it! 

The plan is to find some 

summery patterns for Papyrus 

and create a little sundress for a 

little girl. The plan WAS to make 

a little tunic for moi, but the time 

got away on me! It appears as 

though this is not my week! 

This photo is so close, you can check my gauge 

for me! The only thing is that the curve of the 

photo lens on the iPad makes it appear as 

though the ruler extends a little beyond the first 

and last stitch of the 0 and 4'' markings. 

The knitting tension for Papyrus is 21 stitches to 4'' 

[10cm], so 42 stitches should make an 8'' [20cm] 

wide piece. It should. 


patterns for Papyrus,, a summery yarn 

Papyrus comes in 22 colors. 

Raven and Bison are the darkest 

shades, and Camellia is the 

brightest. The rest of the shades 

are very soft, perfect for summer 

wear. The names of the colors 

evoke mental pictures of the 

shade: cloud, moonstruck, doe, 

and water lily need very little 

more in the way of description. 

Naturally, with this knowledge 

in hand, and knowing that 

Papyrus is made of cotton and 

silk, and therefore offers a lovely 

drape, we can conjure up some 

fabulous summer knit ideas! 

My “first thought” use for Papyrus 

is the “office cardigan” – with 78% 

cotton, it’s cool enough to wear 

in the summer, and with 22% silk, 

it has enough warmth to ward off 

air conditioner drafts. 

The Babbling Brook cardigan fills 

that bill nicely. It uses cables to 

mimic the appearance of water 

rushing over rocks in a brook 

bed. The link on the title of the 

pattern, above, takes you to 

a free pattern for this project, 

which is sized for Small right 

through 2X. 

Another office knock-out is the 

Graphite Tank, which is more of 

a tunic-length shell top. (A “shell” 

is a sleeveless top – the shoulder 

seams some right out to the 

armhole edge instead of having 

straps like a tank top.) This very 

classy knit is another perfect knit 

for the office, and it could still be 

worn with jeans to a corn roast 

(but maybe not in white…) 

The Graphite Tank is sized to fit a 

bust as small as 32″ [81cm] and 

as large as 56″ [143cm]. 

I like the Graphite Tank so much, 

I’ve printed the pattern off to 

make for myself! 

For more casual wear, the Blissful 

Tee will fit the bill. This is a “true” 

T-shirt in that the sleeves are 

formed by adding stitches to the 

front and back at the underarms 

to make a “T” shape. No sleeves 

to sew in! 

The Babbling Brook cardigan is perfect for 

warding off air conditioning drafts, or for hiding 

spaghetti straps in an office setting. 

How pretty is this? There are enough colors of 

Papyrus to do this in blues, or even in the colors in 

the child’s tunic. 

This little T-shirt would top off a summer skirt or a 

pair of jeans quite nicely! 


25

This little t-shirt would brighten any child’s day! 

Our last project with Papyrus is the Seahorse Tee – 

even someone at the company commented on how 

precious this is! 

Like the Blissful Tee, this top has the sleeves added 

in as the front and back are knitted. The pattern 

gives instructions for sizes 2 through 10. 

All of these patterns are for double-knitting weight 

cotton yarns, and some of them have different 

gauges. For that reason, I recommend doing 

tension swatches, you may find my last post 

helpful in that regard. 

I’ve designed a child’s tank-tunic for sizes 12-18 

months through size 4 in playful colors. I also 

go right through the pattern and explain various 

elements of patterns and why they might be written 

the way they are. Read on! 

What designers consider when writing a knitting pattern 

Have you ever worked on a 

pattern and wondered what the 

designer was thinking when they 

created the design? 

We’re playing with Papyrus, a 

lovely, soft, summery yarn. With 

a fiber content of 78% cotton 

and 22% silk, Papyrus is perfect 

for stylish summer knits. 

Come along on my designing 

journey! I want to show you why 

patterns should be considered a 

guideline, and why I wrote this 

pattern the way I did. 

Papyrus comes in what I refer to as “European style balls.” Years ago, I was advised to work these from the 

outside of the ball, rather than pulling from the inside, as this style of ball tends to collapse faster than the 

more oblong shaped ones. For this reason, a yarn bowl is a very convenient accessory. 


Child’s Tunic in Papyrus 

skill level: beginner 

sizing 

• Small -12-18 months (20″ 

[51cm] finished chest) 

• Medium – size 2 (22″ [56cm] 

finished chest) 

• Large – size 4 (24″ [61 cm] 

finished chest) 

materials 

yarn 

• Papyrus, 1.75oz [50g] ball, 

131yd [120m] per ball 

• 3 (3, 4) balls Col A (elderberry) 

• 1 ball each Col B (Camellia), 

Col C (Daffodil), and Col D 

(Gardenia) 

needles 

• circular knitting needle size 6 

[4mm], 16″ [40cm] long or size 

needed to obtain gauge 

• straight knitting needles size 5 

[3.75mm] 

other 

• stitch markers 

• tapestry needle 

gauge 21 sts and 29 rows to 4″ 

[10cm] 

Notes: This piece is made in the 

round from the bottom hem to 

the bodice. The skirt is tapered 

by decreases at the sides – stitch 

markers are recommended at 

these points. Slip markers as 

necessary. The bodice is worked 

back-and-forth. 

Instructions are given for size 

Small. Instructions for Medium 

and Large are given in brackets: 

S (M, L). If working from a printed 

pattern, highlight the instructions 

for the size you want to make 

ahead of time. 

Skirt 

This tunic will fit a size 2 toddler. The pattern has been written for 12-18 

months, size 2, and size 4. 

With Col B, cast on 166 (174, 190) 

stitches. Join in the round, being 

careful not to twist the sts. 

TIP Double check your stitch 

count! 

Round 1: Pm, (k1, p1) for 82 (86, 

94) sts, k1, pm, (p1, k1) to 

last st, p1. 

Round 2: (p1, k1) around. 

Round 3: (k1, p1) around. 

Rounds 4-5: Repeat Rounds 2 

and 3. 

