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Welcome to Week 3 of Knit Camp! This week, we are releasing my hot water bottle pattern, and teaching increasing, seams and sewing up and blocking. This hot water bottle cover will be sure to keep you warm during the rest of camp! My aim in designing the hot water bottle was to create a striking design which would also maximise a new knitter's opportunities for practising all the skills that Knit Camp is teaching. The pattern includes different stitch patterns, and needs both increasing and decreasing skills, practise at measuring your knitting, and a lot of seaming (you may not thank me for that - but its excellent practice). To use this tutorial, you will also need the pattern, included in the Knit Camp Kit, and printed below. The pattern is divided up into three stitch patterns, which are listed separately to make it clear when you move from one to the next, but just keep the knitting continuous between them. Patterned Hot Water Bottle Finished Size To fit 1 litre size hot water bottle meas 16cm wide and 28cm high. Materials 50g ball Libby Summers Fine Aran in Lima (Shade 101) 5mm knitting needles Abbreviations RS right side rem remain(ing) ndl(s) needle(s) k knit p purl skpo slip one st, knit one st, pass slipped st over M1 make one st by picking up loop in row below and knitting into the back of it st(s) stitch(es) sl 1p slip one st purlwise k2tog knit 2 sts tog kfb knit into front and back of st (thus making one extra stitch) kfbf knit into front, back and front again (thus making two extra stitches) LH left hand RH right hand Tension 18 sts and 24 rows in stocking stitch to 10cm/4in using 5mm needles (or size needed to achieve tension) Front (make 1) Cast on 24 sts. Pattern 1: Row 1: Kfb, k to last 2 sts, kfb, k1. 26 sts Row 2: Knit. Row 3: As row 1. 28 sts Row 4: Knit. Row 5: Knit. Purl 5 rows. Knit 5 rows. Purl 5 rows. Pattern 2: Row 21 (RS): *P4, k4; rep from * to last 4 sts, p4. Row 22: *K4, p4; rep from * to last 4 sts, k4. Rows 23-24: As Rows 21- 22. Row 25: *K4, p4; rep from * to last 4 sts, k4. Row 26: *P4, k4; rep from * to last 4 sts, p4. Rows 27-28: As Rows 25-26. Rows 29-44: As Rows 21-28. Knit 5 rows. Pattern 3: Row 50 (WS): P1, *k1, p4; rep from * to last 2 sts, k1, p1. Row 51: K. Row 52: As Row 1. Row 53: K2tog, k to last 2 sts, k2togtbl. 26 sts Row 54: *K1, p4; to last st, k1. Row 55: As Row 53. 24 sts Row 56: *P4, k1; rep from * to last 4 sts, p4. Row 57: As Row 53. 22 sts Row 58: P3, *k1, p4; rep from * to last 4 sts, k1, p3. Row 59: As Row 53. 20 sts Row 60: P2, *k1, p4; rep from * to last 3 sts, k1, p2. Row 61: Knit. Rep last 2 rows until work measures 18cm from beginning of Pattern 3, ending with a WS row (as row 60). Increase section: Row 1 (RS): K1, M1, k to last st, M1, k1. 22 sts Row 2: P3, *k1, p4; rep from * to last 4 sts, k1, p3. Row 3: As Row 1. 24 sts Row 4: *P4, k1; rep from * to last 4 sts, p4. Row 5: As Row 1. 26 sts Row 6: *K1, p4; rep from * to last st, k1. Row 7: As Row 1. 28 sts Row 8: P1, *k1, p4; rep from * to last 2 sts, k1, p1. Knit 5 rows. Cast off. Back Work as for Front until end of Pattern 2. Knit one extra row, then cast off. Making Up With right side facing you, fold top section (pattern 3) of front over so that right sides are together and five rows of garter stitch just before the beginning of top section match up with six rows of garter stitch at the end of front. With wrong side facing you, place back piece on top of front piece, making sure that cast off edge of back piece comes above the six rows of garter stitch at end of front piece. Pin in place. Sew pieces together using back stitch, leaving flap opening. Turn right side out. Practising Stitch Patterns I. Garter Stitch Garter stitch can be created with either the knit or the purl stitch, and this pattern combines both in sequence to give plenty of practice for both stitches. 2. Basket Stitch A common stitch, which has many uses in design, and is a great way to practise alternating between knit and purl on one row. Beginners sometimes struggle with remembering to take the yarn back before knitting and forward before purling, and it can take practise to do this without wrapping the yarn around the needle as you do so. 3. Seed Rib or Broken Stocking Stitch This stitch has different names. Usually it is done by knitting on the RS, and purling on the wrong side, with knit stitches evenly space along the purl row, which will appear as 'purl' stitches on the RS to break up the st st appearance. Good practice, without being as tiring as the traditional rib stitch. Using this stitch in the top section of the hot water bottle pulls the tension in a little, but not as much as a rib stitch would, so it is ideal for a section where a narrower tension is needed. Practising Shaping A hot water bottle