Sunday, February 7, 2021

Dots and Dashes Slip Stitch Cowl and Free Pattern

I'm often asked where I buy my yarn, especially now when all the yarn stores near me are simply GONE.  Of course, all is not lost, since there is the wonderful Ravelry feature of Trade or Sell and it is easy to find great yarn at 'reducing my stash' prices. Far be it from me to let a bargain slip through my fingers, and so here is a sample of the newest yarns I got from Ravelers willing to share. Mostly Malabrigo, in Rastita, Silky Merino, Arroyo and a few bits from my own stash. This light blue Silky Merino was dyed by moi last week. I gathered colors together that are a bit of a departure from my usual palette, as one must venture forward for the thrill of new ideas.

 
Using the slip stitch pattern again to test out how well colors combine, and to have the experience of using the new yarns in small amounts to see how they knit up. So yummy. If you are a new knitter or an old hand like me, it really pays to use really nice yarns as the knitting is so much more enjoyable and then the finished product is better too. Why did it take me this long to figure this out? 
I included a shawl pin which is totally unnecessary, but fun to make anyway. What I love about cowls is that they are a scarf that doesn't fall off into the puddle and then get walked on. Such a good solution. ... And in this case, because it is knit from multiple sets of yarns, placing the favored color where it is most pleasing is an easy choice.


So I encourage you to dig out a bunch of orphan balls and try this simple pattern to experiment with yarn and color. It works with pretty much any weight of yarn. Suggestions: Merino or merino and silk in Sport or Dk and size 5 needles, or Worsted/Aran with size 8 needles. Fingering with size 3 needles.  Only one color is used per round, making this a very relaxing knit. When slipping stitches, take care not to pull working yarn too tightly behind the slipped stitches. If you don't knit, you can purchase this one (including pin) from fibermania at g mail dot com for $40 including shipping. Email me. SOLD

Here's the pattern

Dots and Dashes Slip Stitch Cowl

Glossary:

MC main color

C1 color #1

K knit

P purl

Sl 1 slip one

WYIB with yarn in back...WYIF with yarn in front


The Slip Stitch Dot Pattern

Rows 1 With MC, K all sts.

Row 2 Purl

Row 3: Switch to C1, *K1, Sl1 WYIB; rep from * to end.

Row 4: *P1, Sl1 WYIF; rep from * to end. 

Rows 5 With MC, K all sts. 

Row 6 Purl

Row 7: Switch to C1, *Sl1 WYIB, K1; rep from * to end. 

Row 8: *Sl1 WYIF, P1; rep from * to end. Rep Rnds 1-8 for pattern.


The Slip Stitch Dash Pattern

Rows 1 With MC, K all sts.

Row 2 Purl

Row 3: Switch to C1, *K2, Sl2 WYIB; rep from * to end.

Row 4: *P2, Sl2 WYIF; rep from * to end. 

Rows 5 With MC, K all sts. 

Row 6 Purl

Row 7: Switch to C1, *Sl2 WYIB, K2; rep from * to end. 

Row 8: *Sl2 WYIF, P2; rep from * to end. Rep Rnds 1-8 for pattern.

Alternate your beginning stitch with sl2 so that the purl bumps are offset. It will be obvious which stitches to knit as they are the previously slipped stitches and appears longer.



This close-up shows the three garter stitches, with dots and dashes in alternation.
The main color is always knit in stockinette while the dots and dashes are in garter, or knit on the front and then again knit on the backside resulting in the purl bump appearing on the front side.

Begin:

Cast on 56 stitches, and keep first three and last three stitches in garter to prevent rolling.

Knit five sets of Dots pattern and five sets of Dashes pattern, in two colors. Change yarns after two sets of Dots and Dashes. Knit until desired length, at least 24”-40" depending on yarn choice. Wet block flat before seaming. You will be glad you did. Sew ends together using Mattress Stitch.

28 comments:

  1. Thank you!! I am going to try this.

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  2. That looks very warm and comfortable Melody. I'm sorry the local shops have closed - will they reopen after the pandemic is under control or are they gone forever? In New Zealand, even with our 'very close to normal' lifestyle, many stores have closed, especially in the CBD, as so many more people are working remotely. Even if it's only a case of 1 day a week at home, 4 in the office, the effect on central retailers has been significant. And people who would normally have shopped instore got used to online, and have stuck to it. It's a very different world, and may not ever be the way it was.

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    1. Take it you are a big city girl. Our LYS is still functioning very well. plus of course the luxury of Skeinz!