Round 6 (dec round): K2tog, (p1, 

k1) to 2 sts before marker, 

ssk, slm, p2tog, (k1, p1) to 

last 2 sts of round, ssp. 

Rounds 7-11: Repeat Rounds 2 

and 3 twice, then repeat 

round 2. 

Round 12 (dec round): P2tog, 

(k1, p1) to 2 sts before 

marker, ssp, slm, k2tog, (p1, 

k1) to last 2 sts of round, 

ssk. Break yarn. Join Col C. 

**Round 1: K around. 

Repeat Round 2 to 12 above. 

Break yarn. ** Join Col D. 

Repeat from ** to **. Join Col A. 

Knit in stockinette stitch (K every 

round), working a decrease 

round on 6th and every 

following 6th (6th, 7th) 

round: 

Dec. Round: *Slm, k2tog, k to 2 

sts before marker, ssk; rep 

from *. 

When there are 106 (114, 126) sts 

on the round, continue knitting 

without further decreases 

until work from cast on edge 

measures 13 (14, 15)” [32.5 (35, 

38)]cm. 


27

Abbreviations 

K – knit 

P – purl 

k2tog – knit two stitches together 

ssk – slip, slip, knit – slip one stitch 

knitwise, then slip the next stitch, also 

knitwise. Place these two stitches back 

onto the left needle with the left needle 

tip in front of the right needle tip, 

then knit the two stitches together 

p2tog – purl two stitches together 

ssp – slip slip purl. slip one stitch 

knitwise, then slip the next stitch, also 

knitwise. Place these two stitches 

back onto the left needle together 

and remove the right needle. Purl 

these two stitches together by inserting 

the right needle tip into the two 

stitches from the back of the work, 

then wrap the yarn, draw the loop 

through and slip the two stitches off 

the left needle. 

pm – place marker between the last 

stitch knit and the next stitch 

slm – slip marker 

rm – remove marker 

The run-down 

The title of a pattern should be 

pretty self-explanatory. Ideally, it 

should give the type of garment, 

the category of person it will fit, 

and sometimes the name or type 

of yarn (I could have said “in DK 

or double knitting yarn”, if I didn’t 

want to cite the proper name of 

my yarn in the title.) 

Skill level is something that can 

get a bit murky. Ideally, it should 

be clear to the reader exactly 

who could properly execute the 

pattern, but different designers 

have different ideas of what 

a beginner knitter is vs. what 

an advanced knitter is. Some 

designers use “cutesy” descriptors 

for their skill level, but I’m 

challenged to know if “lumberjack” 

or “axe master” accurately 

describe beginner or intermediate. 

As for sizing, not all patterns 

give the measurements clearly 

– most give measurements, 

but don’t always say if that 

measurement is for the finished 

chest of the garment, or if it’s the 

size of chest the garment will fit. 

There can be a difference! Ease 

is an important part of garment 

construction, so it’s helpful to 

know which is which in a pattern! 

Materials – this is where the 

rubber starts to hit the road. 

Again, not all patterns include 

information such as fiber 

content, yardage, and weight 

but this opinionated knitter/ 

designer believes they should 

and here’s why: 

Not all yarns stay with us forever. 

So, 15 years from now, when 

someone comes across this 

little pattern for a child’s tunic, it 

will be very helpful for them to 

know that it took 3 balls of yarn 

at 131 yards per ball to make the 

project. That way, if Papyrus is no 

longer available (and I hope it is, 

as it’s a beautiful yarn), our future 

knitter can go shopping and 

know how many yards he or she 

will need to complete the project. 

Almost all patterns include the 

size and type of needles, but 

they don’t all say what length the 

circular needle needs to be. I’ve 

prescribed 16″ [40cm], because 

a 16″ needle should comfortably 

hold enough stitches for the hem 

of the largest size and for the 

least number of stitches on the 

smallest size. 

Not all patterns include such 

notions as stitch markers and 

tapestry needles. For more 

advanced level patterns, a designer 

can assume that such things are 

already in a knitter’s tool kit and 

that they’ll know to grab them, 

but for absolute beginners, this 

information is helpful. 

A beginner knitting pattern should include all the 

items necessary to complete the project – even 

the stitch markers! When I took this photo, I had 

already knit the tunic. There’s enough yarn here to 

make at least one more! 

Gauge – now the rubber is 

really hitting the road! Gauge, or 

tension, is, in most cases, nonnegotiable. 

It’s imperative that 

the knitter get this tension if the 

garment is to fit the person for 

whom it’s intended! “But what 

if I’m not getting that?” you 

ask. Then, we refer back to the 

materials section above where it 

says “or size required to obtain 

gauge.” And we do another 

sample until we get our gauge. 

Having said that, there is some 

wiggle room: This pattern is a 

child’s tunic, and, knowing that 

children grow quickly, we can 

knit the larger size if our gauge 

is too tight, or a smaller size, if 

our gauge is looser than that 

prescribed. If I were making this 

top for me, though I would do a 

solid math calculation to make 

sure that working the pattern 

in a different size is going to 


fit. It bears saying, too, that working a pattern in a 

different size may mean I’ll use more yarn than the 

directions for my size prescribe. (Word to the wise!) 

Not all patterns include notes, but over the years, 

I’ve come to enjoy seeing them. Often, notes give 

you little insights about what the designer’s thought 

process was, and in the case of beginner patterns, 

the more explanation the better, right? 

The photos below show what twisted and nontwisted 

cast ons look like. The reason a twisted cast 

on is very bad is that the knitting will progress in a 

“twisted tube” and you don’t want that! By keeping 

the edge of that cast on inside the loop of the 

needle, with the stitches toward the outside, the 

knitting can progress as it should. 

The photo on the left shows a cast on that has a twist in it (big blue arrow). 

In the photo on the right, the twist has been removed, and the stitches all lay 

pointing outward, in anticipation of the knitting to come. 

Here’s our skirt as far as the pattern takes us today. The following text talks 

about how I constructed it, and the decreases I used to shape the sides. 