pattern usually requires some shaping (not always!) and this pattern uses two techniques for increasing and two techniques for decreasing, which will equip you with most of the skills you need to tackle most patterns involving shaping. Don't worry if this sounds daunting, as the tutorial below takes you through each one step by step. Often, increases and decreases will be written one or two stitches in from the edge of work. This makes sewing up easier, and draws attention to the increase or decrease, which can add to the design. However, in this pattern, where there is a lot of pattern and texture, the decrease is best hidden in the selvedge, so that is why I have written the decreases and increases in the first and second stitches of the row. The tutorial When I designed the hot water bottle, I took photos as I went along, as I thought it might be helpful for new knitters trying out the pattern to see exactly what the knitting should look like at each stage. So, here is a step by step guide through the pattern. I hope its helpful. I have not gone through blocking and sewing up in lots of detail as Joanne and Kat will be exploring that later in the week, but I hope that what I have given you here will be enough to complete the design, for those of you who want to get cracking as soon as possible!  A: Row 3: Kfb.... The photo shows knitting into the back of the stitch after having already knitted into the front  B: Row 6 The photo shows work after just as you are about to start Row 6 with WS facing (where instructions say ‘Purl 5 rows’)  C: Row 11 About to start Row 11 with RS facing (where instructions say ‘Knit 5 rows’)  D: Row 16 About to start Row 16 with WS facing (where instructions say ‘Purl 5 rows’ for the second time)  E: Row 21 About to start Row 21 with RS facing This is the beginning of Pattern 2  F: Row 29 About to start Row 29 with RS facing 1st 8 rows of Pattern 2 completed  G: Row 45 About to start Row 45 (where pattern says ‘K5 rows’ in Pattern 2 section)  H: Row 50 RS view when you are about to start Pattern 3 (Row 50) The knitting needle is facing the wrong way. You will need to turn knitting round to knit row 50.  J: Row 53 Pattern 3 (k2tog) (1) 1st stage of k2tog - insert needle into 2 sts instead of 1 st  K: Row 53 Pattern 3 (k2tog) (2) 2nd stage of K2tog - yarn round needle (yrn)  L: Row 53 Pattern 3 (k2tog) (3) 3rd stage of k2tog - bring yarn through loops of both stitches  M: Row 53 Pattern 3 (k2tog) (4) 4th stage of k2tog - slip 2 stitches off left hand needle  N: End of Row 53 Pattern 3 k2togtbl (1) Do this in the same way as k2tog, BUT at first stage, insert needle into the BACK of the loops instead of the front  P: End of Row 53 Pattern 3 k2togtbl (2) 2nd stage of k2togtbl - yarn round needle (yrn)  Q: End of Row 53 Pattern 3 k2togtbl (3) 3rd stage of k2togtbl - Pull yarn through loops of both stitches  R: End of Row 53 RS view at end of Row 10 of Pattern 3 before turning work to begin Row 11  T: Row 1 of Increase Section (1) 1st stage of M1 - picking up loop between 1st and 2nd stitch, placing it on left hand needle  U: Row 1 of Increase Section (2) 2nd stage of M1 - knitting into the back of the loop  V: Row 1 of Increase Section (3) 3rd stage of M1 - yarn round needle in usual way and slip stitch off left hand needle  W: RS view of work after Row 8 of Increase Section If you used the kfb method of increasing in this section, then the 'purl' stitch that it creates on the RS side of work would be confused with the purl stitch of the pattern. This is why the M1 method is used here.  X: WS view of work when casting off Casting off is done on the WS as the 'purl' stitch of the garter edge will then be closer to the cast off edge, which looks neater in this design.  Z: Blocking your work before sewing up Place work on ironing board with RS facing you. Pin in place as shown. Spray with water and leave until dry (about 2 hours). Remove work from ironing board. Do not iron!  Making Up (1) With RS facing you, fold top section (pattern 3) of front cover over so that right sides are together and five rows of garter stitch just before the beginning of top section match up with six rows of garter stitch at the end of front With WS facing you, place back piece on top of front piece, making sure that cast off edge of back piece comes above the six rows of garter stitch at end of front piece. Pin in place.  Making Up (2) Sew pieces together using back stitch, leaving flap opening. When you have sewn all the way round, remove pins and turn work right side out. 
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November 2016
AuthorI'm crazy about yarn, Scotland, food, my husband and my three girls, and I live in a perpetual state of organised chaos. Some just call it creativity. Categories
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