in this tutorial, i'm going to walk you throughthe trickier parts of this blanket. it's called the ten stitch blanket, and it'sby frankie, who is rosemily on ravelry. this is a free pattern, and if you'd liketo get your pattern to follow along, i'll give you a link on screen as well as in thevideo description below. now, i've had so many requests for this asa tutorial, and it just happens to lend itself really well for a video tutorial. because the most difficult part of this wholeblanket is right at the beginning. if i can walk you through the trickier partsof this, the rest of the blanket will be a breeze.
i want to talk a little about frankie, thedesigner of this. she has dozens of patterns out, and they'reall free. all available on ravelry. and she doesn't charge for any of the, instead,she asks if you like her patterns, that you make a donation to the children's liver foundation. so it was really nice. i really enjoyed workingwith frankie on this tutorial, and meeting her, and hearing her story. so, if you like this pattern, couple things.you can make a donation to the children's liver foundation, and she gives you all thelinks for that. and you can also check out some of her otherpatterns that evolved from this design.
and i want to get the names right, here area few of them. the ten stitch twist, ten stitch triangle,double ten stitch, ten stitch zigzag, ten stitch wave. and those are the ones that she just had offthe top of her head. they all use the same techniques. so onceyou've made this one, you enjoy it, you can try some of her other ones, they're all wellwritten patterns and nice deisgns. um, as far as yarn and needles for this goes,you can use any yarn, any needles, any gauge, and this pattern's going to work. really the rule of thumb is, if you like thefabric you're creating, you're good.
go with it. now a couple of different ways of thinkingabout how you want to work this. you can either think of the yarn you wantto use, or fall in love with a yarn, and then start knitting it up. and if you're wondering what needle size touse with any given yarn, a good place to start is by looking on the yarn label, the yarnball band. and they'll give you a suggested needle sizethere. start with that, if you decide you want tightergauge or looser gauge, you can adjust your needle size from there.
no problem. just get what you like. the other thing you can do -- we have a hugebenefit to this pattern. this pattern has been out for a while, andthousands of people have already knit it, and posted their results on ravelry. so you can go to the ravelry page for thispattern, i'll give you a link to all this, and take a look at the photos other peoplehave posted. you can benefit from what they've alreadyfigured out. you can either find a picture you like, whatsomeone else has done, take a look at the yarn they used, the gauge they had, the sizeof blanket that they knit, etc.
and use their information as a guideline. because you're gauge is a little differentfrom theirs, your results might vary, but it's a good place to start. and if you end up with a little bit of extrayarn, it's not a problem, you can always make a hat out of it or something. now, i'll also give you the details to howthis blanket worked out, but you all seem to appreciate it when i tell you my knuckleheadknitting stories, because i definitely have one for this blanket! um, you see how i did this.
i start out with the lightest color in thecenter, and it gradually goes out to darker colors. and that was my idea. that was my vision forthis blanket. and i was teaching a class at my favoritelocal yarn store, gauge knits, here in austin texas. and i knew i was going to buy yarn for thispattern after my class was over. so i had my colors picked out, but apparentlyi had used all of my brain power teaching the class, because when i went to buy theyarn, i bought three hanks of each color. those of you who are thinking ahead alreadysee the knucklehead move here.
if you want to do a blanket that has -- thatfades out like this one does, you're going to need far less yarn for the center, thanfor the outside bands. that makes a lot of sense now, but it didn'teven occur to me at the time, buying three hanks of each. so, just kind of going with it, and not reallywanting to return the yarn, i did, this is a baby blanket size, i did the cream colorborder on the outside. and it turns out that people i've shown theblanket to say that they like it better that way, i'm fine with it, i think it looks good. being flexible with the colors definitelyworked to my advantage here.
not having to drive back to the yarn store. okay, if you get your free pattern, yarn,needles, we're going to start out right with the beginning of this blanket, and walk throughthe whole first section of it. and we're going to start that, in the nextsection. okay, we're ready to get started with thisblanket, and i'm going to walk you through the entire first section, which is where peoplestart and end up giving up, because the hardest part is right at the beginning. let's go ahead and take a look. i want to show you how this is put together,and the construction of this.
this is actually the cast on right here. and you're going to work ridges, then a miteredcorner, a mitered corner, more ridges, mitered corner, ridges, mitered corner, and we connectit to itself as we go around. there are never more than ten stitches ata time, on the needles, for this blanket. which is why i ended up knitting mine entirelyon double pointed needles. you can use circulars or straights, i liketo use the shortest needles possible, which is why i stuck to double pointed needles. there is a little bit of risk of stitchessliding off one of the two ends, but i didn't have a problem with it.
