Faerie Knitting Read online

  After finishing: approximately 21/2"/6.5cm at widest point, 4"/10cm plus desired length of hanging fringe/beads.

  GAUGE

  22 sts x 36 rows = 4"/10cm in Seed stitch.

  Gauge is not critical, as this is a piece of art, and each amulet will be unique.

  Knitting Wisdom

  Use a stiff fiber for a piece that will maintain its shape and have the strength to hold small items sewn or tied to the fabric.

  Alternate fiber options are linen, hemp, flax, even an Icelandic or Shetland wool, or blends of these fibers.

  Be creative by using a hand-dyed or variegated fiber.

  Leave a long yarn tail at cast on and at bind off to use for finishing.

  The amulet is reversible; there is no right side or wrong side to the knitting. After pleating, attach decorations to the preferred side.

  STITCH GUIDE

  Seed stitch

  The Seed stitch pattern is made alternating 1 knit st and 1 purl st across a row and then reversing the sts every row by knitting the purl sts and purling the knit sts.

  For more abbreviations, stitches, and techniques, see Glossary.

  INSTRUCTIONS

  Cast on 37 sts, leaving a long tail to use for finishing.

  Set-up row: *K1, p1; rep from * to last st, k1.

  Decrease row: K1, k2tog, work in Seed stitch pattern to last 2 sts, k2. 1 st decreased.

  Rep decrease row until 4 sts rem.

  Next row: K1, k2tog, k1. 3 sts.

  Next row: S1, k2tog, psso. 1 st. Cut yarn, leaving a long tail, and pull tail through last st.

  FINISHING

  If blocking is necessary (depending on choice of fiber), do this before pleating.

  Fold cast-on edge accordion style into 3 pleats (see following illustration) and, with yarn from cast on, use a darning needle to sew tightly together through the pleats. This creates a leaf shape. Make a yarn loop at top of pleat and fasten to top of amulet or attach a metal ring.

  Using yarn tail left hanging from bind off, add additional fringe if desired and/or string with beads or charms of your choice. Attach feathers, charms, buttons, or found objects to amulet with sewing thread. Thread a ribbon through loop or ring at top and tie a knot for desired necklace length.

  Chapter 2

  Seventh Sister

  he lived in a forest that was so deep no one ever entered or left. A spell had been cast and the trees had grown while she was sleeping. Now she was awake and was a grown woman. When she remembered her dreams, the truth of who she was came back to her. She was the Seventh Sister, led into the woods one dark night. Her sisters had done their best to get rid of her ever since she was a child. First they left her on the edge of a blue lake that was so cold the water could turn blood to ice, but she held on to a log and made her way back and followed them home. The next time they left her on a mountaintop where the billowing clouds were so thick she couldn’t see the earth. She followed the path of the wild goats and was home before the others were halfway there.

  They were her sisters and she trusted them. How could she know how jealous they were? She had no idea that her father loved her best and planned to give her everything he owned one day. She let them blindfold her and bring her into a cave that was so dark everything inside was the color of the darkest night. When they left her she followed fireflies back up to the surface, and then let the stars show her the way home. The sisters did all they could to lead her astray, but she always found her way back. The kinder she was, the more they despised her. On the day she turned thirteen they cut off all of her hair and dressed her in rags. Still she was beloved. Her father rejoiced and gave her a new dress and a ruby ring, and said she had always brought joy into his life.

  That was when her sisters went to the witch. They paid for a potion that would put her to sleep. The price was their beauty. They paid even more dearly for the seeds of the trees that were under a spell and grew without stopping. The price for that was their youth. They took the Seventh Sister into the woods and watched her drink the potion, then they planted the wicked seeds in the ground. Not one of them shed a tear. They were already old and ugly and it was too late for them to undo the price they had paid for their own jealousy.

  * * *

  She might have frozen that first night, and perhaps her sisters wished she had, but the white moths that lived in the woods covered her and kept her warm. For all those enchanted years that she slept, the moths whispered to her in her dreams. Remember who you are, the Seventh Sister, the one who is loved best of all.

