Scandinavian Knitwear E-Book

Rita Taylor

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Scandinavian Knitwear encourages the knitter to take inspiration from the brightly coloured and textured designs of the traditional knits and the invigorating landscape of the Nordic region to design your own 'Scandi knits' and create unique designs using traditional techniques. The author takes you through the process of formulating ideas, learning about colour, absorbing the local history and finally creating a piece of knitting that has all the flavours of this fascinating region. With full chapters on Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Faroe Islands, coverage includes: the history of knitting and its development in Scandinavia; explanation of various techniques, such as accurate measuring, stranded colourwork and grafting; a full explanation of colour theory; exploration of the development of knitting and the characteristic styles of each country in the region; A 'Stitch Dictionary' of patterns and motifs, with charts that can be modified to suit the skill and style of the knitter; Nineteen complete, original patterns for garments, accessories, and homeware; a chapter of schematics with advice on design development and sizing options.

Leseprobe

Scandinavian Knitwear

COLOUR, TEXTURE AND TECHNIQUES

RITA TAYLOR

Scandinavian Knitwear

COLOUR, TEXTURE AND TECHNIQUES

RITA TAYLOR

First published in 2020 byThe Crowood Press LtdRamsbury, MarlboroughWiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2020

© Rita Taylor 2020

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 666 1

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Introduction

1 General Knitting History

2 Techniques and Tips

3 Norway

4 Sweden

5 Denmark and the Faroe Islands

6 Stitch Dictionary

7 Generic Patterns

Bibliography

Index

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you first of all to my lovely models, Natalie, Grace, David and Liho; they have displayed the garments beautifully, and thank you to Helen who took most of their photographs. Many thanks to the Norsk Folkemuseum, the Alta Museum in Norway and the Digital Museum of Scandinavia for the use of their images, and thank you to the Knitting and Crochet Guild of the United Kingdom for the photographs of items in their collection. Lots of thanks to Hilary and Sue who made several of the swatches for me, and many thanks to Elly Doyle for her technical editing of the patterns. And last, but not least, special thanks to my husband for all his valuable help and support.

ABBREVIATIONS

General Abbreviations

alt

alternate

approx

approximately

beg

beginning

CC

contrast colour

cont

continue; continuing

dec

decrease; decreasing

DK

double-knitting

dpn

double-pointed needle

g. st

garter stitch

inc

increase by 1 stitch by knitting into front and back of next stitch (kfb), unless a different increase is specified by the pattern; increasing

k

knit

k2tog

knit 2 stitches together

kfb

increase by 1 stitch by knitting into front and back of next stitch

m1

make 1 stitch by picking up horizontal loop lying before next stitch and knitting into back of loop

MC

main colour

p

purl

p2tog

purl 2 stitches together

patt

pattern

pm

place marker

psso

pass slipped stitch over

rem

remain(ing)

rep

repeat

rev. st. st

reverse stocking stitch

rnd(s)

round(s)

RS

right side

sl1

slip next stitch

ssk

slip next 2 stitches knitwise, one at a time, from the left-hand needle to the right-hand needle. Slip these 2 slipped stitches purlwise back on to left-hand needle and then knit these 2 slipped stitches together through the back loops

st(s)

stitch(es)

st. st

stocking stitch

tog

together

WS

wrong side

wyib

with yarn in back (yarn at back of work)

wyif

with yarn in front (yarn at front of work)

yo

yarn over needle (also referred to as ‘yarn on needle’ [yon] or ‘yarn round needle’ [yrn] or simply ‘yarn over’)

Glossary of cable and twist stitches

1/1 LC

slip next stitch to cable needle, place cable needle at front of work, k1 and then k1 from cable needle.

1/1 LPC

slip next stitch to cable needle, place cable needle at front of work, p1 and then k1 from cable needle.

1/1 RC

slip next stitch to cable needle, place cable needle at back of work, k1 and then k1 from cable needle.

1/1 RPC

slip next stitch to cable needle, place cable needle at back of work, k1 and then p1 from cable needle.

2/1 LPC

slip next 2 stitches to cable needle, place cable needle at front of work, p1 and then k2 from cable needle.

2/1 RPC

slip next stitch to cable needle, place cable needle at back of work, k2 and then p1 from cable needle.