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  3. What an beautiful cowl hopefully to make one in the near future

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  4. Thank you for this great hood. I can't wait to knit this great piece in beautiful yarn with cheerful colors. I'm already looking forward to it.

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  6. Great cowl. Love all the colors. Fabulous use of bits of yarns. Thank you kindly. :)

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  7. Thanks so much for designing such a nice and practical pattern! I plan to start mine soon!!

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  8. The slip stitch pattern looks identical to Andrea Mowrey's Shift and other patterns she's published.

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    1. Yes, it is a classic slip stitchpattern, and one that I have tried to simplify here to make it less of a gigantic project.

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    2. I love the way you've created this cowl to use up our bits & bobs of yarn, so very clever!

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  9. What a fabulous pattern. I love the texture 🤗👍

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  10. Thank you for the pattern. Maybe one of these days I'll learn to knit for real :-)

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  11. I love the looks of this pattern. I started working on it and realized I was confused about your directions. Do we alternate a dot section with a dash section, or do we do five repeats of the dot pattern followed by five repeats of the dashed pattern? Also, I don't understand what you mean when you say "Alternate your beginning stitch with sl2 so that the purl bumps are offset. It will be obvious which stitches to knit as they are the previously slipped stitches and appears longer." Do you mean that on every other row, we should start with sl2? What about having 3 garter stitches on each side throughout? Thanks for clarifying.

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  12. Love it but am having difficulty - you have two knit rows creating a bump on the front that I don't see on your cowl so I started purling the second row of MC. I am off each time I go to the alternate color but know to only knit the C color stitches and slip the MC stitches. I am getting the offset look from the previous one.

    It looks like Andrea's pattern also has different stitches to add texture but also difficulty. I hope to get one done with stash yarn.

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    1. You correctly purled the second row and I have fixed that in the directions. And yes you are also doing it correctly and getting the offset look. Sorry to be confusing, sometimes it is better to write less and let the knitter see what is needed by doing the work.

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  14. I have tried several times to do this and it does not look like the picture. you cannot possibly be knitting row 1 and row 2 and then row 5 and row 6. i even watched several videos on the slip stitching and I am doing it correctly. have been knitting for 61 years and have never had problems with directions.

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    1. YOU and so many others now have found my gigantic mistake, which is now fixed. So sorry for the confusion. It seems the simplest pattern is so easy to screw up!!

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  15. You are having waaay too much fun with this slip stitch idea. And dyeing yarn is super fun too.

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  17. I believe that there are a few other corrections needed. Since the dots and dashes are in garter stitch, the instructions for the C1 rows 4 and 8 should be K1, not P1 for the dots and K2, not P2 for the dashes. For the bumps to form, another correction on the same rows should be:
    Dot Row 4 - Sl1 WYIF, K1 (row 3 ended with a slipped stitch, so should start R4 with a slipped stitch)
    Dot Row 8 - K1, Sl1 WYIF (R7 ended with a K1, so should start R8 with a K1)
    Dash Row 3 - Switch to C1, *K2, Sl2 WYIB, rep from * to last 2 st in pattern. K2 (There are 50 stitches between the 3 garter stitches at each end. The 50 stitches allow for 12 repeats of the 4-st pattern with 2 leftover stitches, before the garter stitches, that should be knit.)
    Dash Row 4 - *K2, Sl2 WYIF, rep from * to last 2 st in pattern. Sl2 WYIF. (As above but slip the 2 leftover stitches.)
    Dash Row 7 - Switch to C1, *Sl2 WYIB, K2, rep from * to last 2 st in pattern. Sl2 WYIB.
    Dash Row 8 - *Sl2 WIF, K2, rep from * to last 2 st in pattern. Sl2 WYIF.

    I hope this clarifies it a bit for some knitters. I apologize for the wordiness but this wording works for me.

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    1. Thank you for this. I knew there were issues and my mind kept saying "ah-oh this is not right "

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  18. Thanks a bunch! This works perfectly on my swatches. Now I am ready to start this beautiful scarf and use up my stash. Well, I will make a dent in it at least.

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  19. I am assuming you must use the same weight yarn throughout the piece?

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  20. Wow I love this and that is scrappy it is so beautiful!!

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  21. Thank you Stitchyogi. You saved the day 🙄

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  22. Dear Melody, didn't mean to be a bit harsh, but you were kind of way off, here. Yikes. Have a lovely Summer 🌼

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