but if they do slide off, it's only ten stitchesto pick up. so this is the front. the front of the blanket really shows whati call the bones of the blanket. the back of the blanket, you can see, stillvery pretty. but you don't get the ridges. yeah, you get a ridge, they're both pretty. both sides seem like the right side on this. okay. so if you take a look at the pattern, it sayscast on ten stitches, and slipping all first
stitches, knit nine ridges. and that's exactly what i've done here. i've got a snag in my work. exactly what i've done here. i'm going to encourage you throughout thispattern -- don't count rows. count ridges. you see these ridges here? all in garter stitch. these are garter stitch ridges, and they'remade by knitting two rows, down and back, that gives you one ridge.
so give your row counter a rest, take it easy,use just the easy way of counting ridges throughout instead of counting rows. i will tell you that if you want to countrows on this first little section, that is fine. the pattern tells you to knit nine ridges,or 18 rows. but keep this in mind, your cast on will createhalf of a ridge. so it's actually casting on and knitting 17rows. once you get that you're here and you're readyto go. this is the easiest part, i'm not going todemonstrate this part.
slip the first stitches, knit 9 ridges. let's take a look at the pattern really quickly,because there is something i don't' want you to miss. and it is, yeah, the second page, near theend of the pattern. she gives you row by row instructions forthe mitered corners. so this is what you want to follow if youare keeping count of your rows, which i encourage for the mitered corners only. because it is 18 rows and then 16 rows, andthat's what i'm going to show you how to do right now.
on this little piece we're going to work amitered corner to get us here, and then a mitered corner to get us here. this is the only part of the blanket wherewe're going to work two mitered corners, in a row. so row 1. i'm going to slip 1. and that means i'm going to slide it fromthe left needle to the right without working it. and you always want to slip purl-wise, unlessthe pattern tells you otherwise.
so i'm going to slip 1, knit 8. and then i'm going to do a wrap and turn. but don't worry, because i'm not going tobe picking up these wraps! i know people don't mind working short rows,but they don't like picking up the wraps. this blanket you don't have to. you're going to yarn forward, slip that laststitch purlwise, and then it says yarn back, and turn. now we're going to work the wrong side rowhere. slip 1 purlwise, then put the yarn back betweenthe two needles.
this is all spelled out in the pattern. and knit 9, which is to the end of the row. and i want to keep track of which row, i'mgoing to flip my page. so now i have one stitch unworked, i'm goingto have two stitches unworked here, to help turn the corner. if you've never done a mitered corner before,just follow the instructions closely for the first part, and then you'll start to get what'shappening, and you won't need the pattern anymore. i just slipped one, i'm going to knit 7 thistime.
and then i'm going to do another wrap andturn, not finishing up the end of this row. so pull the yarn forward between the two needles,slip one stitch, yarn back, and turn the work. then row 4, i slip that stitch back, and yousee i've given myself a little wrap around this stitch. then i yarn back, and i'm going to knit 8. so you see what's happening here. on row 1 i knit 8, on row 3, i knit 7, onrow 5, i'm going to knit 6. we're going to count down, all the way to1. slip 1, knit 6.
yarn forward, slip 1 purlwise, yarn back,turn the work. then row 6, which is the wrong side of thework, slip 1 purlwise, yarn back, knit 7. i'm knitting with these giant needles. i wouldn'thave chosen this to make a blanket this chunky, myself. they really slow the knitting down for me. row 7, slip 1, knit 5. slip 1 purlwise, yarn back, knit 6. row 9, slip 1, knit 4. yarn forward, slip 1 purlwise, yarn back,turn work.
slip 1 purlwise, yarn back, knit 5. okay, we're almost there. slip 1 knit 3, on row 11. slip 1 purlwise, yarn back. this is all written out in the pattern, exactlythe order to do things, but once you start to get a feel for what a wrapped stitch lookslike, it is easier. you don't have to think about each step. slip 1, and knit 2. i actually lost count, and i went and looked.
and i saw that i had a wrap on this one, andnot a wrap on this one, so i knew this was my next one. row 15. slip 1, knit 1. and wrap the third stitch. yarn back and knit 2. the rows are very short right now. row 16. slip 1, knit 1. oops, no.
i did that incorrectly. it was slip 1 andwrap the second stitch. i just slip 1, no knitting, wrapping the nextstitch. so, row 17 is the last row. look at how cool this is. i love knittingin shapes. we're actually not going to slip 1 on row17. we just knit that first one and wrap the nextstitch. it looks like i already did that one! did i? could be an optical illusion.
