#knit boldly

It's funny because a while ago, I made a few KNITTING patterns that purposefully look like CROCHET.

I call it faux-chet.

Off the hook shawl - yes, it's knit.

Some of you may find these patterns interesting, they're all I cord based stitches. I know that most of these would be basic projects to crochet, but not everybody knows how. I designed these for people who want the look but don't have time or the desire to learn a new craft.

Loaded Taco Shawl

Another advantage of these faux-chet patterns is that they use a lot less yarn than crochet. The taco above uses i cord like chain stitch, it only weighs 85 g. The boardwalk wrap and top below mimics fillet crochet openwork.

All of these faux-chet patterns are made with a technique that I call the lattice stitch. I made a YouTube playlist of the basics and sometimes teach classes on this topic.

I named this pattern Definitely a Knit Shawl to avoid Ravelry mods relabeling it AND included photos of it on the needles to prove that is actually knitted. I have had arguments with people who think that I just crochet poorly and that's why my stitches look funny.

The color work in this project is determined by an algorithm, a set of rules that determine the final outcome. There isn't an exact set of instructions for this project. Instead, the knitter uses four 10-sided dice or a random number generator to pick the length of the colorwork in each row. 

The result is a staggered stripe sequence along the edge of the shawl. There are trillions of unique outcomes, so no two projects turn out exactly alike. The pattern uses about 500 yards of yarn in total, but the amount of each color that you'll need is randomly determined. Before publishing, I wanted to find out the minimum and maximum amount of each color required to make the project and the probability of each outcome.

The knowledge needed to calculate the yardage was a bit beyond my skill level, but my friend Mary W. Martin helped me gather this info. I used an online probability calculator to find out the probability of each unique stitch count. The results are slightly different depending on whether you use four 10-sided dice (blue) or pick a random number (yellow), but 99% of all possible results fall within a very small range. 

It was an interesting little tangent, but not hugely important to the actual knitting pattern. I can, however, confidently say there is a >99.9% chance that you'll need a 2nd skein of the main color. If you want to know more about the math, you should check out my project notes on Ravelry. 

The thick and thin striped colorwork is created with a super simple "long stitch" technique. The pattern looks great in fluffy mohair or contrasting colors of basic wool and the instructions include some basic tips for substituting yarns or changing the gauge.

Finished Size: 18 x 68” (46 x 172 cm) rectangular wrap.

Yarn: Approx. 315 yards (288 m) of MC and approx. 264 yards (241 m) of CC. Yardage may vary, see notes on yardage below and yardage chart in photos.

• Main Color (2 skeins) - JMR Studio Worsted Weight Mohair, 245 yards (225 m) per 4 oz; 78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon.

• Contrast Color (1 skein each, both yarns held together) - JMR Studio Fingering Weight Mohair, 320 yards (293 m) per 100g; 63% Silk, 23% Kid Mohair, 11% Nylon, 3% Polyester Held with Lavender Lune Yarn Co. Suri Alpaca, 328 yards (300 m) per 50g; 74% Suri Alpaca, 26% Silk.

Yardage: The amount of each color used for this pattern fluctuates based on the random numbers used to determine the stitch pattern. MC uses approx. 233 to 315 yards (213 to 288m) and CC uses approx. 182 to 264 yards (166 to 241m). 99% of possible results fall within a much smaller range. The Yardage Chart shows the distribution of all potential yardage outcomes.

Needles: Size 8 (5 mm) straight needles, or size needed to obtain gauge. NOTE: Straight needles work best with long stitches. Circular needles with a thin cord allow the long stitches to tighten and stretch, making them harder to manipulate.

Gauge: 12 sts x 14 rows = 4 x 4” (10 x 10 cm) square in pattern.

Other Materials: 10 sided die or random number generator, stitch marker, scale, tapestry needle.

Generating numbers: In my sample, I used four ten-sided dice (D10) to choose a number between 4 and 40 sts. If you don't have dice, you can use an online app like RANDOM.org to generate your numbers. If you follow this link, you'll get a list of 63 integers between 4 and 40. NOTE: Each time you visit the link or refresh the page, the list changes. You can also just choose numbers as you knit.

The technique was named for how these stitches are created: increases and decreases are stacked up on top of each other in order to create height within a row. The result is something that was previously unattainable without the use of a warp knitting machine or knitting loom (more on this in another post). Tutorials for these techniques are also posted on YouTube.

This extra wavy pattern was published when millennial chevrons were at peak trendiness. I believe it has remained popular because knitters remain curious about the stitches, they always look for challenging patterns, and the chevrons are not *too* cheugy.

From the original pattern description: "The Petal Cowl is designed to highlight the color shifts of a self striping yarn. The stitch shapes are inspired by flower petals, fish scales, and vintage crochet afghans. A great summer knit, or a cold weather project when made in heavy yarn. The extra long chevron motif is created using the Stacked Stitch technique which sets this cowl apart."

Almost done with this shawl, I'm using this swatch as a guide. It's easier to design a stitch pattern without shaping and then turn it into a triangular shape.

I'm not allowed to lift my arms, but I can knit. I stuck the pattern for my WIP to the wall so it's easy to find. The project is semi-secret, so I'll only be posting my knitting progress on discord. Here's the link, anyone can join.