Entre deux saisons A pattern by Misha Warbanski
It's getting on fall in Japan. There's a chill in the air and it's time to rake the leaves, harvest the last of the veggies from the garden. When we think of fall, it's often those bold colours. Vermillion, Orange, Gold. But here in Japan it's the muted colours I see most often: A rice harvest curing in a paddy, fallen chestnuts, distant smokey mountains. Back home it's geting on winter. There are flurries in the forecast, my mum wrote to tell me. "a cute sounding word for something kinda cold and really unwanted just yet...' The changing seasons are the inspiration for these wrist warmers. The wool, mohair & silk blend knits up rich and cozy. Knit in the round, there is no seaming required.
Materials
Yarn: 2 skeins Diarubino by Diakeito (Wool 70%, Mohair 10%, Silk 20%), You'll have about a half-skein leftover. Yardage per unit 144 yards (132 meters) Unit weight 40 grams (1.41 ounces) Gauge approximately 21.0 - 23.0 = 4 inches Needles: Set of 3.5mm dpns. Skills Entrelac Stockinette Stitch Picking up stitches along an edge A Note on Entrelac: This is my first attempt both knitting and designing using Entrelac. As per my normal hatred of seams, I figured out how to do it in the round. I read some basic instructions for Entrelac in the flat before I began and I'd recommend you do the same. Basically each little slanted square is knit one at a time. A row of squares is referred to as a Tier to distinguish it from a row of knitting. Working in the round becomes intuitive quite quickly, and the variegated colours in the yarn make it easy to see which stitches belong to which block. I found it easiest to work with a set of three dpns.
Instructions
Cast on 30 stitches using the long-tail cast on method (or any method that gives a stretchy edge.
TIER ONE "Triangles"
This tier is worked in the flat and will set the stage for the slanted squares to follow. (Right Side): K2 (Wrong Side): P2 (RS): K3 (WS): P3 (RS): K4 (WS): P4 (RS): K5 (WS): P5 (RS): K6 (end of triangle 1. NB Don't turn yet!) K2 (WS): P2 (RS): K3 (WS): P3 (RS): K4 (WS): P4 (RS): K5 (WS): P5 (RS): K6 (end of triangle 2. NB Don't turn yet!) K2 Continue in this pattern until you have 5 triangles. Divide stitches in their natural groupings onto DPNs. Join in the round.
TIER 2 "Purl 2 Together"
(RS): Pick up 6 stitches knitwise, evenly spaced along the right-hand edge of triangle 1. (WS): P5, p2tog (with the purl 2 together, you're joining your new square to the "live stitches" from the left edge of triangle 5). (RS): K6 (WS): P5, p2tog (RS): K6 (WS): P5, p2tog (RS): K6 (WS): P5, p2tog (RS): K6 (WS): P5, p2tog (RS): K6 (WS): P5, p2tog (now all "live stitches" of triangle 5 have been used up). Pick up 6 stitches purlwise along the right edge of triangle 5, purling together picked-up stitch 6 with the next "live stitch" of triangle 4. (RS): K6 (WS): p5, p2tog (RS): K6 (WS): P5, p2tog (RS): K6 (WS): P5, p2tog (RS): K6 (WS): P5, p2tog (RS): K6 (WS): P5, p2tog (RS): K6 (WS): P5, p2tog (now all "live stitches" of triangle 4 have been used up). Continue in this pattern until all the live stitches from triangle 2 have been purled together. TIER 3 "SSK" (WS): pick up 6 stitches purlwise from the WSright edge of triangle 1. (RS): K5, ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (Now all the live stitches from the last block are incorporated.) Working knitwise, pick up 6 stitches along the edge of the next rectangle, SSK pick-up stitch 6 with the next live stitch. (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk. Now, pick up 6 stitches along the edge of the next rectangle, SSK pick-up stitch 6 with the next live stitch. Continue the pattern in this pattern, comnletino 3 more rertanolee TIER 4 "Purl 2 Together" TIER 5"SSK" Work for 10 tiers or until the desired cuff length is reached. 10 tiers gave me just over 6 inches to the thumb joint. TIER 11"SSK" (WS): pick up 6 stitches purlwise from the WSright edge of triangle 1. (RS): K5, ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk. MAKE THUMB HOLE: Using the crochet cast on method, Cast on 5 stitches, knit 1 live stitch from the next square. (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk (WS): P6 (RS): K5,ssk Pick up 6 stitches down the next edge, ssk pickup stitch 6 with the first live stitch. continue working your squares. Work for two more Tiers (Total: 13 Tiers). You will have ended with a "SSK" Tier. TIER14TRIANGLES&BIND OFF (RS) Pick up 6 stitches knitwise (WS) Purl 5, P2tog (RS) K4, K2tog (WS) P4, P2tog (RS) K3 K2tog (WS) P3, P2tog (RS) K2, K2tog (WS) P2, P2tog (RS) K1, K2tog (WS) P1, P2tog (RS) K2tog (WS) P3tog, NEXT TRIANGLE: pick up 6 stitches purlwise, purling together stitch 6 withthe next live stitch. (RS) K5, K2tog (WS) P5, P2tog (RS) K4, K2tog (WS) P4, P2tog (RS) K3, K2tog(WS) P3, P2tog (RS) K2, K2tog (WS) P2, P2tog (RS) K1, K2tog (WS) P1, P2tog (RS) K2tog, turn (WS) Pick up 6 stitches purlwise, purlingtogether stitch 6 with the next live stitch. Continue working the triangle Tier until all stitches are bound off. Break yarn and pull through the final stitch. Weave in ends using a tapestry needle.
Misha wears many (handknitted) hats, as an English teacher, freelance journalist, and knita-holic. Find her on Ravelry under the alias tundrapunk. He blog address is mishawarbanski.wordpress.com.