2/2 LC

slip next 2 stitches to cable needle, place cable needle at front of work, k2 and then k2 from cable needle.

2/2 LPC

slip next 2 stitches to cable needle, place cable needle at front of work, p2 and then k2 from cable needle.

2/2 RC

slip next 2 stitches to cable needle, place cable needle at back of work, k2 and then k2 from cable needle.

2/2 RPC

slip next 2 stitches to cable needle, place cable needle at back of work, k2 and then p2 from cable needle.

tw2L

twist 2 stitches left: knit into the back of the second stitch on the left-hand needle, but do not remove this stitch from the left-hand needle; now, knit into the front of the first stitch on the left-hand needle; and, finally, slip both worked stitches off of the left-hand needle. (Note that this is nearly equivalent to working a 1/1 LC.)

tw2R

twist 2 stitches right: knit 2 stitches together (k2tog), but do not remove these stitches from the left-hand needle; now, knit into the front of the first stitch on the left-hand needle, and slip both worked stitches off of the left-hand needle. (Note that this is nearly equivalent to working a 1/1 RC.)

INTRODUCTION

A real tradition is not a relic of the past that is irretrievably gone; it is a living force that animates and informs the present.

Igor Stravinsky, Poetics of Music (Harvard University Press, 1947).

An atmospheric picture giving the ‘feel’ of Scandinavia.

Scandinavia comprises Norway, Sweden and Denmark, with its associated territory of the Faroe Islands. The three countries are joined together, not separated by any large expanse of water or huge range of mountains. This fact is relevant to the knitting history of this region, as it seems that many of the designs and techniques overlap, with a few distinctions specific to some areas. The climate of the three countries varies depending on how far from the Gulf Stream they each are; in the central areas, it can be humid, while the northern areas of Norway and Sweden can have temperatures as low as −30°C. One third of Norway lies to the north of the Arctic Circle. Denmark has a relatively mild climate because of its proximity to the sea, but the summers are never particularly warm. Hence, there is a need for warm clothing in these countries. And warm clothing often equates to the versatile craft of knitting, a tradition dating back between 300 and 400 years in these lands.

The striking colours of Kristiansand.

A Scandinavian pine forest, with its range of colours and textures.

Knitting appears not to have been widespread in Scandinavia until the sixteenth century. It is suggested that it was brought to Norway, Sweden and Denmark via the Netherlands. The textured patterns of the ‘nightshirts’ particularly illustrate this theory (see Chapters 3 and 5 for further information about these nightshirts).

While some of the patterns presented in this book are based on such traditional Scandinavian designs, others are inspired by the simplicity and clean lines familiar to us from this part of the world. As these countries can be cold and dark during the long winters, the emphasis is on warmth and light in the home, so knitted throws and cosy cushions use white or cream wool and have simple textured patterns. Bear this philosophy in mind as you create your own designs, and you will have pieces that you will be happy to display for many years.

On the other hand, the garments traditionally knitted for outdoor wear are often bright and colourful; red, yellow, green and blue are popular on a white or black background. But, as you will see here, it can be interesting to interpret the patterns with different colours, using images of Scandinavia as inspiration.

While this book contains patterns for recognizable Scandinavian knitwear, to wear and to furnish the home, the patterns are not direct copies of existing items. The chapters give ideas for creating designs of your own, using both the featured charts and swatches and the calculations that you will make, based on measurements that you will take. This is intended as a catalyst to help you to develop your own ideas. One of the advantages of hand knitting is the freedom to create ‘on the hoof’ as other ideas occur to you. Feel free to adapt, embellish and alter these patterns to suit yourself. I have assumed that you already have a good knowledge of the craft and that you are ready to follow the example of the inventive and skilled knitters of the past and to see for yourself how satisfying it is to create a project that you have planned and designed from start to finish. I hope that this book will encourage you to practise, experiment, keep or discard, each time adding to your knowledge, just as the early knitters did. Heed the words of Igor Stravinsky, and do the same, by letting your combined knitting experiences inform what you knit in the present.

    CHAPTER 1    

GENERAL KNITTING HISTORY

While knitting now seems to us to have been practised for thousands of years, its actual origins are quite obscure, and it is probably a much younger craft than we would imagine. If it were an ancient craft, you would expect there to be corresponding myths and legends relating to the various gods and goddesses, as there are for the weavers and the spinners, but so far no one has come across any.

