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Our friend Hannah decided to run off and get married in Vegas. The rest of our knitting group (the Boba Knitters) were knitting her felted Calla Lilies for her bouquet at a knitters bridal shower. Being allergic to wool and alpaca, I couldn't participate in the knitting of feltable items so I decided to knit her a garter. Of course, the local yarn shop has the perfect shade of pink in silk roving but not in silk yarn so I recruited Kristi to spin me up some yarn and the Eloping garter was born!

Since Hannah and her man didn't give us much time to plan, we had to get things moving! The fact that the Chasing Rainbows fiber was prepped as a pencil roving made it easy to spin up quickly because it didn't require much predrafting -- Kristi could just start spinning. Also, luckily, the garter takes less than a half ounce of laceweight, so this project provides an opportunity to give both laceweight and a more luxury fiber a try. Kristi made a 2-ply yarn at about 21 wpi, but the gauge is pretty flexible in this pattern, so you don't have to be too worried about that.

The garter is knit sideways to the length you desire, which makes the pattern very adaptable. It is wise to block a swatch of your handspun before knitting the garter, to get an idea of how much vertical stretch you will get out of it.

This lovely garter will spin and knit up quickly in case you, or a friend, need to elope on short notice.

model: Mrs. Kuhns photos: Abigail van Roode and Kristi Geraci

SIZE
Sized to fit intended wearer; shown in Hannah size.
 
FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Width: 2 inches
Length: custom -- garter shown measures 20 inches

 
MATERIALS

Less than 0.5 oz, 100% Bombyx silk from Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks, spun into 2-ply laceweight yarn, 21 wraps per inch. Colorway: Rose Petals

Commercial yarn alternatives: Jaggerspun Zephyr [50% Merino wool/50% Tussah silk; 630yd/576m per 2oz ball] or Crystal Palace Panda Silk [52% bamboo/43% Machine washable Merino wool/5% combed silk; 204yd/187m per 50g ball] (1 ball required)


Recommended needle size:
1 set US #3/3.25mm straight needles
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below -- every knitter's gauge is unique]

Approx. 1.5 yd elastic, 0.25 inch width
Approx. 2 yd ribbon, 0.25 inch width
Sewing thread to match ribbon

GAUGE

23 sts/30 rows = 4 inches in stockinette st

 
PATTERN NOTES

[Knitty's list of standard abbreviations and techniques can be found here]

Lace Pattern (Worked over 10 sts)
Note: Set-Up Row replaces Row 1 the first time the pattern is worked. See pattern for directions.

Set-Up Row
[RS]: K5, yo twice, k2, yo, p2tog, [k1, p1, k1] in last st. 14 sts.
Row 1 [RS]: BO 2 sts, yo, p2tog, k2, yo twice, k2tog, k1, yo, p2tog, [k1, p1, k1] in last st. 14 sts.
Row 2 [WS]: K3, yo, p2tog, k1, p1, p first yo, drop second yo, p1, k1, yo, p2tog, [k1, p1, k1] in last st. 15 sts.
Row 3 [RS]: K3, yo, p2tog, k1, k2tog, yo twice, k2, yo, p2tog, k3. 16 sts.
Row 4 [WS]: BO 2 sts, yo, p2tog, k1, p1, p first yo, drop second yo, p1, k1, yo, p2tog, k3. 13 sts.
Final Row [RS]: BO 2 sts, yo, p2tog, k2, yo, k2tog, k1, p2tog, k1. 10 sts.

DIRECTIONS

CO 10 sts, leaving a tail 8-10 inches long.

Work Set-Up Row of Lace Pattern, then work Rows 2-4.

Work Rows 1-4 of Lace Pattern until work is approx. 1 inch shorter than leg circumference, ending with Row 4.

Work Final Row of Lace Pattern. BO all sts.

FINISHING

Weave in CO yarn tail. Block piece so that length is equal to leg circumference, or slightly longer. Use BO yarn tail to sew ends of garter together.

Cut two lengths of elastic, each slightly shorter than leg circumference. Using photos as guides, weave each length through column of eyelets on garter. Overlap ends approx 0.25 inch and sew securely.

Cut two lengths of ribbon, each approx. 10-12 inches longer than leg circumference. Weave each length through column of eyelets, following path of ribbon. Tie ends in bow and trim to desired length.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Abigail lives in the Silicon Valley with her imported Dutch husband and two very active young sons. She squeezes out knitting time between picking LEGO pieces off of the floor and saying, "Don't jump on the couch" to anyone who will listen. She blogs about her knitting here.

Kristi lives in Boulder, Colorado, and squeezes out knitting time between going to work and saying, "Stop that barking!" to any dog who will listen. She blogs her knitting and spinning adventures with Cookie A. here.