Project Notebook: Swirly Sqaure

The last week has been a lot about a lot of different works in progress, and one of them’s a bit of a secret so I don’ have that much to show but I can show you the beginning, as well as a cool technique for making blankets or afghan squares — or squares for anything, really — from the center out.

There are several different ways to do this (and you should check out the book Knitting Block by Block by Nicky Epstein if you’re a fan of funky blocks of all sorts of construction methods) but the one I’m using involves yarn overs at four points in every round (or should that be square?).

To begin, cast on 8 stitches and divide onto 4 double-pointed knitting needles. Join in the round and knit in the front and back of every stitch on the first round. This will be incredibly fiddly and may take you a few tries to get it done without twisting or having the stitches fall off your needles. (You could also cheat and do the cast on and the increase and then divide onto 4 needles and join in the round, because you’re going to have to sew the center closed anyway.)

At the beginning of each needle on each round, perform a yarn over. When you get too many stitches for your DPNs, change to a circular and place markers at the points where you make your yarn overs, using a different color to mark the beginning/end of the round.

You can keep going like this indefinitely, so long as you have a long enough needle. Mine is actually quite a bit bigger than this right now, but as I said, it’s surprise knitting, but I’ll share the pattern when it’s done.

What’s on or recently off your needles? I’d love to hear about it.

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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