  When she awoke she was a woman, but she thought like a moth. She had bright fluttering ideas of what the future might be. She held no bitterness because her heart was light. She could see through the dark, like a moth. She ate wild apples and drank rainwater. She could hear the trees growing all around her, taller every minute, so dense she couldn’t see beyond the ring of grass where she lived. She did not know a town was near, or that there was a blue mountain and a black cave and an icy lake. She didn’t know that her sisters had grown even more bitter because their father refused to grant his land to them, insisting he would wait for his youngest daughter’s return, leaving a lighted candle in the window each night. She only knew that above her there was a patch of blue. Above there were no branches, only air, and because she thought like a moth, she longed for the sky.

  And then one day a terrible chill came, the worst winter storm in a hundred years. The moths covered her to keep her warm, but the cold froze their wings, and that night all the moths dropped to the ground. A wind came from the north, threatening to blow them away. Because she could not bear to lose the creatures that had always protected her, she gathered them together. She took two twigs from the trees that surrounded her and knitted the moths together, even though her fingers bled from the thorns. When she was done, she slipped the cape of wings over her shoulders, weeping for her loss of the beautiful creatures that had always kept her company. She cried as a moth would, in silence, without tears, but with true sorrow. Then she reached her arms to the sky and rose upward. At last she could see the mountain and the cave and the lake and her father’s land.

  She went through the dark, the Seventh Sister, the girl who knew what the moths knew, for following the light always led them home. She recognized her house, and when she knocked seven times the door flew open. Her father was so old he thought he was dreaming. He had lit a candle every night in her memory. He thought the moths had flown in, drawn to the light. But it was his daughter, in her cape, and he was right, she had been and was again the joy of his life.

  Seventh Sister Capelet

  DIFFICULTY: Intermediate

  MATERIALS

  Artyarns Merino Cloud (436yd/400m, 100g/3.5oz) 80% Fine Merino Wool, 20% Cashmere, 1 skein in color #250 Cream.

  Or any fingering-weight yarn that meets gauge.

  Size 7 (4.5mm) 24"/60cm circular needles.

  Size 8 (5.0mm) 24"/60cm circular needles or size to obtain gauge.

  Size 10 (6.0mm) 24"/60cm circular needles.

  Cable needle.

  Stitch markers.

  Darning needle.

  SIZES

  One size; capelet will stretch generously.

  FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

  26"/66cm circumference at neck, 48"/122cm circumference at bottom hem, 18"/45.5cm length. Will stretch to fit.

  GAUGE

  22 sts x 32 rows = 4"/10cm in Moth Lace stitch on size 8 (5.0mm) needles, after blocking.

  Take time to check your gauge.

  Knitting Wisdom

  Capelet is worked top down in the round.

  Row gauges change with the different patterns and needle sizes. Measure as you go and work each pattern as written or to your desired length.

  Use a different color or shaped stitch marker for beginning of round than those for pattern repeats.

  This pattern uses a thin yarn with bigger than usual needles. Work loosely so needles can enter stitches without a struggle.

  Us
ing a lifeline on lace projects is very helpful and can provide a sense of security if placed while working difficult or complex sections where you might need to rip down to fix a mistake. To place a lifeline on a row: Using a thinner yarn in a contrasting color and darning needle, thread a line through all the stitches on the knitting needle at a point where all work is correct. If a mistake is found, work can be dropped down to that point where stitches are saved on the line of contrast yarn. Add more lifelines along the way if desired.

  Follow the directions for the lace bind-off technique (see Glossary) so that the bottom of the garment has enough stretch.

  STITCH GUIDE

  Broken Rib (worked in the round over a multiple of 4 sts)

  Round 1: *K3, p1; rep from * to end.

  Round 2: *P1, k1, p2; rep from * to end.

  Moth Lace (worked in the round over a multiple of 12 sts)

  Round 1: *K2, k2tog, k2, yo, 3/3 LC; rep from * to end.

