Brouhaha: a free lace knitting stitch pattern
July’s stitch pattern word is brouhaha, suggested by Hazel on Patreon.
I like the way the word sounds, sort of round and unusual. (It was suggested at the beginning of June. Any similarity to current events is purely coincidental!)
Each month, my Patreon backers have the chance to suggest words for me to encode as knitting stitches. A random number generator helps me choose the word of the month, and then I get to work, first turning the letters into numbers, then charting the numbers onto grids in various ways. Finally, when I make the chart into lace, I turn the marked squares into yarnovers and work out where to place the corresponding decreases. (I usually make lace; occasionally I make cables instead.) I also make a chart for any craft that uses a square grid for designing; this goes in a separate post.
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.
- Brouhaha is a multiple of 14+1 stitches and 24 rows. The first 12 rows would be a complete stitch pattern; I liked the way it looked when I offset the design halfway on the second time through the pattern.
- I’ve made a stitch map for it.
- Designers, please feel free to use this stitch in your patterns. I’d like credit but won’t be offended if people don’t give it.
- 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:
- CDD: centered double decrease: slip the next 2 stitches as if to knit 2 together, knit the next stitch, then pass the 2 slipped stitches over the third.
- DSD: double slip decrease; ssk, slip the resulting stitch back to the left needle, pass the next stitch over, then slip the result. (Right-leaning double decrease. Substitute knit 3 together if desired; they are similar but don’t look quite the same.)
- k: knit.
- k2tog: knit 2 stitches together as if they were 1. (Right-leaning decrease)
- k3tog: knit 3 stitches together as if they were 1. (Right-leaning double decrease)
- p: purl.
- sk2p: slip 1, k2tog, pass slipped stitch over. (Left-leaning double decrease.)
- ssk: slip each of the next 2 stitches as if to knit, then knit them together through the back loop. (Left-leaning decrease)
- sssk: slip each of the next 3 stitches as if to knit, then knit them together through the back loop. (Left-leaning double decrease. Substitute sk2p if desired.)
- yo: yarnover.
Row 1 (RS): *p1, yo, k2tog, k1, yo, k1, ssk, p1, k2tog, k1, yo, k1, ssk, yo; work from *, p1.
Row 2 (WS): k1, *(p6, k1) x 2; work from *.
Row 3: *p1, yo, k1, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, p1, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, k1, yo; work from *, p1.
Row 4: k1, *(p6, k1) x 2; work from *.
Row 5: *p1, k2, yo, CDD, yo, k1, p1, k1, yo, CDD, yo, k2; work from *, p1.
Row 6: k1, *(p6, k1) x 2; work from *.
Row 7: *p1, k1, ssk, yo x 2, sk2p, yo, p1, yo, DSD, yo x 2, k2tog, k1; work from *, p1.
Row 8: k1, *(p2, k1, p3, k1) x 2; work from *.
Row 9: *p1, CDD, yo x 2, k1, yo, ssk, p1, k2tog, yo, k1, yo x 2, CDD; work from *, p1.
Row 10: k1, *p3, k1, p2, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1; work from *.
Row 11: *p1, yo, sssk, yo x 2, DSD, yo, p1, yo, sk2p, yo x 2, k3tog, yo; work from *, p1.
Row 12: k1, *(p2, k1, p3, k1) x 2; work from *.
Row 13: *p1, k2tog, k1, yo, k1, ssk, yo, p1, yo, k2tog, k1, yo, k1, ssk; work from *, p1.
Row 14: k1, *(p6, k1) x 2; work from *.
Row 15: *p1, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, k1, yo, p1, yo, k1, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo; work from *, p1.
Row 16: k1, *(p6, k1) x 2; work from *.
Row 17: *p1, k1, yo, CDD, yo, k2, p1, k2, yo, CDD, yo, k1; work from *, p1.
Row 18: k1, *(p6, k1) x 2; work from *.
Row 19: *p1, yo, DSD, yo x 2, k2tog, k1, p1, k1, ssk, yo x 2, sk2p, yo; work from *, p1.
Row 20: k1, *(p2, k1, p3, k1) x 2; work from *.
Row 21: *p1, k2tog, yo, k1, yo x 2, CDD, p1, CDD, yo x 2, k1, yo, ssk; work from *, p1.
Row 22: k1, *p3, k1, p2, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1; work from *.
Row 23: *p1, yo, sk2p, yo x 2, k3tog, yo, p1, yo, sssk, yo x 2, DSD, yo; work from *, p1.
Row 24: k1, *(p2, k1, p3, k1) x 2; work from *.
Encoding explanation:
Brouhaha in base 7 is 02 24 21 30 11 01 11 01. (That’s a lot of digits with low value, which makes for a lot of yarnovers per square inch, as you can see.)
My favorite encoding method is one where I start in the bottom right of a rectangle and count squares, as if knitting. For now, look at only the darker section of the chart above, with the black squares and the numbered white ones, and the thick red border. A while back, I had to take into consideration how to encode the number zero, and this is what I do.
To encode 02 (B), starting in the bottom right corner, I count no squares, and mark the next square to the left. Then I count 2 squares, and mark the next. R is encoded as 24, so I count 2 more squares. Then I run out of squares in the row, so I jump up to the rightmost square of the next row and mark it. Then I count 4 squares and mark the next, and so on.
This word fit perfectly in a 6 x 6 grid. Next I mirrored the chart along the right-hand vertical axis (the mirrored chart is shown in dark grey). I also added in some extra columns that aren’t part of the code, and so I distinguished them by making them purl stitches. I do this sometimes when I want to cut down on the number of multiple YOs and also to make more potential locations for beads. I also like the way some lace looks with purl ribs – it makes an interesting effect.