Fibre: a lace knitting stitch pattern

The word I drew from my word hoard for this stitch pattern is Fibre, suggested by Nim, a Patreon supporter.

Each month, my Patreon backers have the chance to suggest words for me to encode as knitting stitches. I make three of these into knitting stitches each month: the second and third (posted on the first day of the next month) are drawn from the collection of new words; the first is drawn from the collection of unused words. A random number generator helps me choose these, 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 made a Fibre needlework chart for any craft that uses a square grid for designing.

The stitch patterns are not meant in any way to look like the original words; the words are the seeds of my creativity.

Thyme: a mosaic knitting chart

I recently encoded Thyme and made it into a lace stitch pattern and a needlework chart. For this week’s post, I reworked a code grid I made while planning that post and turned it into a mosaic knitting stitch pattern. (I used the process described in this post.)

A nice thing about mosaic knitting is that the charts are similar to the final appearance of the knitting, so I’m not going to provide a swatch. Mosaic knitting looks difficult, but it’s not as hard as it looks! Basically, knit two-row stripes, and slip stitches from the row below to make the contrasting pattern.

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

Dragons: a free lace knitting stitch pattern

This month, the random number generator chose dragons, suggested by Nyriis and Asimina on Patreon. I like the result! From one angle, the sections with more stockinette look kind of like dragon heads, though I didn’t plan for it. From another, the sections full of yarnovers remind me of plant cells under a microscope.

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.

Melancholy: a chart for any craft worked on a grid

Each month I post two charts: one knitting chart complete with swatch and one chart for any craft worked on a grid. These charts are based on encoding the letters of a word as numbers that are charted on a grid. The word is suggested by my patrons on Patreon: this month’s word is Melancholy, suggested by Ron.

Designers, please feel free to use this pattern in your work. I’d like credit but won’t be offended if people don’t give it. Thanks! – Naomi

If you like my posts like this, please consider supporting me on Patreon or donating with my Paypal tip jar on the right. Thanks!

Arr: a free lace knitting stitch pattern

A little late for Talk Like a Pirate Day, here is an encoding of Arr. There’s been a gradual increase in the number of geeky Internet holidays, and so I thought I’d make stitch patterns for a bunch of them (secret code being geeky in itself). Admittedly, I’m not personally fond of Talk Like a Pirate Day, but it is one of the older such holidays, and well known. It wouldn’t seem fair to exclude it. (Anyway, I like the lace that came out of it.)

I saw a stitch pattern on Pinterest that had a plain row of elongated stitches in the midst of lace. Since the first row of this chart doesn’t have any yarnovers, I decided to try it, but didn’t really care for the effect in this design. I’ve left it in the swatch that’s the featured photo to show what it looks like. I knit several plain rows, then knit the first stitch pattern repeat with elongated stitches in the first row. Then I knit two more plain repeats.

I think this might qualify as a feather and fan variant. (If you wanted to knit row 2 instead of purl, that would increase the resemblance.)

Wildfire: a free lace knitting stitch pattern

Each month, my Patreon backers suggest words for me to encode as knitting stitch patterns using my secret code methods. I publish the results for free, along with a free chart for use in any craft that’s worked on a grid.

This month’s word is Wildfire, suggested by Lara and picked with a flip of the coin. This is the lace pattern; I posted the free chart earlier today.

I love the way this one came out. After a first attempt that didn’t work out so well, I tried again, and I think this one is one of my favorites. The encoding was done in base 7.

I worked the bind off with a very small picot (barely needed) over each double yarnover, and I cabled the stitches (as I bound them off) that would have been cabled on row 1, to keep the stitches from spreading at those points.

Galaxite: a free chart for any craft

Yes, that chart in the featured image is leaning. There’s some crafts that can be worked from a grid, but which bias in the process: tapestry crochet, for example. I can’t crochet any more (please, no suggestions), but I can still make a “secret code” chart that’s suitable for it – or for quilting or crochet or cross-stitch or what-have-you.

One kind of chart suitable for tapestry crochet doesn’t involve mirror symmetry so much as rotational symmetry; it doesn’t look so strange when biased. And so this month’s chart based on encoding a word suggested by one of my Patreon patrons is rotationally symmetric. The word is Galaxite, suggested by Katherine.

Here is the regular chart:

(for this chart, I encoded Galaxite in base 7.)

Feel free to use it however you like; if you’re a designer, credit would be nice, but is not required.

If you like my posts like this, please consider subscribing to my Patreon; you’ll be able to suggest words, too!

Name That Stitch Pattern: have you seen it before?

This is a ground pattern based on a standard sequence that’s often seen in lace—Barbara Walker remarks upon it. I don’t remember seeing this exact version before, though I have seen one called Alternating Feather that repeats Rows 1&2 several times, and then Rows 3&4 several times. I suppose this probably means that I just haven’t looked in the right places (or that I’ve seen it, but don’t remember it). Are you familiar with it?

I came up with it by playing with lace and sequence knitting. Anyway, I like it and it seemed worth sharing, though it is not in itself sequence knitting. (It turns out that there are extra complications that come with trying to work sequences as lace. Fascinating, but it makes it more difficult.)

Fruitbat encoded as a chart for use in any craft that uses a grid for layout

Earlier today I posted a lace knitting chart for fruitbat. Here’s a chart that can be used for any craft – quilting, cross stitch, crochet, needlepoint, colorwork in knitting… the sky’s the limit. Enjoy!

Fruitbat: a free lace knitting stitch pattern.

As many of you know, each month my Patreon supporters  suggest words for me to encode; I usually choose one randomly and then post the resulting stitch pattern on the first of the month. It’s good fun and I enjoy it. This month, the random number generator pulled up Katherine’s suggestion of fruitbat, which made me rather gleeful. For one thing, I like fruitbats; they’re quite charming. For another, it reminds me of Terry Pratchett and the Century of the Fruitbat.

In any case, while the word itself sounds a little silly to me, the appearance of the stitch pattern has little to do with the sound or meaning of the word it’s based on. And here we are, one lacy stitch pattern that pleases me. (Later today I will post another encoding of the word as a chart usable for many crafts.)