Wednesday, April 01, 2009
DEEP FAN or explorations with Feather N FAn
An act of extreme feather & fan
I admit to being smitten by feather& fan these days, employing the stitch for active duty anywhere rich cascades of pattern and hue are needed. Not only does it bring any airy open furl to designs but the undulating patterns move across the surface of knitting as if powered by a lifeforce all it's own. In old knitting guides and stitch books, the f&f used to be relegated to baby blankets and stodgy household items. Now it's been set free. The entire Feather& Fan club booklet is dedicated to this release from captivity and the Organic Feather&Fan wrap, still my most popular design, shows an explosion of feather&fan.
Have you ever gone out to play with this stitch? Try this: gather a clutch of lovely hues from your stash plus a a pair of needles and cast on 30 stitches. Begin with the standard-issue f&f which consists of, here in knit code:
· Knit· Purl· Knit 1 : * (k2tog) 3 times, (yo, k1) 6 times, (k2tog) 3 times* to end of row. Though you always begin your row with the k2tog 3 times, remember that, as you work across the row, this translates into k2tog 6 times, yo,k1 6 times.
Or, in English: stitch of three knit two-togethers followed by six yarn-overs-knit-one followed by six knit two-togethers until the end of the row, finishing with knit-two-togethers (k2tog 3 times; yo k1 six times, k2tog 6 times, repeat to end). Feel free to do the math across the row to achieve even numbers but, for free range purposes, just let it go. Here's where the fun begins, after you've worked a couple sets of traditional F&F, up the volume by adding extra yarn overs without the corresponding knit2togethers. Now try bungee-jumping by varying the stich sets randomly and inserting rows of drop stitch between the F&F sets. This will deepen your arches as in the photo above, creating dramatic effects that completely transform the surface.
Who says you have to knit by the rules? What rules??
Posted by Jane on
04/01 at 06:02 AM