Now we tackle the actual pattern: 

Normally, a pattern with several colors of yarn 

would begin with the main color, Col A. However, 

this pattern begins with 3 contrasting stripes, so we 

begin with Col B. 

The cast on method is rarely prescribed in any 

pattern. Designers usually leave this up to the 

knitter. As a knitter progresses through their skillbuilding, 

they’ll learn new cast ons and adapt them 

to their use. If yours is an enquiring mind, I’ll fill you 

in: I used a long tail cast on because I like the edge 

it gives the bottom of a garment. 

I’ve included two important things in the following 

instruction – double check your stitch count, and be 

careful not to twist the cast on. Very rarely would 

a pattern recommend double checking the stitch 

count, but because I want an absolute beginner to 

succeed with this project, I’ve included it. 

And so, we are ready to knit. In the first round, 

you’ll see that I’ve prompted where to place stitch 

markers – this is useful information to the beginner 

or intermediate knitter. 

After the first few rounds, the directions say to 

repeat rounds 2 and 3 – this type of notation is 

often used in publications, especially printed ones, 

because it saves precious column space. It also 

saves the designer some typing, which reduces the 

chance for error. It’s quite easy for the knitter to 

refer back up to the previous two lines! 

In this pattern, I've added “(decrease round)” to 

Rounds 6 and 12. Not all patterns would note this, 

and an absence of this instruction might make 

a pattern more directed at the intermediate or 

advanced knitter who might understand this just 

by reading the instruction for these rows. Because 

I’ve written this for a beginning knitter, however, I’ve 

flagged this in an effort to be helpful. 


29

Let’s talk about the decreases. I’ve put 4 in the 

pattern: k2tog, p2tog, ssk, and ssp. Most beginner 

knitters will be familiar with the k2tog and p2tog, 

and likely ssk, but ssp? “What’s that,” you say? 

With both ssk and ssp, you slip stitches knitwise, one at 

a time, from the left needle to the right one. 

With ssk, you slip the stitches back onto the tip of 

the left needle so the right needle crosses behind 

the left one, then you wrap the yarn and draw 

the loop through, essentially knitting the stitches 

through the back of the loop. 

For ssp, when you slip the stitches back onto the tip 

of the left needle, you take the right needle tip out, 

then re-insert it into those two slipped stitches from 

behind, almost pointing the right needle tip directly 

at yourself. Then, you wrap the yarn around the 

needle tip at the front of the work and draw the loop 

through to the back. Ssk is illustrated in the photo on 

the left, and ssp in the photo on the right. 

This is a very fine point of detail, especially for a 

toddler’s jumper. This is a good time to note that 

patterns really are guidelines, and that there are 

no “knitting police”. When your toddler is moving 

around at the speed toddlers do, nobody is going 

to say “Oh, she should have done those as ssp 

instead of p2tog!” But, if I was sizing this pattern up 

for an adult size, I would want this amount of detail 

in my garment. 

OK, home stretch – just 3 more things to cover: 

First, asterisks – inevitably, when working up a 

pattern for knitting, the reader is going to come 

across the humble asterisk (*). It may be the most 

helpful symbol used in knitting. Its primary use is to 

indicate that a series of instructions that follow will 

be repeated at least once in the row. Sometimes, 

asterisks also denote that a number of rows will be 

repeated. Often in such cases, two or more asterisks 

are used. 

On our decrease round, when you follow this 

direction “*Slm, k2tog, k to 2 sts before marker, ssk; 

rep from *” you will reach the end of the round 

when you reach the semi colon the second time. The 

semi colon is also an important signal to the pattern 

reader – it usually signals the end of the repeat. 

An example of a series of repeating rows appears 

after the first color stripe. After joining in Col C, two 

asterisks (**) indicate the beginning of the next color 

stripe. The two asterisks before “Join Col D” signify 

the end of that repeat – think of them as “starry 

little brackets.” 

But, what’s with that vague instruction “Knit in 

stockinette stitch (K every round) working a 

decrease round on 6th and every following 6th (6th, 

7th) round:”? This is just an efficient way of writing 

the pattern. I could have written it like this: 

Rounds 1-5: K around. 

Round 6 (Dec round): 

but that would have given me a problem with the 

larger size, where decreases occur on the 7th round 

instead of the 6th, as with the other 2 sizes. The 

instruction as I have written it in the pattern, above, 

is the way most other designers will write it, and it 

brings me to this important point: read all the way 

through a pattern before you begin. If you stopped 

reading at “Knit in stockinette stitch every round,” 

and knitted merrily on, your tunic would have no 

shape at all above the stripes, and you would have 

more than 20 too many stitches when you got to 

the bodice! 

Two photographs showing the difference of execution between an ssk and ssp. 

On the top, I’m about to knit the ssk, and below, the ssp. Ssp is a bit of a tricky 

maneuver, and if it’s causing you problems, substitute it out for p2tog. Nobody’s 

going to notice the difference when that toddler goes speeding by! Note that 

my yarn should have been at the front of the work in the lower picture. 


The last point to touch on is “continue knitting without further decreases.” Sometimes, this instruction will 

include a nod to maintaining a certain stitch pattern, but in this case, it literally means “knitting.” Because 

we’re making stockinette stitch in the round, every row will be knitted without any shaping, once the 

prescribed number of stitches are on the needle. 

Keep reading we’ll talk a bit more about this, when I give you the pattern for the bodice, including the 

armhole, neck, and shoulder shaping. 

How to write 

patterns for 

beginner 

knitters 

I got really wordy with my “run 

down”, but it was all in an effort 

to make beginner knitters 

successful at reading patterns 

– not just my patterns, but any 

patterns! So, let’s get started 

on the rest of our toddler tunic, 

picking up where I left off. 

This portion of a garment is called the “bodice.” 

Bodice front 

Change to straight needles, size 

5 [3.75mm]. Work will proceed 

back-and-forth. Remove round 

markers as they appear. 

Row 1: (k1, p1) to last st before 

marker, k1. 53 (57, 63) sts 

on needle. Leave rem sts 

on circular needle. Turn 

work. 

