Exclamations: a mosaic knitting chart

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I didn’t know what I wanted to do for this blog post and so I wondered what was a kind of thing I hadn’t posted in a while. There’s a number of possible categories, but making a pseudo-random mosaic chart popped into my head. I set random.org to give me numbers between 1 and 4, and then used those numbers to mark the slip stitches on a mosaic chart. Sometimes I had to nudge the slip stitch to the next possible spot on the chart where it would actually work as mosaic knitting.

I was startled to get something that looked pretty regular, but randomness can be like that! The chart has three exclamation marks in the middle (two dark, one light), so that’s where the name comes from.

Mosaic knitting looks difficult, but it’s not as hard as it looks! Basically, knit two-row stripes, and slip stitches from the color below to make the contrasting pattern.

Here’s a detailed blog post I wrote about how it works.

dark brown yarn and pale variegated yarn in shades of tan and cream make alternating dark and light patterned stripes. Three quarters of the stripes have a pattern of vertical dots and dashes. The remaining bands are like boxy figure 8s.
Chart showing how to work Exclamations mosaic by means of dark and light squares. Written instructions in blog post.
click chart to enlarge

This is a Barbara-Walker-style mosaic chart. Each row of squares in it represents two rows of knitting (which is why there’s a row number at each end). The square in the column to the right of the row numbers indicates the color of yarn being worked in that line. So in rows 1 & 2, all black squares are knit or purled, and all white squares are slipped with the yarn being held on the wrong side of the work. In rows 3 & 4, all white squares are knit or purled and all black squares are slipped.

Notes:

  • This is a stitch pattern such as might be found in a stitch dictionary. This is not a pattern for a finished object.
  • Exclamations is a multiple of 12 + 3 stitches and 12 + 2 rows. End by working rows 1 & 2.
  • The non-slipped stitches in the second row of each stripe may be either knit or purled, as desired.
  • 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:

  • k: knit.
  • p: purl.
  • sl 1: Slip 1 stitch purlwise with yarn in back.
  • sl 1 wyif: Slip 1 stitch purlwise with yarn in front.

Start by casting on and then knitting a row in color A (represented by the white squares in the chart), or by having at least two rows of color A before starting the mosaic knitting.

Switch to color B.

Row 1 (RS): k3, *(sl 1, k1, sl 1, k3) × 2; work from *. (15 sts)

Row 2 (WS): *(k3, sl 1 wyif, k1, sl 1 wyif) × 2; work from *, k3.

Switch to color A.

Row 3: sl 1, k1, sl 1, *(k3, sl 1, k1, sl 1) × 2; work from *.

Row 4: *(sl 1 wyif, k1, sl 1 wyif, k3) × 2; work from *, sl 1 wyif, k1, sl 1 wyif.

Switch to color B.

Row 5: k3, *(sl 1, k1, sl 1, k3) × 2; work from *.

Row 6: *(k3, sl 1 wyif, k1, sl 1 wyif) × 2; work from *, k3.

Switch to color A.

Row 7: k3, *(k1, sl 1) × 4, k4; work from *.

Row 8: *k4, (sl 1 wyif, k1) × 4; work from *, k3.

Switch to color B.

Row 9: k3, *(sl 1, k1) × 4, sl 1, k3; work from *.

Row 10: *k3, (sl 1 wyif, k1) × 4, sl 1 wyif; work from *, k3.

Switch to color A.

Row 11: sl 1, k1, sl 1, *(k3, sl 1, k1, sl 1) × 2; work from *.

Row 12: *(sl 1 wyif, k1, sl 1 wyif, k3) × 2; work from *, sl 1 wyif, k1, sl 1 wyif.

Work rows 1 – 12 as desired, ending by working rows 1 & 2.