Etude no.8: an old asymmetrical pattern, mirrored

Something I’m wanting to work on in the long run is designing lace that has yarnovers on every row. This is intimidating me more than it probably should, so I decided to start with some baby steps.

It’s often a good idea to play around with existing designs in a technique:  swatching other people’s stitch patterns teaches me a lot about structure. To this end I decided to browse through the stitch patterns in Susanna Lewis’s Knitting Lace. Pattern 54 looked like a good place to start – it’s not terribly complex.

Just for kicks, I decided to try mirroring it. (I added an extra column of knit stitches between each repeat so as not to deal with double yarnovers.)

In the end, I’m not sure the mirroring was a good idea – the fabric is so very lumpy that it’s hard to block flat. The slightly bubbled texture after blocking could be charming or could be annoying. Still, I think I’ve got a somewhat better feel for how the yarnovers shift from side to side as decreases and new yarnovers are added on every row.

I had thought the self-striping yarn would do some nice rippling because of how wiggly the fabric is, but it turns out that it wiggles in opposite directions and cancels out any rippling in the color. Something with a shorter repeat might show it more than this yarn, though.

Here’s the back of the fabric before blocking – it’s sticking out a lot of tongues at me!  

Notes:

• This is a stitch pattern such as might be found in a stitch dictionary. It is not a pattern for a finished object. You will need to add selvedges or some other form of knitted stitches to either side.
• étude no. 8 is a multiple of 20+1 stitches and 24 rows.
• I’ve made a stitch map for it, and a PDF version suitable for printing.
• Designers, please feel free to use this stitch in your patterns.
• If you like my posts like this, please consider supporting me on Patreon or donating with my Paypal tip jar in the sidebar. Thanks!

Abbreviations:

• k: knit.
• k2tog: knit 2 stitches together as if they were 1. (Right-leaning decrease)
• p: purl.
• p2tog: purl 2 stitches together as if they were 1. (Right-leaning decrease)
• ssk: slip each of the next 2 stitches as if to knit, then knit them together through the back loop. (Left-leaning decrease)
• ssp: slip each of the next 2 stitches as if to knit, slip them back to the left needle, then purl them together through the back loop. (Left-leaning decrease)
• yo: yarnover.

Row 1: *k1, ssk, k7, yo, k1, yo, k7, k2tog, rep from *, k1.
Row 2: p1, *p2tog, p7, yo, p1, yo, p7, ssp, p1, rep from *.
Row 3: *k1, ssk, k6, yo, k3, yo, k6, k2tog, rep from *, k1.
Row 4: p1, *p2tog, p6, yo, p3, yo, p6, ssp, p1, rep from *.
Row 5: *k1, ssk, (k5, yo) x 2, k5, k2tog, rep from *, k1.
Row 6: p1, *p2tog, (p5, yo) x 2, p5, ssp, p1, rep from *.
Row 7: *k1, ssk, k4, yo, k7, yo, k4, k2tog, rep from *, k1.
Row 8: p1, *p2tog, p4, yo, p7, yo, p4, ssp, p1, rep from *.
Row 9: *k1, ssk, k3, yo, k9, yo, k3, k2tog, rep from *, k1.
Row 10: p1, *p2tog, p3, yo, p9, yo, p3, ssp, p1, rep from *.
Row 11: *k1, ssk, k2, yo, k11, yo, k2, k2tog, rep from *, k1.
Row 12: p1, *p2tog, p2, yo, p11, yo, p2, ssp, p1, rep from *.
Row 13: *k1, yo, k7, k2tog, k1, ssk, k7, yo, rep from *, k1.
Row 14: p1, *yo, p7, ssp, p1, p2tog, p7, yo, p1, rep from *.
Row 15: *K2, yo, k6, k2tog, k1, ssk, k6, yo, k1, rep from *, k1.
Row 16: p1, *p1, yo, p6, ssp, p1, p2tog, p6, yo, p2, rep from *.
Row 17: *K3, yo, k5, k2tog, k1, ssk, k5, yo, k2, rep from *, k1.
Row 18: p1, *p2, yo, p5, ssp, p1, p2tog, p5, yo, p3, rep from *.
Row 19: *K4, yo, k4, k2tog, k1, ssk, k4, yo, k3, rep from *, k1.
Row 20: p1, *p3, yo, p4, ssp, p1, p2tog, p4, yo, p4, rep from *.
Row 21: *K5, yo, k3, k2tog, k1, ssk, k3, yo, k4, rep from *, k1.
Row 22: p1, *p4, yo, p3, ssp, p1, p2tog, p3, yo, p5, rep from *.
Row 23: *K6, yo, k2, k2tog, k1, ssk, k2, yo, k5, rep from *, k1.
Row 24: p1, *p5, yo, p2, ssp, p1, p2tog, p2, yo, p6, rep from *.

And since this turned out not to be good lace yarn, here’s how the YOs look. I used my tablet as a light box and took a photo – not the greatest photo, I know, but it’s possible to see more of the structure.

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