Repeat Row 1 for a total of 8 

rows (1” [2.5cm]). 

Shape armhole 

All sizes: 

Row 1: Cast off 2 sts, (p1, k1) to 

end. 51 (55, 61) sts. 

Rows 2-4: Repeat Row 1. 45 (49, 

55) sts. 

Row 5: P2tog (k1, p1) to last 3 sts, 

p2tog. 43 (47, 53) sts. 

Row 6: (P1, k1) to last st, p1. 

Row 7: Ssk, (p1, k1) to last 3 sts, 

p1, k2tog. 41 (45, 51) sts. 

Row 8: (k1, p1) to last st, k1. 

Largest size only: Repeat Rows 5 – 

8. (47 sts) ***Continue in pattern 

until work from start of bodice 

measures 2½” [6.3cm], ending 

with RS facing for next row. 

Shape neck and shoulder strap: 

Row 1: (k1, p1) 6 times, cast off 17 

(21, 23)sts, (k1, p1) to last st, 

k1. (12 sts on each side of 

neck) 

Row 2: (k1, p1) 6 times. 

Row 3: Ssk, (p1, k1) 5 times. (11 

sts) 

Row 4: (k1, p1) to last st, k1. 

Row 5: P2tog, (k1, p1) to last st, 

k1. (10 sts.) 

Row 6: (K1, p1) to end. 

Row 7: (P1, k1) to end. 

Repeat rows 6 and 7 until knitting 

measures 5½ (6, 6½)” [14 (15, 16.5) 

cm] from the beginning of the 

bodice. Cast off all sts. Break yarn. 

With WS facing and Col A, join 

yarn at neck edge. 

Row 1: (P1, K1) 6 times. (12 sts) 

Row 2: (K1, p1) 5 times, k2tog. (11 

sts) 

Row 3: (K1, p1) 5 times, k1. 

Row 4: (K1, p1) 4 times, k1, p2tog. 

(10 sts) 

Row 5: (P1, k1) to end. 

Row 6: (K1, p1) to end. 

Repeat Rows 5 and 6 until 

knitting measures 5½ (6, 6½)” [14 

(15, 16.5) cm] from the beginning 

of the bodice. Cast off all sts. 

Break yarn. 


31

Bodice Back 

With RS facing, join Col A. 

Row 1: (k1, p1) to last st, k1. 53 

(57, 63) sts on needle. Turn 

work. 

Repeat Row 1 for a total of 

8 rows (1” [2.5cm]). Work as 

given for Shape Armhole to ***. 

Continue in pattern until work 

from start of bodice measures 

3½” [9cm], ending with RS facing 

for next row. 

Shape neck and shoulder straps 

as given for Bodice front, above. 

Finishing 

Sew the shoulder seams together. 

Sew bodice seams under arms 

using mattress stitch. Weave in 

all ends. 

The run-down 

The first two questions a beginner 

is likely to ask are: “Why did she 

change needle size?” and “Why 

are we going back-and-forth 

now?” I can explain: 

The bodice of a garment is an 

area where structure is desired. 

I tell my students that the 

shoulder seams of a garment 

act as the “coat hanger”: you 

want structure so that the rest of 

the garment will hang properly. 

By going to a slightly smaller 

needle size, and switching to 

seed stitch, we can add structure 

and not lose anything in the 

way of chest size, because seed 

stitch tends to expand slightly 

horizontally. 

Knitting back and forth with 

two little seams at the side of 

the garment adds stability to the 

underarm, an area that can take 

a lot of wear and tear. (It also 

gives me a chance to talk about 

mattress stitch – you’re learning 

all the skills this week!) 

Once we’ve knitted up the 

stitches for the front of the 

bodice, the circular needle 

serves as the stitch holder. This 

saves transferring the remaining 

stitches onto a stitch holder 

and putting them back onto a 

needle when we go to do the 

back of the bodice. I’d have 

written this section “work in seed 

stitch for 8 rows,” but if I had, the 

pattern would be elevated to an 

intermediate level, in my opinion. 

Under “Shaping the armhole,” I 

wrote the instruction so that 

the next stitch after the cast 

off stitch will be the one that 

presents to the knitter, NOT the 

one that was worked to facilitate 

the second cast off stitch. Most 

patterns assume that the knitter 

knows that the stitch on the 

right needle is part of the next 

stitch to be worked, but when I 

began knitting it caused much 

consternation. If I was writing 

this pattern for an intermediate 

or advanced level, I’d hold to 

the practice of “most patterns,” 

however, I’m writing it for an 

absolute beginner, so I’ve written 

it the way my “beginner knitter 

mind” worked. Intermediate 

and advanced knitters you’ll 

recognize that we’re working 

seed stitch here, so the next 

stitch will need to be worked as 

a purl, but I want an absolute 

beginner to be able to follow my 

direction to the letter. 

In this section, three asterisks 

(***) have been inserted. They’ll 

come into play when we’re 

working the bodice back. 

Note that I’ve given a lot of 

stitch counts in this section. 

Again, the purpose for this is 

to provide ample opportunities 

for a beginner knitter to be able 

to double-check their work. 

Intermediate knitters are apt 

to find them handy, too, while 

advanced knitters may want to 

skip over most of them. 

After row 5 on the first strap, 

and row 4 of the second strap, I 

could have instructed “continue 

working in pattern until work 

measures….” Again, I’ve written 

it the “spelled out” way for the 

benefit of beginning knitters. 

Once a beginner has worked 

several patterns of this nature, 

they’ll be able to go with the 

more vague instruction given 

quotes, above. 

The bodice back has many 

similarities to the bodice front. 

Rather than repeat all that text 

for the back of the garment, 

most patterns will refer the knitter 

back up to the pertinent sections. 

The sentence after the three 

asterisks (***) in the bodice front 

directions differs on the back, so 

I wrote the pattern in a way I 

can explain it without having to 

repeat a lot of text. 