Early pieces of knitting were probably made for practical reasons; as they wore out, they would be discarded. They were made from perishable fibres, and there are only fragments of fabric left to study, not whole pieces, which also makes it difficult to discern exactly how the pieces were constructed. They were also only small items, such as hats, stockings, mittens and bags or purses; there were no jumpers or jackets until much later.

CONSTRUCTING FABRIC

The earliest pieces that can be authenticated were usually made for special occasions, especially those involving religious ceremony, and these are often fine examples of the craft. Because the early pieces that have been discovered are only fragments, it is difficult to say precisely, but they appear to have been made by using a different technique to that of knitting as it is practised today.

There are various ways in which the fabric could have been constructed from lengths of fibre, several of which are introduced in the following sections.

Sprang

The early pieces of fabric could have been made by using a looped technique called ‘sprang’ that involves a frame similar to that of a small weaving frame. When the threads have been prepared and positioned vertically on the frame, they are then looped sideways over each other in turn and held in place with a rod. The earliest pieces of sprang have been found in Scandinavia, preserved by peat bogs, and date from around 1200bc.

Small fabric pieces could also be made in a similar way to that in which children make long lengths of cord by using a wooden ‘dolly’ or cotton reel with four nails inserted into the top. The pieces would be made flat on a series of pegs attached to a piece of wood. The yarn was initially wound around each peg, the next strand was then laid above the resulting loop on each peg and then the loop was lifted over the new strand and off the peg. As a handheld tool, intended to be portable, the peg frame was obviously not very big, and the fabric pieces would be made in strips, which later had to be joined together. There were slightly larger peg frames that would fit on the lap, but these would still not have been wide enough to create an adult-sized garment.

Naalbinding

Another way to create fabric from lengths of yarn was to use a single threaded needle and short yarn lengths that are pulled completely through the next loop to be worked and not be left to form another loop as in sprang or knitting. This technique begins with the formation of a chain of stitches that are worked in a similar way to that of buttonhole stitch in embroidery. These stitches are then joined into a ring, and, for the next row, the yarn is worked into the top of each loop. There is only one loop on the needle at a time and so naalbinding will not unravel as knitting does. It probably more closely resembles crochet than knitting.

There is a single sock made by using this technique in the Jorvik museum in York. It was found beneath a tenth-century building in Coppergate, and, as no other items made in this way have been found in England, it may well have come from the foot of a Scandinavian visitor. Earlier socks made by using this technique have been found in Egypt and date from the fourth century, so it would seem that this was the method most commonly used at the time for creating fabric from strands of fibre. It appears to have been most widely practised to create small items such as hats, mittens and socks. It is a slow process, and it would not have been worthwhile to use it to make full-size garments. When the much quicker technique of knitting was ‘discovered’, naalbinding faded out of use.

Naalbinding is constructed with short lengths of yarn that are threaded on to a needle to make a series of loops.

Knitting

Knitting as we know it, performed with two needles and a continuous length of yarn, may have begun somewhere in Africa and then been carried to Egypt by the Arabian desert tribes. Perhaps someone naalbinding tried not pulling the yarn all the way through the current stitch being worked but took the yarn through only halfway and left a loop, into which they made another loop? As more loops joined the chain, it might have become obvious that more rows of loops could be added above the first one, giving rise to the idea of working with a continuous length of yarn.

The earliest pieces identified as knitting involve colourwork. The Victoria and Albert Museum holds a fragment of a piece of knitting from Egypt: a sock dated to between 1000ad and 1400ad. It carries a small design of blue and white diamonds divided by bands of geometric shapes. Because of the intricacy of the construction, the shaping along the calf and of the heel and also the colourwork pattern, it is supposed that knitting must have been known and practised since much earlier than this time for the craft to have achieved such a high degree of complexity and for its practitioners to have acquired such a high degree of skill.

From Africa, knitting probably spread to Europe via the trade routes; it may have been its increased portability as opposed to the lack of portability of weaving, which requires cumbersome tools, that helped it to travel across the continents. While it was probably used to make basic necessities such as socks, mittens and undergarments, many more decorative pieces were made for religious purposes or for royalty.

