Heatwave: a free lace knitting stitch pattern

August’s stitch pattern word is heatwave, suggested by Susan on Patreon.

I’m really pleased with the way this one came out. I encoded each of the words heat and wave separately in the same size template, and then stacked them on top of each other to design the lace. I think each word should work as a separate stitch pattern, though I ran out of time to swatch them.

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.
• Heatwave is a multiple of 18+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.
• I tried to design this so it could be split apart into its component words. Heat is rows 7-12 & 19-24; wave is rows 1-6 & 13-18. The links will take you to the stitch map for each word. I didn’t have time to swatch the individual words, unfortunately.
• 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, k2tog, yo, k4, ssk, yo, p1, yo, k2tog, k4, yo, ssk; work from *, p1.
Row 2 (WS): k1, *(p8, k1) x 2; work from *.
Row 3: *p1, yo, sk2p, k1, yo, k1, k2tog, yo, k1, p1, k1, yo, ssk, k1, yo, k1, DSD, yo; work from *, p1.
Row 4: k1, *(p8, k1) x 2; work from *.
Row 5: *p1, yo x 2, cdd, k1, k2tog, yo, k2, p1, k2, yo, ssk, k1, cdd, yo x 2; work from *, p1.
Row 6: k1, *k1, p7, k1, p6, k1, p1, k1; work from *.
Row 7: *p1, yo x 2, k3tog, k2tog, yo, k3tog, yo x 2, p1, yo x 2, sssk, yo, ssk, sssk, yo x 2; work from *, p1.
Row 8: k1, *k1, p5, k1, p1, k2, p5, k1, p1, k1; work from *.
Row 9: *p1, k2, cdd, k2, yo x 2, k1, p1, k1, yo x 2, k2, cdd, k2; work from *, p1.
Row 10: k1, *p5, k1, p2, k1, p1, k1, p6, k1; work from *.
Row 11: *p1, k1, k2tog, k5, yo, p1, yo, k5, ssk, k1; work from *, p1.
Row 12: k1, *(p8, k1) x 2; work from *.
Row 13: *p1, yo, k2tog, k4, yo, ssk, p1, k2tog, yo, k4, ssk, yo; work from *, p1.
Row 14: k1, *(p8, k1) x 2; work from *.
Row 15: *p1, k1, yo, ssk, k1, yo, k1, DSD, yo, p1, yo, sk2p, k1, yo, k1, k2tog, yo, k1; work from *, p1.
Row 16: k1, *(p8, k1) x 2; work from *.
Row 17: *p1, k2, yo, ssk, k1, cdd, yo x 2, p1, yo x 2, cdd, k1, k2tog, yo, k2; work from *, p1.
Row 18: k1, *p6, k1, p1, k2, p7, k1; work from *.
Row 19: *p1, yo x 2, sssk, yo, ssk, sssk, yo x 2, p1, yo x 2, k3tog, k2tog, yo, k3tog, yo x 2; work from *, p1.
Row 20: k1, *k1, p5, k1, p1, k2, p5, k1, p1, k1; work from *.
Row 21: *p1, k1, yo x 2, k2, cdd, k2, p1, k2, cdd, k2, yo x 2, k1; work from *, p1.
Row 22: k1, *p1, k1, p6, k1, p5, k1, p2, k1; work from *.
Row 23: *p1, yo, k5, ssk, k1, p1, k1, k2tog, k5, yo; work from *, p1.
Row 24: k1, *(p8, k1) x 2; work from *.

Encoding process:

I encoded heatwave in base 10, which turns the letters into 08 05 01 22 25 01 24 05.

The section outlined in red is the grid on which I encoded heatwave; the bottom three rows are heat and the top three are wave. I started in the bottom right corner. The first digit is 0, so I counted zero squares and placed a mark. Then I counted 8 squares, jumping up to the next line when I ran out of squares; then I placed a black square to mark off the boundary of eight. The next digit is zero again, so I immediately placed another mark to show that there were zero squares, and so on.

Once I had charted all the numbers, I mirrored the result and decided to place some border columns so as not to have quadruple yarnovers. I made these purl columns to show that they were different.

And then because I know something about how diagonal lines of yarnovers work, I flipped everything vertically:

I replaced all the black marks with yarnovers, inserted plain wrong side rows in alternation with the lacy right side rows, and set to work swatching. The result is above!

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