I wanted to make something, either for myself or as a gift. I had this lovely colourful yarn and a neck warmer caught my eye. I had never in my life knitted with needles thicker than 4 mm, and now 6 mm! At first they felt as if they barely fitted in my hands, and the knitting came out horribly uneven. I unravelled it several times before it started looking like something. But eventually it did. I got the instructions fromthe Garnstudio website. My yarn was different and my needles smaller than in the instructions, so I cast on 48 stitches rather than 38. The cable instructions mention a cable needle. I once tried using one for something. No chance. My mother taught me another way and that is what I still do. In some ways it is a bit more awkward, but for me a cable needle is even more awkward. Habit. It may look complicated, but I simply rearrange the stitches on the needle itself.
The extra room over the shoulders comes from short rows.
On the first row you begin the cable immediately. The cable is 12 stitches. Once the cable is worked, I turn and knit back. On the next row I knit across and continue 6 knit stitches beyond the cable (the instructions say 4), turn, knit back across those 6 stitches and purl the cable section. Then I work the cable to the right and continue all the way to the end of the row and back. As the diagram below shows, there are three rows between cable crosses.
When the upper edge of the neck section measured about exactly 46 cm, I finished the work. I graft the edges together so there is no thick seam.
It would probably look more striking in a single-coloured yarn, but I think this is perfectly fine too.
Garnstudio instructions:
NECK WARMER
Worked back and forth in garter stitch following chart M.1, then sewn together.
Cast on 38 stitches on 8 mm needles.
Now work as follows – see KNITTING TIP: * work chart M.1 (= 12 stitches), turn and work back following M.1.
Work M.1, then 4 stitches in garter stitch (= 16 stitches altogether), turn and work back in garter stitch and M.1.
Work 4 rows back and forth over all stitches, AT THE SAME TIME continue M.1 over the first 12 stitches and garter stitch over the remaining stitches*. Repeat from *until the piece measures about 46 cm along the upper edge of the neck, ending after a complete pattern repeat.
Cast off.
ASSEMBLY
Sew the edges together through the front loops of the edge stitches, with the edges facing each other, to avoid a bulky seam. Fold the neck edge back.
Chart key
 | = | knit on RS, purl on WS |
 | = | place 4 sts on cable needle behind work, knit 4, knit 4 from cable needle |
 | = | place 4 sts on cable needle in front of work, knit 4, knit 4 from cable needle |
Pattern chart for DROPS 131-47