A pair of complex pillow covers were found in the tomb of Prince Fernando de la Cerdo, who was buried in 1275ad, which gives these covers a reasonably accurate date of a little before this. The covers are decorated with birds and flowers, as well as various geometric shapes, and had been worked with purple, gold and white silk. Archaeological finds have reliably dated other knitted pieces to the fourteenth century. Again, they are patterned with several colours of silk.

As the technique of knitting spread, knitting guilds were established in parts of Europe, for example, in Paris in 1268 and in the Netherlands in 1469. The aim of these guilds was to encourage young men to become skilled masters of the craft. Knitting was primarily a male occupation; women treated and spun the fibres. After three years, an apprentice would attain the status of journeyman, able to knit hats, gloves, stockings and garments. For another three years, the journeymen were to travel the world, learning the techniques and practices of other cultures. So, it is easy to see how some motifs were spread from one area to another and why we cannot say that a particular motif has its origins in a specific country. When each of these young journeymen returned, he would work on his masterpiece, a carpet or wall hanging, featuring numerous depictions of flora and fauna, worked in many colours and measuring anything up to three metres long! Before he could become a master knitter, along with the various garments that he also had to knit, he was given thirteen weeks to complete this task.

As clothing styles and fashions developed, knitted garments became more in demand amongst the general populace. In the sixteenth century, doublet and hose (usually made from cloth) were replaced by knee breeches. These were worn with closely fitted stockings to show off shapely calves, and the flexibility of knitting made it more appropriate than woven fabric for this purpose. Similarly, it was easier to create gloves, with their separate fingers, by using a knitted fabric rather than piecing together cloth or leather. Many people, men and women, augmented their income by knitting such items, often for export. Of course, people knitted for themselves, making warm, practical garments to wear for working outdoors or as underwear and nightwear, sometimes by using lengths of wool that they had gradually saved from their outwork!

Almost all of these early items were knitted in the round. At some time during the sixteenth century, someone worked out how to create the ridges that appeared on the back of the fabric on the front, as a decorative feature. A pair of stockings with a round of such ‘purl’ stitches on the outside were found in the tomb of Eleanor of Toledo, who died in 1562. Purl stitches were frequently used as decoration subsequent to their discovery, showing how quickly techniques could travel, even in those times.

Very few everyday pieces of knitting from before the twentieth century have been preserved. The majority of knitted items would have been utilitarian items, made to be worn until they disintegrated. However, there are a few surviving items dating from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that show very high levels of craftsmanship, in particular exquisite lace shawls from the Faroe Islands, Shetland Islands, Orenburg and Estonia, although, apart from the lace shawls of the Faroe Islands, there doesn’t appear to be a tradition of knitted lace in Scandinavia.

A set of cushions knitted with various Fair Isle motifs.

Later came finely knitted colourwork pieces from Fair Isle and the Shetlands, the beautiful Bohus cardigans and sweaters from Sweden, and the ubiquitous pieces featuring the Selburose or Norwegian star. Most of the pieces that are preserved would have been special-occasion garments, gifts for weddings, or shawls and christening robes, kept to be passed on to the next generations.

A Shetland shawl with coloured edgings made in fine lace-weight yarn.

Reindeer are often depicted on Scandinavian costume in various guises.

The Norwegian star motif is particularly associated with Scandinavia but is actually an old motif found in many parts of the world.

SCANDINAVIAN KNITTING

The easiest items of all to knit were caps and mittens, and these were very popular in the colder northern climate.

Each country, and even each district of a country, had their own identifiable shapes and designs, and several places became so well known for a particular style that their work was exported to other parts of Europe. While Norway was one of the last places to adopt knitting, it is now firmly associated with the distinctive motif of the Norwegian star, found on many pairs of mittens, as well as on many other items of clothing.

As knitting became more popular, so its practitioners became more inventive, and, by the eighteenth century, it was practised by many for pleasure and not for necessity. However, in many of the rural areas of Scandinavia, it was still a means of adding to the family income. All members of the family would take part, with children often working any ribbing and their parents taking over the more complex sections of an item. Patterns became ever more intricate with lace, travelling stitches and colourwork being included. With the discovery of synthetic dyes in 1856, even more colours were introduced, as can be see within these chapters, and there are now some very beautiful and exciting designs from each of the Scandinavian countries.