Finishing is an area that can 

make or break a project, yet 

very few patterns give detailed 

directions for finishing. The knitter 

is left to decide how to do the 

various steps. Here’s what I’d do: 

Shoulder seams: As I noted 

earlier in this post, the shoulder 

seams are the “coat hanger” of 

your garment. I like to see a 

sturdy cast off and a solid seam. 


For this little tunic, I chose whip stitch. Wherever 

possible, I like to use an existing yarn end to sew 

into a seam – it gives the yarn end a place to go, 

and it reduces bulk at the point where a new strand 

of yarn would be added. In this project, I took the 

tail from the strap’s cast off. I threaded it into a 

tapestry needle, and placed the straps right sides 

together. The cast off edge of both straps form a 

nice, double chain. I pierce the opposite strap, right 

in the beginning stitch of its cast off edge, then I 

go back through the first strap and sew back into 

the original strap. Then, I go over the edge, and 

put the tapestry needle under the “V” strands of 

both straps’ chain edge, repeating this all along 

the edge. When I’m a few stitches away from the 

end of the seam, I weave that strand of yarn back 

toward the beginning. There’s another strand of 

yarn, and it needs to be woven in, too. I’ll thread 

that strand, and finish my seam by working toward 

the completed seam, then work this strand into the 

seam as well. 

While we’re talking about weaving in ends, as 

long as the yarn end can be woven into a seam, I 

recommend that you do that. However, we have one 

yarn end at the neckline on both the front and back 

of the bodice that have no seam in which to hide. My 

preferred method of weaving these ends is to thread 

the whole strand in a tapestry needle, find a nearby 

place to get that strand to the back of the work, then 

weave it through for a stitch or two. At that point, I 

split the yarn into individual plies or pairs of plies if 

possible. Then, I weave each of those ends into the 

back of the fabric in different directions. This not only 

makes it harder to detect the woven in ends from 

the front of the work, but in the case of a garment 

that will be treated with less-than-ideal care, it also 

anchors those ends in more securely and makes it 

difficult for cut ends to come loose. 

The tip of the needle shows where our yarn end began. I’ve woven the whole 

strand in several stitches, by following the path of the stitches in the fabric. 

The yarn has been split, and these two ends will be woven off in different 

directions to make a strong weave that will be difficult to detect from the 

right side. 

In the top photo, the yarn end originated in the back piece, and the tapestry 

needle is pointing toward the knitter, through the edge stitch of the cast off 

on the front piece. 

In the bottom photo, the seam has been whip stitched part way across the 

seam, and the yarn tail is being held at the back. The tapestry needle now 

holds the yarn end from the front strap, and it’s been inserted under the cast 

off edge of both pieces from front to back. 


33

Mattress stitch is worked by laying the project pieces side-by-side and picking up the “bumps” from 

each piece in an alternating fashion. 


cgknitters.ca 

Finally, the finishing instructions talk about 

using mattress stitch to sew up those 

short, 1″ seams of the bodice below the 

under arms. I’ve already explained why I 

designed this pattern to have these two 

short seams, so let’s talk about mattress 

stitch. It’s the one technique that elevated 

my knits from looking home made to 

looking hand made. 

I begin the mattress stitch by threading a 

yarn end into a tapestry needle. I lay the 

pieces out side-by-side with the right sides 

up, then, I put the needle into the bump 

of the other piece opposite my yarn end. 

I work up (in this case) or down the seam, 

picking up one bump from the edge of 

each piece alternately all the way. On a 

long seam, I will do a back stitch through 

the last two bumps every couple inches. 

I hope my explanations about what goes 

through the mind of a designer, and my 

tips for elevating the quality of your knits 

have been helpful. I know they’ve been 

wordy! 

I’ve really enjoyed testing and working 

with Papyrus yarn and recommend that 

you give it a try! 

10 th Annual Woodstock Fleece Festival 

Saturday 

October 13 th 

2018 

dyeing 

felting 

knitting 

rug hooking 

spinning 

weaving 

www.fleecefestival.com 

Workshops 

Demonstrations 

Food 

Woodstock Fairgrounds 

875 Nellis Street 

Woodstock, Ontario 


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what makes this yarn unique? 

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It’s a Wrap 

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35

Red Heart Dreamy yarn 


Dreamy yarn in the color Ivory. 

You can really see the brushed halo around the 

yarn in this photo. Dreamy truly looks and feels 

like real wool. 

All that yardage, it’s amazing what only a couple 

of balls will get you. If you’re knitting a lot of baby 

blankets this is a great place to start. 

Red Heart Dreamy yarn truly 

lives up to its name with the soft 

brushed texture and miles of 

yardage. Whether you’re talking 

about the price point or the yarn 

itself everything about Dreamy 

is complete nirvana. From the 

minute you first touch it, you’ll be 

pinching yourself. 

The fiber content is 100% acrylic, 

but it’s not normal acrylic. The 

fiber has a brushed texture rather 

than a sleek smooth texture. This 

makes it seem like natural wool. 

If you have someone in your life 

who is knit-worthy but is allergic 

to wool Dreamy is the perfect 

option for you. There are a lot of 

synthetic fibers out there but not 

too many that feel like wool. 

Dreamy’s yardage (I mentioned 

earlier) is nothing to sneeze at 

either. A whole 466 yds is a lot of 

yarn to work with, especially in a 

bulky weight. Red Heart recently 

made a blog post about 5 Fave 

Blankets, two of them are crochet, 

but the other three are knit, and 

one is even knit in Dreamy yarn. 

The Calming Colors Chevron 

Throw measures 45” x 55” when 

complete and calls for 5 balls of 

Dreamy. At $7.99 per ball, that is 

a steal. Normally the bigger the 

yarn, the shorter the yardage, 

but Dreamy blows that wives’ 

tale right out of the water. 

I also wanted to mention the post 

about Gorgeous Knit Throws on 

the Red Heart Blog. There are an 

additional 15 knitted throw patterns 

there. Several of the blankets are 

for really large yarn, but there are 

many that can be adapted to work 

with Dreamy yarn, and since it’s a 

blanket, your gauge won’t have to 

be as important a factor as with 

fitted garments. 