that is the first half of the mitered corner. and now we're going to work the second halfto get us into a square and ready to start the other direction. and so row 1, we reverse the process on this,starting over with row 1. we slip 1, we knit one, and you're going toput another wrap on this stitch. so it's exactly like we were doing before,except we're going to add a stitch each time. and then row 3, slip 1 knit 2. row 4, or row 5, slip 1 knit 3. and you're going to start increasing thatnumber every time.
so that all the stitches are once again liveand active on the needle. and nicely, frankie has written this out rowby row for us. so the first time you work it, first coupletimes you work it, you might want to do, use your row counter and make sure you're keepingcount. if you're used to what wraps look like, youwon't have to keep count, because it's pretty easy to see the wraps, if you know what you'relooking for. that's why i use this big bulky yarn. i'm not going to go through all of these rows. if you follow it row by row.
and you see, i've already turned a cornerhere. finish that corner, and then work a secondcorner, and then we'll be ready to start on the flat sides of this blanket, which is reallythe bulk of this blanket. you've got the hardest part of the blanketbehind you, the first two mitered corners, now you're ready to start the flat side. the first flat side of the blanket, whichat the beginning of the blanket is still pretty short. here are my mitered corners here. and here is the flat side that i'm going tostart now.
what's going to happen is i'm going to workacross, and pick up a stitch, and decrease, and work back, and that's going to attachit as i move along. with never more than ten stitches on the needle. now let's talk about attaching. this is where, working the flat side, we'regoing to count ridges, not rows. we worked 18 rows here for 9 ridges at thevery beginning, from the cast on. we want to pick up 9 rows along here. this is what i do. i count.
and this time i only have 9 to pick up, becausethis is a very short side. but these little bumps in the fabric righthere is where i know i want to pick up. and those slipped stitches really help withseeing that. this is going to be the last one, we'll countdown from that. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and i'm going to pickup one in the very very corner. i very carefully count every time, if youare a more relaxed person, you might just go with it and not worry about it. [laughs] i'm a counter, and i'm actually going to showyou here in a moment -- is it this section?
let me check if i show you in this section. yes, i'm going to show you in the next sectionhow i use markers to make sure i'm always staying on 9 rows. but i want to show you here how to do thetechnique. i'm going to pick up 9 rows here. so i slip the first stitch, and knit across. 8 stitches. i'm going to slip the last stitch. okay, this is where i'm going to connect itto the work.
i'm going to pick up and knit a stitch righthere in the very very corner. this is different from how the other onesare going to go. so i put my needle in, wrap it and pull itthrough, and suddenly i have 11 stitches, which is too many. so i'm going to pass that last slipped stitchover the stitch i just picked up. like binding one stitch off. now i'm going to turn the work, and work back. and this -- we're going to pause this herebecause i want to show you something. you have two options for how you want to pickup the stitches.
this one is a modified version of what's inthe pattern, and it's what i used in my big blanket. it's a chain pick up. and this leaves you with a row of vs all theway around the bones of the blanket. and this one's not going to be as easy tosee. this is a little sample that i knit up, usingleftover bits of yarn at home, when i was breaking down the pattern to really be ableto explain it well. this is what the connecting stitch in thepattern looks like. it looks like twill.
it looks like a long tail cast on, or something. just these, one half of the v, in a patternlike that. so it's up to you how you want to do it. i found that i prefer the chain pick up. and the way that you, um, which every onethat you decide, the way that makes the difference, the thing that makes the difference, is thisfirst stitch on the second row of that ridge. and to work the chain pick up, i'm going toslip that stitch, and knit the other 9. to work the regular pick up, i just knit allten. i'm going to show you again here.
okay, so i just completed the first of the9 pick ups that i want to do here. and this is something that i do. i put a markerin that first one. that first ridge, that i just made. so i know that's 1. if i put my work down and come back to it,i know that i have 8 more to do. slip 1 and knit 8 again. then to do the connecting stitch, i slip 1,i go over here and i'm going to pick up, this is a normal pick up, i'm going to pick upin this loop right here. stab it in there. you can really stab it inanywhere you want, as long as you're consistent.
i like to stab it in right in the middle ofthat loop. of that bump at the end. i pick that one up. i pass the slipped stitch over the one i justpicked up. and then to do the chain connecting stitch,i slip the first stitch, yarn back, and knit all the rest. we can start to see the connecting stitchcoming out here. and, i can tell i've knit 1, 2 ridges of thenine that i need to do. you'll continue that all the way to the end,work another mitered corner, and then the
next one that you have to do, then next pickupthat you have to do, are from the cast on row. which are really no different, you're justgoing to be picking up both legs of the v, as you work across and pick up the stitches. rather than poking into one of the garterstitch ridges. then you'll work another mitered corner, andthis is where it starts to get interesting, because the sides are longer. and that's what we're going to talk aboutnext. placing markers to keep really careful countas you move along.