  Round 2 and all even rounds: Knit.

  Round 3: *K1, k2tog, k2, yo, k7; rep from * to end.

  Round 5: *K2tog, k2, yo, k8; rep from * to end.

  Round 7: *3/3 RC, yo, k2, ssk, k2; rep from * to end.

  Round 9: *K7, yo, k2, ssk, k1; rep from * to end.

  Round 11: *K8, yo, k2, ssk; rep from * to end.

  Round 12: Knit.

  Openwork Lace (worked in the round over a multiple of 2 sts)

  Round 1: *Yo, ssk; rep from * to end.

  Round 2: Knit.

  Round 3: *K2tog, yo; rep from * to end.

  Round 4: Knit.

  3/3 LC (3 Over 3 Left Cross)

  Slip next 3 sts to cable needle and hold to front, k3, k3 from cable needle.

  3/3 RC (3 Over 3 Right Cross)

  Slip next 3 sts to cable needle and hold to back, k3, k3 from cable needle.

  For more abbreviations, stitches, and techniques, see Glossary.

  INSTRUCTIONS

  With size 7 (4.5mm) needle, loosely cast on 144 sts. Place marker and join to work in rounds, being careful not to twist sts.

  Work rounds 1–2 of Broken Rib 6 times.

  Change to size 8 (5.0mm) needle and work rounds 1–12 of Moth Lace 3 times, placing markers every 12 sts for pattern repeats.

  Change to size 10 (6.0mm) needle and work rounds 1–12 of Moth Lace 3 more times, removing markers on final round.

  Continuing with size 10 (6.0mm) needle, work rounds 1–4 of Openwork Lace 6 times.

  Work rounds 1–2 of Broken Rib 4 times.

  Bind off using the lace bind-off technique (see Glossary).

  FINISHING

  Steam or wet block to measurements. Darn ends.

  Chapter 3

  Three Wishes

  year after her mother’s passing she still had not gone outside. Now it was winter and the house was encased in ice. She told her husband nothing was wrong, but one day he returned from the marketplace to find her standing outside in her nightgown. She would have frozen had she not been wearing the mittens her mother had knitted for her.

  He brought in a wise old woman known for her cures. The two sat beside the fire as the snow fell. The wise woman listened to the wife’s heart and heard the break in it. She held her hands and felt they were turning to ice. She noticed that when the wife slipped on her mittens her face was more ruddy, her breathing more even.

  There is a way to cure your grief, the wise woman said. Go out into the snow. You’ll find what you need there. Wear your mother’s mittens. They will lead you to three pairs of crystals. Each pair will grant a wish. Then your heart’s desire will be yours.

  * * *

  That night in bed, the husband told his wife not to listen to the wise woman. He’d had second thoughts. He insisted it was a mistake to go out in the snow. She would be lost in the woods, where the drifts were deeper than a river. Experienced hunters went out at this time of year and were never seen again; what chance would she have?

  All the same, that night, when he was asleep, his wife slipped out of their house. She made her way through snowdrifts, the mittens on her hands keeping her warm. She walked past the road, into the icy fields to where farmers kept their haystacks. Exhausted, she sat down. She felt hopeless and wondered if, indeed, she had made a mistake. But then she felt something in the haystack. Two crystals. They shimmered in the palm of her hand. She wished she could see her mother one last time, even though she knew it was impossible. She fell asleep in the haystack, and as she slept her wish came true, for her mother came to her in her dreams. Sew the crystals to your mittens and you will receive your heart’s desire. But remember, I am the past. You must wish for the future.

  * * *

  She found her way home and sat at the table with a needle and thread, sewing the crystals to the mittens. When her husband awoke he would not have known she had gone out except that the hem of her nightgown had turned to ice.

  The next night he locked the door. There had been more snow, and drifts covered the windows. You cannot find a cure in a storm, the man told his wife.