If you’re not keen on blanket 

knitting because you don’t want 

to wrangle that many balls of 

yarn or you don’t want to be 

knitting it forever, Dreamy is the 

yarn for you. The bulky yarn 

makes for quick project work and 

the yardage means you don’t 

have to source 87 individual balls 

of yarn. If you’ve been looking for 

the perfect yarn for cozy throws 

and blankets, look no further. 

Dreamy is an amazing yarn with 

an incredibly luxurious feel and 

a price tag that won’t break the 

bank. 

The weight of this yarn is so versatile. You can use 

it for almost anything! It knits up very quickly. 


Photos by Michelle Nguyen

Dreamy 

Relaxation 


Socks 

The toe here has been Kitchener stitched, or grafted, shut. It looks as though the 

end has been knitted shut, but it’s all in the grafting! 

Let's look at a smaller project. 

Socks are one of the most 

requested hand knit items. With 

the Relaxation Sock pattern 

from Red Heart, you won’t 

have the heart to say ‘no’ to 

a request and you won’t want 

to. Mostly what discourages 

people from knitting socks is 

the yarn size. Fingering weight 

yarn will make a very functional 

sock, but Dreamy yarn will make 

something really special. 

I wouldn’t want anyone to think 

the only thing Dreamy yarn is 

good for is blankets and throws. 

The Relaxation Sock pattern 

is knit as a tube with an after 

thought heel, which is a fantastic 

technique. If you’re not sure how 

to do it, this is the perfect time 

to learn. Bigger yarn and a larger 

project will make the structure 

easier to see. 

The sock itself is a very easy 

pattern to follow. It’s knit from 

the cuff down with a 1×1 rib, 

then it switches to a 2×2 garter 

rib for the body. This consists 

of knitting one complete round, 

then switching to a 2×2 rib and 

repeating those two rows. 

When you get down to the 

toe you simply use decreases 

to shape it, and graft the ends 

together. If you’re not sure how 

to graft stitches this is, again, a 

really useful technique to learn. 

There are some really great 

YouTube videos about grafting. 

If you were to simply search 

grafting sock toes, you would be 

able to find exactly what you’re 

looking for. I know there are a 

lot of different variations, but I 

don’t like recommending one 

in particular because everyone 

learns differently. 

Some may be auditory learners 

where a video with a lot of 

talking would do well for them, 

while others may be visual or 

mechanic learners where they 

just have to see it done and do it 

themselves. Start going through 

videos and one of them will 

make it click for you. 

These Relaxation Socks would 

be the perfect gift to put in a 

basket with a book, some tea, 

and a mug. Perhaps for Mother’s 

day? It’s never too early to start 

thinking about future holidays 

and birthdays. 

The toe here has been Kitchener stitched, or 

grafted, shut. It looks as though the end has been 

knitted shut, but it’s all in the grafting! 

Doesn’t this look like the coziest sock you’ve ever 

seen? It certainly feels that way. 


37

The Calming Colors Chevron Throw product photo from 

the Red Heart website 

Let’s continue with more ideal 

patterns to knit with Dreamy 

yarn. I specifically mentioned 

the Calming Colors Chevron 

Throw as a great companion to 

Dreamy yarn. This is what I think 

of as a “classic” knitted throw. It’s 

a large blanket with increases 

and decreases making a zigzag 

pattern throughout. 

I love this pattern, no really, I 

do. The entire Calming Colors 

Chevron Throw pattern consists 

of two rows repeated over and 

over again. This is the kind of 

thing that makes me smile. 

It doesn’t look like it’s the simplest 

pattern ever, but it really is. The 

sequence is so easy to memorize 

and the only thing you need to 

keep track of is the length of your 

stripe, so you know when to start 

another color. 


How 

Dreamy 

yarn is 

perfect 

for knitting 

throws 

A swatch for the Calming Colors Chevron Throw 

knit from Dark Taupe and Ivory 

Throws are one of the most 

versatile things you can knit. They 

can be used as an extra blanket 

on the bed, something to cozy 

up with on the couch, or a couch 

cover. I have three cats and one 

thing they can all agree on is 

how delightful it is to claw the 

couch. When I had an old handme-down 

couch that had already 

been clawed to death by another 

cat, it wasn’t such a big deal. We, 

of course, discouraged the cats 

as much as we could, but you 

know cats. 

When purchasing a new couch, 

my husband and I decided to 

keep it covered with knit throws, 

for its protection. This ended up 

working out better than either of 

us could’ve imagined. 

The throws are very easy to 

clean, all in acrylic we can just 

throw them into the washer and 

drier. The couch underneath 

only needs a quick vacuum. It 

also keeps the cats’ claws away 

from the surface. Knit fabric 

being super stretchy and flexible 

works in our favor. If the cats 

attempt to scratch the couch, the 

fabric of the throw gets tangled 

in their claws. It’s an amazing 

deterrent, we just need to make 

sure we straighten them every 

now and again so the throws are 

completely covering all sides of 

the couch. 

The Calming Colors Chevron 

Throw would be a great element 

to your living room decor. The 

brushed texture of Dreamy 

yarn is luxuriously soft, while 

maintaining the easy washing 

instructions. You can use Dreamy 

color palette to complement the 

theme you already have in your 

living room. If you’re not finding a 

coordinating color, you’re always 

safe going with calming neutrals. 

If you’re like me and anticipating having your 

knitting pulled in and out of shape by sharp 

kitty claws, this is a great pattern. It already has 

zigzags, so any time a kitty pulls the throw a bit, it 

usually looks intentional.

Knitting a lace shawl using a 

brushed acrylic yarn makes it 

Dreamy 

The Lacy Stripes Knit Shawl is a 

repeat of three different stitch 

patterns. Now, the skill level for 

this pattern is intermediate, but I 

have no doubt you’ll be able to 

tackle it. 

The only difficult part of this 

pattern is the lace sections, and 

they’re not really that bad. 

