Dare to Make It: Holiday
How to Knit a Luxe Neck Warmer
October 30th, 2008 in sewing, gifts, knitting
Tina Hilton, contributor
34 users recommend
Yummy yarn combined with an intriguing stitch pattern will keep you warm in style.
Photo: Tina Hilton
Actress Tracey Ullman and knitting maven Mel Clark co-authored one of my favorite knitting books, Knit 2 Together, in 2004. Chock full of knitting funnies, great patterns, and helpful hints, it is on the top of my recommended must-have book list. Always on the lookout for something fast and fun, I fell in love with their Luxe Neck Warmer. It’s easy enough for the beginner to tackle but still engaging for the experienced knitter with its feather-and-fan stitch. Pink is a great color not only as a nod to Breast Cancer Awareness Month but also I swear that wearing this subtle shade of pink makes you look 10 years younger!
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Thirty-two unique patterns with great instructions are combined with a large dose of humor. |
What you'll need:
- Yarn: heavy worsted in a soft luxury fiber. I used Bouton d' Or Ksar, 50% Camel 50% wool, two balls of 91 yards each
- Needles: US size 10, 16 inches long
- Stitch marker
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Knitting requires only the simplest tools to make the most spectacular items. |
Step by Step
Cast on 72 stitches loosely with the cable cast-on method. Keep in mind that you want stretchy ends to fit over your head and provide a relaxed fit around your neck, and this cast-on will give you a flexible, good-looking edge. Here’s how you do it:
Make a slip knot, place on left needle. Insert right needle into slip knot as if to knit.
Pull loop forward and place on left needle (2 stitches on left needle).
Insert the right needle between the 2 stitches.
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The cable cast-on works best when you keep the last stitch on the needle loose so you can knit easily between the last two stitches. |
Wrap as to knit and pull loop forward and place it on the left needle (3 stitches on the left needle).
Continue casting on in this way until you have a total of 72 stitches.
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The cable cast provides you with a tidy and elastic edge. |
Join to work in the round and work in the feather-and-fan pattern until you run out of yarn or reach the length you desire.
Feather-and-fan pattern—multiple of 12 sts; 4-row repeat.
Round 1: knit.
Round 2: [k2tog] twice, *[yo, k1] 4 times, [k2tog] 4 times. Repeat from * to last 8 sts, [yo, k1] 4 times, [k2tog] twice.
Round 3: purl.
Round 4: knit.
Repeat rounds 1–4 to create the feather-and-fan stitch.
Finishing
Bind off loosely and weave in all yarn ends.
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The area where you joined the rounds will look a bit off center until you weave in the end. |
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A smooth join will give you a professional finished product. |
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The feather-and-fan stitch effect looks complicated but is really very simple. |
After her successful ownership of Wildfibers yarn shop in Santa Monica, CA, native Kiwi Mel Clark is back home in New Zealand with a new yarn venture, South Seas Knitting. Moving away from the storefront model, Mel will be dividing her creative energies between designing new patterns, writing a new book, hosting knitting retreats, and selling knitting supplies in New Zealand and Australia via her web store.
Quintessential comedic actress and brilliant writer Tracey Ullman is a self-described compulsive knitter. After an acclaimed and award-winning first season of her new series, Tracey Ullman's State of the Union on Showtime, she is busily collecting new material for the recently approved second season, which will air in 2009.
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Comments (4)
Your blog is fantastic. The patterns are well illustrated, with great photos and I love your writing style and sense of humor. Keep it up girlfriend!
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