  All the same, when he fell asleep, she used her mother’s knitting needle to pry open the lock. The snow made it difficult to walk in the woods, but soon she found a path the deer had made. She followed it until she came to a tall pine tree. There among the roots of the tree were two more crystals that shone like stars. She wished that her husband could understand her. When she fell asleep beneath the tree, she dreamed that he knew her better than she knew herself. I am your present, he said in her dream. I know your heart’s desire is in the future.

  She returned home as the sun was rising, her boots coated with ice. Her husband was at the door waiting for her. He’d been there all night, worrying. I cannot lose you, he pleaded.

  You won’t, she told him. But you must let me go one more time.

  * * *

  The following night her husband gave her a lantern, a new coat to keep her warm, and his own boots. When he kissed her she knew that he understood her.

  I’ll be back, she promised.

  She went even farther this night. The moon was full and the world shimmered with light. She walked past fields, and frozen streams, and towns where everyone was asleep in their beds. In a tiny village she came to a pond where children often skated. It was deserted now, but she sat on a bench where many children had stopped to tie their skates. When she reached down she found two more crystals, brighter than the moon. That night when she fell asleep on the bench, she dreamed a little girl had come to stand beside her. They watched the ice on the pond as it melted. They watched the grass turn green. The little girl took her hand and together they took a step into the future, where there was as much happiness as there was grief.

  In the morning it took a long time for her to find her way, so long that the snow melted and the world became bright. At last she reached home. She sat on the porch and sewed on the last two crystals. Her husband came outside to sit beside her and hold her hand. By next winter they would have a little girl, her heart’s desire, a child whose hair was as pale as snow. As soon as the child was old enough she would wear the mittens her grandmother had knitted, and no matter what winter might bring, she would never be cold.

  Three Wishes Mittens

  DIFFICULTY: Intermediate

  MATERIALS

  Brooklyn Tweed Shelter (140yd/128m, 50g/1.75oz) 100% American Targhee-Columbia Wool, 2 skeins in color Sweatshirt.

  Or any worsted-weight yarn that meets gauge.

  Size 7 (4.5mm) double-point needles or size to obtain gauge.

  Size 4 (3.5mm) double-point needles.

  Cable needle.

  Stitch holder or scrap yarn for thumb gusset stitches.

  Darning needle.

  Stitch markers.

  Six buttons, approximately 3/4"/2mm each.

  SIZES

  One size.

  FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

  121/2"/32cm length, 8"/20.5cm circumference at palm.

  GAUGE

  16 sts x 24 rows = 4"/10cm in Stockine
tte stitch on larger needles, after blocking.

  Take time to check your gauge.

  Knitting Wisdom

  Pattern is written for working on double-point needles but can easily be adapted for 2 circulars or Magic Loop methods.

  When joining after cast on, attach a split ring or locking stitch marker directly to your work for beginning of round.

  For left mitten, beginning of round marker shifts before and after removing thumb gusset stitches.

  Use different colored or shaped markers for beginning of round, gusset, and cable panel.

  Changing needle size is an easy way to shape at the wrists for a comfortable fit without having to increase and decrease stitches.

  STITCH GUIDE

  Garter stitch (worked in the round)

  Round 1: Purl.

  Round 2: Knit.

  Stockinette stitch (worked in the round)

  Knit every round.

  Crystal Cables (over 7 sts)

  Round 1: K1, 1/1 RPC, p1, 1/1 LPC, k1.

  Round 2: K2, p3, k2.

  Round 3: 1/1 RPC, p3, 1/1 LPC.

  Round 4: K1, p5, k1.

  Round 5: K1, p5, k1.

  Round 6: K1, p5, k1.

  Round 7: 1/1 LC, p3, 1/1 RC.

  Round 8: K2, p3, k2.

  Round 9: K1, 1/1 LC, p1, 1/1 RC, k1.

  Round 10: K3, p1, k3.

  Round 11: K3, p1, k3.

  1/1 LC (1 Over 1 Left Cross)