Scandinavian wool

While items for royalty or for religious purposes were invariably made from silk, and probably imported, the garments and accessories made for everyday wear by the general populace were made from the wool of whichever sheep were kept in and local to that region. Wool is especially useful in the colder, and often wetter, climes of the northern latitudes. It can absorb up to 30 per cent of its own weight when wet, without that wetness passing through to the body; in fact, the wet fibres actually help to generate a bit of heat. The insulating properties of wool mean that it can keep the heat out when it is hot and in when it is cold, which is particularly useful in Scandinavia.

The sheep of Scandinavia are small and hardy. There are various breeds, some with origins of thousands of years ago. Amongst them are the Gotland, Roslag, Rya and Svardsjo of Sweden, the ancient Faroese of the Faroe Islands, and the Rygya and Spelsau of Norway. These latter sheep breeds have been around for at least three-thousand years; they have coats composed of two layers: the fine, downy undercoat and the outer coat of coarser, hairy wool. The old Spelsau sheep would naturally shed their wool in the summer, but today they are shorn. The fleece is long and dense and perfect for hand knitting. When knitting was primarily done for the family, the wool would be plucked from the sheep or collected from the heathland bushes upon which the wool had been snagged or rubbed off. However, later, when knitting became more of a cottage industry, the sheep would be shorn, often twice a year. The women would spin the wool, and all members of the family would be involved in the knitting, which was mainly of stockings and mittens. The people also organized knitting parties, especially when they were very busy with items for export. The finished items would be taken to the markets in the large towns to be sold, and trade was brisk. However, with the decline of knee breeches and the advent of trousers, the stocking trade declined. Mittens continued to be popular, and later the multicoloured patterns of ski jumpers gave another boost to the Scandinavian knitwear industry.

Gotland sheep.

To achieve the closest look and feel to that of a traditional Scandinavian sweater, choose a wool such as Shetland that will stick to itself, especially if you are making something in stranded colourwork and that is being knitted in the round with steeks.

Fabric of stranded colourwork, or with textured patterns knitted in a single colour, is warmer than that made by using a single, unstranded yarn. The double layer produced by using two different colours is obviously warmer, but fabric of textured stitches, where the yarn has been repeatedly moved to the back and to the front of the work, has air trapped between the stitches, also giving a bit more insulation, which is an important consideration in the colder, northern climates.

Steeks

Steeks are added where you need to cut through the stitches of the knitted fabric in order to make front openings, armholes or neck openings. A few extra stitches are added, usually about ten, and these are worked alternately in the colours that you are using in each particular row. When the work is finished, a cut is made between the columns of the middle two stitches of the steek (so, for example, between the columns of the fifth and sixth stitches of a ten-stitch steek). The two separated sides of the cut steek are then sewn down on the inside of the work, to stabilize the steek sides and secure their stitches.

Styles and types of garments in each area

Some patterns and styles are found throughout Scandinavia, while others are unique to a particular area. Norway is known for its Lusekofte, a type of sweater, with their lower body worked in a pattern of single stitches of contrasting colours that is known as lice stitch!

It is also the area of the ubiquitous star or rose pattern, as found on the mittens of Selbu and on the Fana cardigans. While this motif is seen as a typical Norwegian design, Norwegians didn’t invent it. Stars have always been a popular motif in many parts of the world, but Norway used it on so many items that it was bound to become fashionable. The company Dale of Norway has familiarized the rest of the world to these patterns.

Sweden has the distinctive all-over pattern that is known as Bjarbo as well as the unique designs of the Bohus sweaters and cardigans. Its other recognized technique is that of twined knitting, also known as tvåändsstickning or twandstickning, which gives a thick but less flexible fabric than that of stranded knitting.

Denmark is especially known for its damask sweaters and jackets, with their patterns of stars worked in purl stitches on a knit background. Like most of the knitted garments of Scandinavia, these were knitted in the round in a very basic shape of rectangles, sometimes with purl stitches marking the position of the side ‘seams’, in a similar way to the fisherman’s ganseys of the North Sea coasts. Perhaps the textured patterns of knit and purl stitches may also have derived from these garments, or perhaps they were inspired by the intricate Dutch petticoats, with their pictorial patterns of flora and fauna.

The right side of a piece of twined knitting.

A distant view of a sweater inspired by the ubiquitous Norwegian star patterns.

