Meta Shetland: a charted design for any craft

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The random number generator picked Shetland from the suggestions for this post, suggested by Amanda McCartney, one of my Patreon supporters. “Meta” is a label I add when I encode a word that’s directly related to knitting; if this was just called “Shetland”, it might look as if I was saying it’s from Shetland.

As I said in my lace post for Shetland, I was a bit nervous using my methods to encode a word having to do with a place so famous for its knitting, but I did my best. In the case of this horizontal band, I chose an encoded chart that I hoped could be used with other colorwork from Shetland.

While I designed some lace based on the word Shetland, I also like to provide a basic chart for any craft that’s worked on a grid: beads, cross stitch, whatever. I try to provide at least some digital art of the pattern repeated all over not as a chart. It doesn’t necessarily look like a finished object for any particular craft, but I want to give a sense of it in use. (I try to make it look like knitting when it’s got floats short enough for easy stranded knitting.)

How the meta Shetland chart might look as two color knitting. It's a horizontal stripe of patterned two-color knitting, with stylized pairs of hearts, one of each pair being upside down, and some other flecks and short stripes. The colors are various shades of brown.
Chart showing how to work the meta Shetland design by means of dark and light squares. Written instructions in blog post.
click chart to enlarge
  • Shetland has a repeat of 8 + 1 columns and 15 rows.
  • In the written instructions, color A is the light squares above, and color B is the dark. The medium brown background stripes in the illustration are not included in the instructions.
  • The written instructions below are formatted for stranded knitting, but it is my hope that they could be translated into instructions for other crafts. For instance, if working filet crochet, 1A could be one open square and 2B could be two filled-in squares.
  • This pattern is written in rounds, but because each row has mirror symmetry, the colors can be read in flat rows as written. If knitting, just work purl stitches on alternating rows instead of knit.
  • Designers, please feel free to use this in your patterns (no need to ask). I’d like credit but won’t be offended if people don’t give it.
  • My blog posts and 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!

Round 1: work knit as follows; 1A, *1A, 1B, 3A, 1B, 2A; work from *.

Round 2: work knit as follows; 1A, *(3B, 1A) × 2; work from *.

Round 3: work knit as follows; 1B, *7A, 1B; work from *.

Round 4: work knit as follows; 1A, *(1A, 2B) × 2, 2A; work from *.

Round 5: work knit as follows; 1A, *(1A, 1B) × 3, 2A; work from *.

Round 6: work knit as follows; 1B, *1A, 1B, 3A, 1B, 1A, 1B; work from *.

Round 7: work knit as follows; 1A, *2A, 1B, 1A, 1B, 3A; work from *.

Round 8: work knit as follows; 1B, *(1B, 2A) × 2, 2B; work from *.

Round 9: work knit as follows; 1A, *2A, 1B, 1A, 1B, 3A; work from *.

Round 10: work knit as follows; 1B, *1A, 1B, 3A, 1B, 1A, 1B; work from *.

Round 11: work knit as follows; 1A, *(1A, 1B) × 3, 2A; work from *.

Round 12: work knit as follows; 1A, *(1A, 2B) × 2, 2A; work from *.

Round 13: work knit as follows; 1B, *7A, 1B; work from *.

Round 14: work knit as follows; 1A, *(3B, 1A) × 2; work from *.

Round 15: work knit as follows; 1A, *1A, 1B, 3A, 1B, 2A; work from *.