|
This stretchy and lightweight afghan is very quick to knit and needs no finishing so it is wonderful to knit for charities or as last minute gifts. The picture above shows both sides of an afghan which was knit with a 1x1 set-up as well as a finished side edge.
I have knit several dozen of these afghans on my Artisan 63-70D mid-gauge machine out of a variety of 2/24 yarns as well as 2 ply acrylics and wools. Knit with two strands together with each through a separate side of the tension mast and threaded through the feeder together. When using up leftovers I choose toning colours for a nice tweed effect. Approx 11-14 oz (300-400 g) is required for each afghan.
Size: 40 x 48" (102 x 122 cm) as given below. A 20" (51 cm) square for a preemie blanket was knit with 68 sts and 150 rows within the cast-on and off borders.
Note: Knitting on 40 sts for 500 rows or more will produce a lovely scarf.
• Bring 120 sts on each bed into work position, set the pitch to H4 and knit a zigzag row in full-number rib at T3/3 with 2 strands. Hang the comb and weights. Change the pitch to H3, bring all the ndls up on both beds and knit 1 row. Change the pitch back to H4, bring all the ndls up on both beds and knit 1 row to complete the cast-on. Knit 4 rows for a total of 6 in the cast-on border.
• Leaving all the sts on the front bed, transfer the back bed sts to the front bed in the desired needle set-up: leave 3 sts in work on both ends and transfer the others between into 1x1, 2x2 or 3x3. Knit 1 row at T3/7.
• RC000, COR. Set the front carriage to knit at T7. Set the back carriage's tuck/slip lever to tuck, the left side lever to 2 and T5. The ribber sts will knit throughout while the back bed sts tuck to the left and knit to the right.
• Knit in pattern for 424 rows or until partial cones have just enough left to work the top border.
• COR. Fill the empty back bed ndls with bars from the front bed sts. Set the back carriage to knit with the left side lever to 1 and the tuck/slip lever to slip. Knit 1 row on both beds at T3/7.
• For the cast-off border, knit 6 rows at T3/3. Knit 1 row at T10/10. Cut the main yarn.
• With waste yarn, knit in circular for 20 rows and drop the afghan from the machine. Fold the waste knitting down on both sides, with a latch tool start opposite the yarn tail and pull the loops through each other going from one side to the other. This will give a nice stretchy cast-off to match the racked cast-on.
© Eileen Montgomery 2001
|
|