Similar textured items were worn as nightshirts (nattrojer) throughout these often-cold northern lands, but most of the Danish ones held by museums were knitted with silk and so were probably imported and intended for royalty. Similar motifs to those of the nightshirts but worked in two colours, rather than with textured stitches, decorated the silk brocade jackets, dated to the early seventeenth century, that were found in the coffins of two children of King Christian IV of Denmark.

On the Faroe Islands, as well as the type of warm, comfortable clothing seen on the mainland, there was also a tradition of making and wearing fine knitted shawls. They are of an unusual construction in that they are made in three panels: a narrow central one and left and right wings. They also have short darts at the shoulders that help to keep the shawl in place when it is being worn. They are knitted in garter stitch with assorted lace patterns and worked from the bottom edge upwards. The knitters use the finest wool from the undercoat of the local sheep and leave it undyed in shades of brown, grey and cream, just as it comes from the sheep.

Diagram showing the unusual shape of a Faroese shawl. The central panel would often have a different lace pattern to that of the side wings.

For the general populace, the early garments were again made from wool just as it came from the sheep, undyed and in its natural colours, ranging from cream to dark brown. Later, subtle colours were introduced by using natural dyes derived from various plant materials; it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that chemical dyes were discovered and the range of colours being used became much brighter and bolder.

The patterns contained in this book are inspired by these traditional garments with their elaborate designs. The charts and swatches in Chapter 6 can be utilized in several different ways. For example, some of the two-colour motifs could be worked in a single colour as textured patterns, by instead using purl stitches in place of the second colour. Many of the designs used in Scandinavian knitting are derived from counted-thread embroidery, familiarly used on many of the national costumes, such as this piece taken from a book of cross-stitch motifs.

An embroidery chart featuring the ubiquitous star motif.

Books and patterns

Pattern books were first printed in Germany in the sixteenth century and were widely available. The designs were drawn out on squared paper; this is ideal for translating into knitting, as can be seen in the featured copy of a motif on a knitted pincushion.

Knitting-instruction books were also widely available from the nineteenth century, which also helped to popularize the craft; from this time onwards, knitting was found in all parts of the world in its various styles.

The first printed pattern leaflets for individual items appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century. As knitting became more popular, more yarn spinners and manufacturers introduced their own patterns, and, gradually, the uniqueness of some of the knitting traditions disappeared. It is difficult to tell now exactly where a pattern or motif originated, but the knitting of Scandinavia does seem to have a style all of its own.

A drawing of the design on a knitted pincushion held in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Printed patterns became more readily available from the 1950s.

A pair of intricately worked mittens with a reindeer motif. Item NF.1899-0457/Norsk Folkemuseum.

A Scandinavian jumper with what might be described as a typical Icelandic yoke, showing how similar the styles of garments were between these two locations.

STARS JUMPER

This jumper is worked flat but could be worked in the round with steeks for the armholes or be divided to work the back and front parts of the yoke separately. Many Norwegian jumpers were worked in this way, but the sleeves were often knitted in the round from the cuff upwards and sewn into the armholes. Choose whichever method suits you best.

Size

To fit a chest circumference of 36in

Actual measurements: chest circumference 38in; back length 25in; sleeve-seam length 17½in

Materials

6 × 50g balls of aran-weight yarn in main colour (MC)

50g of aran-weight yarn in contrast-colour 1 (CC1)

50g of aran-weight yarn in contrast-colour 2 (CC2)

Needles

1 pair 3.75mm needles

1 pair 4mm needles

1 pair 5mm needles

Circular 4mm needle

Tension

16sts and 19 rows to 10cm/4in using 5mm needles over st. st

Back

Using 4mm needles and CC2, cast on 81sts, and work 2 rows of k1, p1 rib.

Change to CC1, and work k1, p1 rib until piece measures 2in from cast-on edge.

Change to 5mm needles and CC2. Knit across row, and, at the same time, dec by 1 stitch at end of row. (80sts)

Join in MC, and work border chart.

When border chart is completed, work 9in more of st. st with MC.

For yoke, beg by working lower-edge-of-yoke chart, and, at the same time, dec evenly to 73sts on last row.

Work 3 large stars across yoke by following large-stars chart, and, at the same time, inc evenly to 78sts on last row.