Antimony Blanket
by End of the Road Farm Knits With a hexagon swirl center this blanket then reverses itself into a spiraling vortex. Knit in the round, the center is knit first from the outside in. Then stitches are picked up around the edge to reverse the pattern. The vortex is an easily memorized lace knit which goes by quickly without much thought. Supplies: Size 10 circular needles 32" Size 10 dpn Stitch markers
Sample blanket:
650 yards aran weight yarn, Cascade Eco Duo 3.25 skeins.
Abbreviations:
k: knit p: purl CO: cast-on pm/rm/sm: place marker/remove marker/slip marker yo: yarn over, (bring yarn around needle counter-clockwise) slip1 - k2tog - psso: slip 1 st purlwise, knit next 2 sts together, pass slipped stitch over and off needle ssk: (slip, slip, knit) Slip next 2 stitches one at a time as if to knit, slide the left-hand needle into the front part of both stitches and knit them together kfb: (knit front and back) knit stitch through the front like normal then, without slipping it off the needle, insert your right needle through the back of the stitch and knit through the back, slide off needle. k2tog: knit 2 stitches together p2tog: purl 2 stitches together cross 6 right: slip the next 6 sts onto the right-hand needle, allowing the extra loops to drop between each st, replace these sts on the left-hand needle, pass the last 3 over the first 3 and leaving them on the left-hand needle, k6
Center Hexagon:
Using dpn needles (or a small circular) C0 119 sts. Arrange sts evenly on 3 dpn( 40 sts on needle 1, 40 sts on needle 2 and 39 sts on needle 3), place marker (pm) for beginning of the round and join for working in the rnd, being careful not to twist sts. Round 1: Knit Round 2: sm, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k17) x5, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k16 Round 3: sm, k1, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k16) x5, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k14 Round 4: sm, k2, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k15) x5, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k12 Round 5: sm, k3, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k14) x5, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k10 Round 6: sm, k4, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k13) x5, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k8 Round 7: sm, k5, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k12) x5, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k6 Round 8: sm, k6, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k11) x5, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k4 Round 9: sm, k7, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k10) x5, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k2 Round 10: sm, k8, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k9) x5, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso Round 11: sm, k9, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k8) x5 (1 st remains, place new marker, it will become the first st of row 12) Round 12: yo, slip1 (remove old marker) - k2tog - psso, k8, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k7) x4, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k6 Round 13: sm, k1, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k7, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k6) x4, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k4 Round 14: sm, k2, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k6, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k5) x4, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k2 Round 15: sm, k3, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k5, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k4) x4, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso Round 16: sm, k4, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k4, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k3) x4 (1 st remains, pm, it will become the first st of row 17) Round 17: yo, slip1 (rm) - k2tog - psso, k3, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k2) x4, yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k1 Final Round: rm, k1, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k2) x2, (yo, slip1 - k2tog - psso, k1) x6, yo, (ssk, k1) x6, (ssk) x6, you should have 6 sts left. Break yarn, thread through remaining sts, pull tight and fasten off. Weave in loose ends.
Outer vortex:
Using circular needles, pick-up and knit 119 around outside edge of hexagon. pm and join in the round, k20, pm, k20, pm, k20, pm, k20, pm, k20, pm, k18, kfb. (120 stitches total, 20 in each section) Note: your stitch markers should be approximately lined up with the ends of the swirls. I believe mine were 6 stitches to the left of the swirl ends.
(Optional) Transition Section:
In the sample, a transition section can be seen that creates a ring around the center spiral, I'm not sure it enhances the pattern at all, but if you like it and want to knit it, here's what I did: Row 1: knit Row 2: (k1, yo 3x) repeat to end Row 3: (Cross 6 right) repeat to end Row 4: knit Row 5: \*knit to m, yo, sm\* repeat to end Row 6, 8, 10, 12: knit Row 7, 9, 11, 13: same as row 5 Row 14: purl VortexSection: Row 1 and all subsequent odd rows: (yo, k1, yo, k2, yo, k to last 2 stitches, k2tog) x6 Row 2 and all even rows (except every 10th row): (k to last 2 stitches k2tog) x6 Row 10 and every 10th row after: (p to last 2 stitches p2tog) x6 Continue alternating pattern row (row 1) and knit row (row 2), (throwing in a purl row every 10 rows), until blanket reaches desired size. Sample blanket was 80 rows and measured 48" after blocking. (360 stitches, 60 stitches in each section)
Modified Picot Bind off
Before beginning bind off make sure the number of stitches in each pattern section is evenlydivisibleby 4 Step 1: Using cable cast-on method cast-on 4 stitches Step 2: Bind off as normal 8 stitches Repeat steps 1 & 2 all the way around shawl. Block using preferred method This blanket combines two patterns and i wish to thank those pattern designers for putting their patterns up for free without them this would not have been created. The first was the Vortex Shawl by Kristina McCurley of pisceanknits and the second was the Sagrantino Shawl by Loredana Gianferri. Antimony Blanket Pattern copyright 2010 End of the Road Farm Knits.
