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Stitch of the Week: Feather and Fan

March 21, 2013 by Sarah White

A few days of warmer weather (followed rapidly by cooler, rainy days) has me in the mood for spring, and for some reason spring knitting means lace to me.

I’m not the kind of girl who’s going to spend months of my life and tons of concentration on an intricate lace shawl, but I do like the look of eyelets and openwork from time to time.

feather and fan knitting patternsIf you’re new to lace knitting or just want to try a stitch that is quick, relatively easy and not too fussy to knit or to wear, check out Feather and Fan, also known as Old Shale.

This pattern uses increases and decreases that are bunched together in the row rather than having an increase right next to its decrease. This causes the edge of the work to ripple in a pretty way (but that rippling means if you’re knitting something like a scarf you need to knit it in halves so that both ends of the scarf match).

I’ve used Feather and Fan in my Feather and Fan stole, which is really just a wide scarf worked in three colors, and on a washcloth.

This is such a popular pattern that just searching for free patterns with a photo on Ravelry you get just over 200 results, so I can’t possibly highlight them all, but here are couple of pretties you might want to check out:

  • I adore this Feather and Fan hat designed by Betty P. Balcomb for Cascade Yarns and their Baby Alpaca Chunky Yarn (scroll down the page to find the PDF download link).
  • Jean Miller’s Feather and Fan cowl, available for free download on Ravelry, is a great one-skein beginning lace project.
  • This short scarf by Kelly Faller is another beauty that would make a great gift. It’s kind of wide as written, but if you know that the stitch pattern is a multiple of 18 stitches, you can make a narrower and thus longer scarf with no problem.
  • Wendy D. Johnson used Feather and Fan to great effect on the leg of a pair of toe-up socks (search for feather and fan socks on this page to find the download link).
  • And then there’s the giant stash-busting Feather and Fan comfort shawl, worked from the tip out as wide as you want it to be. There are some really lovely examples in the pattern’s Flickr group.

Have you ever used Feather and Fan? I’d love to hear how you used it.

Next Pattern:

  • Free Knitting Pattern - Feather And Fan Baby Blanket
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Comments

  1. Jenny says

    March 10, 2016 at 6:38 am

    I have tried to knit the green hat shown above but the decrease rows don’t decrease Any stitches. I just end up with the same amount of sts. Help me please

Have you read?

A Sweet Skater Dress to Knit

I know knitting a dress sounds like a major time commitment. And that’s before I even tell you that this particular dress, the Sixth Ave Skater Dress by Briana Luppino, is worked in light fingering weight yarn. 

But would you just take a moment to look at it and tell me if it doesn’t look like it would be worth all the time you would spend knitting it? And it’s miles of stockinette stitch so it’s actually beginner friendly and a great semi-mindless knit you can take with you on your travels this summer and wear when it is done. 

The dress is worked from the top down with tank straps, a scoop neck, waist shaping and a flowy skirt for a fun and comfortable fit. 

The pattern has 10 sizes, with finished bust measurements ranging from 28 to 64 inches, or 71.5 to 163 cm. The sample shown was worked with 4 inches/10 cm of negative ease at the bust, and the designer says most people like between 2 and 6 inches/5 to 15 cm of negative ease in the bust and around 10 inches/25.4 cm positive ease in the hips. 

(To refresh your memory, negative ease means the measurement of the garment is smaller than your actual body measurement, while positive ease is bigger than your body.)

To pick a size you’d work from the bust measurement because you can always add more or fewer decreases as you need to get your desired fit at the waist and hips. And because it’s worked from the top down you can try it on as often as you like to make sure it’s the perfect fit. 

The I-cord edgings give the dress a super casual feel, and I think this would be a great one to add to your summer rotation. (Yes, even with a wool blend yarn.)

You can see lots of cute finished versions and grab a copy of the pattern for yourself on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Briana Luppino]

Book Review – Knitted Tanks and Tunics

How to Knit a Simple Sweater Dress

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