The lace sections are not exactly 

a 4-5 row repeat, they’re quite a 

few rows of stitches in different 

orders. The saving grace is the 

same stitches repeat so you 

become very familiar with them. 

I encourage you not to be afraid 

of knitting the Lacy Stripes 

Knit Shawl because after all, it’s 

intermediate. I thought for the 

first couple rows that it was going 

to be really complex, but after 

those couple rows I really picked 

up the knack for reading the 

stitches. Once that happened I 

didn’t have to think about it quite 

as often and the knitting just 

flowed from there. 

A close up of the stitches used in 

this shawl. The lace stitch carries 

one knit stitch up while the rest 

is in garter. There are occasion 

eyelets throughout. 

I don’t know what it is about 

lace knit in a chunkier yarn, but I 

absolutely love the look. It gives 

it a classy look and adds texture 

to the stitches. 

While this pattern was originally 

knit in the beautiful Dreamy 

Stripes, I think knitting it in a 

plain color really brings out the 

work you’re doing with the lace 

sections. If I’m taking the time to 

knit a lace pattern, I make sure 

the work is visible and stands out. 

I want it to be the main attraction 

of the garment. 

On the other hand I do like 

the stripes in this shawl for a 

completely different reason. 

If you’re a beginner knitter 

interested in lace, I would 

definitely give this pattern a try. 

The sections of lace are broken 

up by garter and stockinette 

stitch, so you’ll get breaks from 

the lace knitting. It’s a good 

pattern to start knitting lace 

because it isn’t a whole garment 

made of lace, and the lace 

pattern really isn’t that difficult. 

It just looks intimidating when 

you’re reading it, but in practice, 

the Lacy Stripes Knit Shawl 

pattern isn’t difficult. 

Go ahead, knowing that I believe 

in you and you can do it! 

The pattern photo from the Red Heart website. This 

was knit in Dreamy Stripes in the color Sweetdreams. 

Red Heart Dreamy yarn Stripes Sweetdreams 


A close up of the stitches used in this shawl. The 

lace stitch carries one knit stitch up while the rest is 

in garter. There are occasion eyelets throughout. 

A look at how the pattern looks in a solid color. The 

stitches stand out much more than they did in the 

multicolored shawl. 


39

How does a scalene triangle relate to knitting? 

A scalene triangle comes in many shapes and 

sizes, but it essentially means all three sides are 

different lengths. This is the particular shape I’m 

talking about though. 

The stripes hint at how this garment is 

constructed. You can see how they are thicker on 

the right. 

Red Heart Dreamy Stripes 

I want to talk a knit further about 

the construction of the Lacy 

Stripes Knit Shawl, if you look at 

a finished product, it looks like a 

scalene triangle. 

Now that I have scared everyone 

with flashbacks from grade 9 

math, I’ll explain why this is a 

good thing. 

This shawl construction has been 

getting a lot of traction and I 

couldn’t be happier about it. 

With one side being a very small 

angle than the other side, this 

means the longer side keeps the 

shawl on your shoulders and 

curls around you. 

Shawl pins are amazing, and 

there is still a need for them, 

believe me, but these shawls are 

perfect for the one you just want 

to throw on and go. 

This kind of shawl will be the one 

you keep at the office, the one 

you store in your diaper bag, the 

one you take travelling. In other 

words, a very practical shawl for 

any where and any occasion. 

I specifically mentioned that I 

liked this shawl knit from the 

Dreamy Stripes yarn. When 

you’re knitting an asymmetrical 

shawl from a self-striping yarn 

the stripes highlight how the 

garment comes together and 

progresses. You can see this 

clearly in the photo below. The 

cast on edge is the one on the 

right where the stripes are larger. 

The stripes progressively get 

smaller as the shawl becomes 

wider. I think this creates a really 

neat effect of stripes that aren’t 

all the same size and asymmetric 

stripes on an asymmetric shawl 

looks pretty neat. 

Whether you’re going for a solid 

color yarn or you choose the 

striped option this shawl is going 

to look beautiful. Now you’ll 

be able to tell the difference 

between the two different yarn 

styles and how they make the 

shawl look. Now you’re able 

to make an informed decision 

about your yarn choice. What 

version do you like better? Stripes 

or solids? 


stitchesbeslippin.com 

Just looking at Red Heart Dreamy yarn Solids 

makes you cozy all over. 


With the top layer moved away, you can see the edge of the shawl sitting flat on my shoulder. It curls 

around and hugs the curve of the shoulder.

41

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43

Standards & Guidelines For Crochet and Knitting • YarnStandards.com 

Standard Yarn Weight System 

Standard Yarn Weight System 

Categories of yarn, gauge ranges, and recommended needle and hook sizes 

Categories of yarn, gauge ranges, and recommended needle and hook sizes 

Yarn Weight 

Yarn Symbol Weight & 

Symbol Category & 

Category Names 

Names 

Type of 

Fingering, 

Type Yarns of in Fingering, 10 count 

Yarns Category in 

crochet 10 count thread 

Category crochet thread 

Knit Gauge 

Knit 

Range* 

Gauge 

in 

Range* in 

33–40** 

Stockinette 33–40** 

Stockinette 

sts 

Stitch to 

sts 

Stitch to 

4 inches 

4 inches 

Recommended 

Recommended 

Needle 

Needle 

in 

in 

1.5–2.25 

1.5–2.25 

Metric 

Metric 

Size 

Size 

mm 

mm 

Range Range 

Recommended 

Recommended 

Needle Needle U.S. U.S. 

