by
Abigail van Roode and Kristi Geraci
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. |
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.
|
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.
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. |