Enough: a lace knitting stitch pattern

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A word that’s been increasingly on my mind over my lifetime is Enough, and I thought I’d make it into lace. I’m glad I did! The larger tiled shape makes me think of manta rays or some other sea creature; the part where the lacy holes are makes me think of bumblebees.

I’ve posted a charted design for Enough for those of you who don’t want to knit lace.

Lace knit in orchid-colored yarn that's a little fuzzy. The shapes in the lace and the lines between the lace are like some kind of sea creature/ The part that is where the holes are looks kind of like a flying bee.
chart showing how to work Enough lace by means of special symbols. Written instructions in blog post.
click chart to enlarge

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.
  • Enough lace is a multiple of 20 + 20 stitches and 20 + 10 rows. (End after either row 10 or 20.)
  • I’ve made a stitch map for Enough.
  • Designers, please feel free to use this in your patterns. I’d like credit but won’t be offended if people don’t give it.
  • My blog posts and free stitch patterns are supported by subscriptions on Patreon or donations to my Paypal tip jar in the sidebar. If you appreciate my work, please consider helping out. Thanks!

Abbreviations:

  • CDD: slip the next 2 stitches as if to knit 2 together, knit the next stitch, then pass the 2 slipped stitches over the third. (Stands for centered double decrease.)
  • 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)
  • kyok: (knit 1, yarnover, knit 1) all in the same stitch.
  • p: purl.
  • ssk: slip each of the next 2 stitches as if to knit, then knit them together through the back loop. (Or substitute your favorite 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. Bring the yarn forward between the needles so that it will make a loop over the needle when the next stitch is worked. When there are two in a row, bring the yarn forward, wrap it once around the needle, and leave the yarn in front so it makes a second loop.

note about the bottom edge:

The bottom edge of this lace has a slightly unusual shape. If there are a number of other rows of knitting preceding it, it would probably not show. However, I decided to add four set-up rows to make it easier to block so you could see how it might look as the bottom edge of something. These rows are not part of the encoding.

Set-up row 1: *k2tog, yo; work from * to last stitch, k1.

Set-up row 2: purl.

Set-up row 3:knit.

Set-up row 4: purl.

When blocking, I ran a wire through most of the yarnovers in set-up row 1, omitting only the two yarnovers centered under the small patterned sections from row 1 of the main body of the lace, which are the part that pulls up to make the scalloped bottom edge.

Written instructions for Enough lace:

Row 1 (RS): k8, k2tog, yo, k1, *yo, ssk, k15, k2tog, yo, k1; work from *, yo, ssk, k8.

Row 2 (WS): purl.

Row 3: k6, k3tog, yo × 2, k2, *k1, yo × 2, sssk, k11, k3tog, yo × 2, k2; work from *, k1, yo × 2, sssk, k6.

Row 4: p7, (k1, p1) in double yo, p1, *p2, (k1, p1) in double yo, p13, (k1, p1) in double yo, p1; work from *, p2, (k1, p1) in double yo, p7.

Row 5: k4, k3tog, yo × 2, k1, yo, k2tog, k1, *ssk, yo, k1, yo × 2, sssk, k7, k3tog, yo × 2, k1, yo, k2tog, k1; work from *, ssk, yo, k1, yo × 2, sssk, k4.

Row 6: p5, (k1, p1) in double yo, p3, *p4, (k1, p1) in double yo, p9, (k1, p1) in double yo, p3; work from *, p4, (k1, p1) in double yo, p5.

Row 7: yo, k3, cdd, (k1, yo) × 2, k1, cdd, *(k1, yo) × 2, k1, cdd, k2, kyok, k2, cdd, (k1, yo) × 2, k1, cdd; work from *, (k1, yo) × 2, k1, cdd, k3, yo.

Row 8: purl.

Row 9: k2, yo, k3tog, yo, k1, k2tog, k2, kyok, *k2, ssk, k1, yo, sssk, yo, k3, yo, k3tog, yo, k1, k2tog, k2, kyok; work from *, k2, ssk, k1, yo, sssk, yo, k2.

Row 10: purl.

Row 11: k1, yo, ssk, k8, *k7, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, ssk, k8; work from *, k7, k2tog, yo, k1.

Row 12: purl.

Row 13: k2, yo × 2, sssk, k6, *k5, k3tog, yo × 2, k3, yo × 2, sssk, k6; work from *, k5, k3tog, yo × 2, k2.

Row 14: p2, (k1, p1) in double yo, p6, *p7, (k1, p1) in double yo, p3, (k1, p1) in double yo, p6; work from *, p7, (k1, p1) in double yo, p2.

Row 15: k1, ssk, yo, k1, yo × 2, sssk, k4, *k3, k3tog, yo × 2, k1, yo, k2tog, k1, ssk, yo, k1, yo × 2, sssk, k4; work from *, k3, k3tog, yo × 2, k1, yo, k2tog, k1.

Row 16: p4, (k1, p1) in double yo, p4, *p5, (k1, p1) in double yo, p7, (k1, p1) in double yo, p4; work from *, p5, (k1, p1) in double yo, p4.

Row 17: k2tog, (k1, yo) × 2, k1, cdd, k2, kyok, *k2, (cdd, (k1, yo) × 2, k1) × 2, cdd, k2, kyok; work from *, k2, cdd, (k1, yo) × 2, k1, ssk.

Row 18: purl.

Row 19: k4, ssk, k1, yo, sssk, yo, k2, *k1, yo, k3tog, yo, k1, k2tog, k2, kyok, k2, ssk, k1, yo, sssk, yo, k2; work from *, k1, yo, k3tog, yo, k1, k2tog, k4.

Row 20: purl.

End after either row 10 or 20. Rows 11-20 are the same as rows 1-10, just slid sideways by ten stitches.