okay, you've made it through the trickiestparts of the blankets. i just want to show you how i use stitch markersto keep really careful count of what i'm doing. and before i go any further, you don't haveto keep the careful count that i keep. i like doing that. and if you're just more relaxed about yourblanket and everything, that's fine, it's going to work out fine. in fact, with all of the counting and markingthat i did, the whole blanket that i knit, i would have only two stitches. everything turned out to be perfectly on trackevery time when i counted it, and it was only
two stitches, two times in the blanket thati had to squeeze in an extra stitch. because the count wasn't perfect. but i'm going to show you how to do it, maybeyou'll like it. it's kind of like a crossword puzzle or somethingfor me. let's take a look. here is a blanket with a little bit more done,as you can see. umm, here are my first two corners, the firstedge, another corner, picking up from the cast on edge, another corner. and this starts to get longer.
and that's what most of this blanket is goingto be. these long knitted sides. and the corners will be fewer and fartherbetween. so i'm ready to start this side. and this side i have, it's always a multipleof 9 that i have to pick up. and i can see here that i have 9 once and9 twice to pick up. i've already counted 9 ridges and placed amarker -- well, i went this way. i counted 9 ridges, and placed a marker. then counted 9 ridges and as it gets longer,i'll be placing more markers to mark each
section of 9. and after i work the first ridge and back,like i showed you in the last video, i always put a clippie marker to mark the first ridge. then as i finish up 9, i put a clippie markerin the next section. so i always know right where i am. it's not totally necessary, but it does makeit easier if i am unsure about the count, the most i ever have to count back is 9. and as you get further into the blanket, it'skind of a bigger deal, because you end up with dozens of stitches to pick up, and youdon't want to have to count back through all
of those each time. so that's how i do it. the markers here, that i'm picking up, andkeeping track of how many that i've already picked up, with clippie markers. and i'll give you a link to where you canfind clippie markers like this. you can also use safety pins or scraps ofyarn, but these are easier to take out than scraps of yarn. okay, another thing i want to show you ischanging color. and i will give you, in the video descriptionand on my website.
i will give you specific instructions forhow to work the rows when you're changing color. i just want to show you that you have optionsfor how you want to do this. i wanted to work this blanket square. so i worked, there's my center square, there'smy next square. i worked three strips all the way around tomake a perfect square, and then i changed if you want to make this blanket a rectangle,you can actually take the color around one more wrap, and then change color here, andthat will give you a rectangle shape to work from.
it's really up to you. i just want to show you that is how i changedcolors. at the square. does that make sense? yes. the specific instructions for how i workedthe rows so that the right side of the work stays nice will be in the video descriptionbelow, and on my website. and next up, i'm going to show you the finishingwork that i like to do when i'm working a machine washable and dryable blanket. i'm going to show you how to super secureyour blanket, so it can be machine washed
and dried, if that's the kind of yarn thatyou chose to use. the one that i knit is a wool and syntheticblend which is machine washable, so this is what i did. the thing -- i always tie knots and do thismethod, i've shown this in videos before. because i would just be mortified, if i gavesomeone a baby gift, and they washed it, and it started falling apart. so this is my super secure way of tying offthe ends so nothing can come unraveled. i'm going to show you on this sample, whichclearly isn't finished yet, but i can demonstrate. and i have my tapestry needle right here.
i thought i was funny, by doing that. i'm going to poke this end through to theback, because i'm going to consider this the front of the work. so to get started i'm going to poke that throughto the back, and weave it in back here. and if you're using a wool yarn that's goingto be sticky and stick to itself, and not be machine washed, you can just do a regularweaving in in garter stitch. i'll give you a link to the video i have onthat right here. this is the super secure way. i'm going to just weave this in, just a coupleof stitches. it's not even anything fancy.
and then, this is where the fancy trick comesin. i'm going to untwist the plies, half and half. and this is actually a wool yarn, that isclearly sticky! and doesn't need to be woven in like this. if i wanted it to be really secure, i could. this is a two ply yarn, i've separated theplies, two and two. i'm going to thread half of those plies onthe tapestry needle. and then just take that half a stitch away. so that the two ends are coming out of placesright next to each other.
then tie a double knot with those two ends. and really pull it tightly. don't break the yarn, just shy of breakingthe yarn really. so that's really secure. and i can cut it really short. and it can go in the washing machine, andit's almost invisible. that's it, the ten stitch blanket. many thanks to frankie for letting us useher pattern in this tutorial. good luck!
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