Size Size Range Range 

Crochet 

Gauge*Ranges 

in Single 

Crochet to to 

4 4 inch inch 

Sock, 

Sock, Fingering, 

Fingering, Baby 

Baby 

27–32 

27–32 

sts 

sts 

2.25–3.25 

2.25–3.25 

mm 

mm 

Sport, 

Sport, Baby 

Baby 

23–26 

23–26 

sts 

sts 

3.25–3.75 

3.25–3.75 

mm 

mm 

DK, 

DK, Light 

Light Worsted 

Worsted 

21–24 

21–24 

sts 

sts 

3.75–4.5 

3.75–4.5 

mm 

mm 

11 

11 

Worsted, 

Worsted, Afghan, 

Afghan, Aran 

Aran 

16–20 

16–20 

sts 

sts 

4.5–5.5 

4.5–5.5 

mm 

mm 

Chunky, 

Chunky, Craft, 

Craft, Rug 

Rug 

12–15 

12–15 

sts 

sts 

5.5–8 

5.5–8 

mm 

mm 

Bulky, 

Bulky, Roving 

Roving 

000 000 to 1to 1 1 to 13to 3 3 to 35 to 5 5 to 57 to 7 7 to 97 to 9 9 to 11 9 to 11 11 to 17 11 to 17 

32–42 32–42 

double double 

crochets** 

Steel*** 

Recommended 

1.6–1.4 mm 

Hook 

mm 

Hook in in Metric 

Regular hook 

Size 

hook 

Size Range 

2.25 2.25 mm mm 

Recommended 

Hook Hook U.S. U.S. Size Size 

Range Range 

Steel*** Steel*** 

6, 7, 6, 87, 8 

Regular Regular 

hook hook 

B–1 

B–1 

Standards & Guidelines For Crochet and Knitting • YarnStandards.com 

21–32 21–32 

sts sts 

2.25–3.25 

mm mm 

16–20 16–20 

sts sts 

3.5–4.5 3.5–4.5 

mm mm 

12–17 12–17 

sts sts 

4.5–5.5 4.5–5.5 

mm mm 

B–1 B–1 to E–4 to E–4 E–4 E–4 to 7to 7 7 to 7 I–9 to I–9 

11–14 11–14 

sts sts 

5.5–6.5mm 5.5–6.5mm 

I–9 I–9 

to to 

K–10 K–10 1 ⁄2 1 ⁄2 

8–11 8–11 

sts sts 

6.5–9 6.5–9 

mm mm 

K–10 K–10 1 ⁄2 1 ⁄2 

to M-13 to M-13 

7–11 

sts 

Jumbo, 

Jumbo, Roving 

Roving 

6 sts 

6 sts 

and 

and 

fewer 

fewer 

12.75 mm 

8–12.75 12.75 mm 

8–12.75 

and 

mm 

mm and 

larger 

larger 

7–9 

sts 

9–15 

mm 

M-13 

to Q 

17 

and 

larger 

6 sts 6 sts 

and and 

fewer fewer 

15 mm 15 mm 

and and 

larger larger 

* GUIDELINES ONLY: The above reflect the most commonly used gauges and needle or hook sizes for specific yarn categories. 

* GUIDELINES ONLY: The above reflect the most commonly used gauges and needle or hook sizes for specific yarn categories. 

** Lace weight yarns are usually knitted or crocheted on larger needles and hooks to create lacy, openwork patterns. Accordingly, a 

gauge ** Lace range weight is difficult yarns to are determine. usually knitted Always or follow crocheted the gauge on larger stated needles in your and pattern. hooks to create lacy, openwork patterns. Accordingly, a 

gauge range is difficult to determine. Always follow the gauge stated in your pattern. 

*** Steel crochet hooks are sized differently from regular hooks--the higher the number, the smaller the hook, which is the reverse 

of *** regular Steel hook crochet sizing. hooks are sized differently from regular hooks--the higher the number, the smaller the hook, which is the reverse 

of regular hook sizing. 

This Standards & Guidelines booklet and downloadable symbol artwork are available at: YarnStandards.com 

This Standards & Guidelines booklet and downloadable symbol artwork are available at: YarnStandards.com 

7–11 

sts 

7–9 

sts 

9–15 

mm 

M-13 

to Q 

17 

and 

larger 

Q 

and 

larger 

Q 

and 

larger 

KNIT much .com 


Standard abbreviations & terms 

alt = alternate 

approx = approximately 

beg = begin(ning) 

BO= bind off 

CC = contrast color 

ch = chain 

cm = centimetre(s) 

cn = cable needle 

CO = cast on 

cont = continue, continuing 

dc = double crochet 

dec = decrease(s), decreasing 

dpn = double-pointed needle(s) 

foll = following 

g = gram(s) 

inc = increase(s), increasing 

in(s) = inch(es) 

k = knit 

kf&b or kfb = knit into front and back of st (increase) 

ktbl = Knit through the back loop. 

k2tog = knit 2 sts tog (right-leaning decrease) 

k3tog = knit 3 sts together (double right-leaning 

decrease) 

M = marker 

m = metre(s) 

M1 = Make 1 stitch: pick up the horizontal strand 

between 2 stitches from front to back and knit 

it tbl (lifted increase) 

MC = main color 

mm = millimetre(s) 

oz = ounce(s) 

p = purl 

p2tog = purl 2 sts tog (decrease) 

patt = pattern 

pfb = purl into front and back of stitch (increase) 

ptbl = knit through the back loop. 

pm = place marker 

psso = slip 1 stitch together knitwise, knit 1, then 

pass slipped stitches over 

p2sso = slip 2 stitches together knitwise, knit 1, 

then pass slipped stitches over 

RS = right side 

rem = remain(ing) 

rep = repeat 

rev = reverse 

rnd = round 

sc = single crochet 

sl = slip 

skp = slip one st, knit next st, pass slipped st over 

knit st (dec) 

ssk = slip, slip, knit: slip 2 sts knitwise, 1 at a time, 

insert left-hand needle into front of both sts 

and knit them tog (left-leaning decrease) 

sssk = Slip next three stitches individually, knitwise. 

Insert tip of left needle from front to back into 

the fronts of these three stitches and knit them 

together (double left-leaning decrease) 

st(s) = stitch(es) 

St st = stocking stitch 

tbl = through back loop 

tog = together 

tr = treble crochet 

WS = wrong side 

yfwd = bringing yarn forward to create a yarn 

over when working into next st(s) 

yo = yarn over 

44

KNITmuch | Issue 07

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