Its Falling Leaves

leaf lace washcloth
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Its fall. I know that some of you don’t want to hear that because fall means winter is up next. For many people winter is not looked on with favor. Many people are terrible wimps about the cold and will, by December, sleep in a pair of wool socks, under five blankets, wrapped in an old stretched out hoodie. I count as one of those people.

But still, we cold-wimps must face the reality that it is fall. Just because I’m knitting outside in the sun and its 91 degrees out does not mean its still summer. It just feels like summer. But its not. The cute little hummingbirds have skedaddled to parts south. So have the big gnarly turkey vultures. Most importantly all the leaves are falling. Oh yes those leaves are falling. Trees know that its fall because they (unlike humans) pay very close attention to the length of time the sun is in the sky. When the days start to shorten, trees drop their leaves. They don’t give two craps what the daily high temperatures are. So you can always trust a tree to know what season it is.

When you live in an urban place like I do, it can be easy to miss the early days of leaves falling. That is because nearly every commercially owned place pays a small army of men to come through with those fantastically annoying air machines and blow all the fallen leaves away. Fallen leaves never get much chance to build up! But I know a very small boy and every Thursday evening he and I go for a walk. That very small boy can find the fallen leaves. Its his special talent. His other special talent is stomping on them to hear them crunch and he can exercise this very special talent until you are just ready to cry from the sheer boredom of it all.

But that is not the point. The point is: its fall. The trees say so. I’m getting ready for fall by… knitting up some leaves. I may not like fall and I hate winter but I like knitting leaves. We all have our cooping mechanisms.

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If you’ve been following this blog these leaves wash cloths might remind you of a head scarf I once made.

 Free Patterns Knitting Using Charts pose-5 Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinteresttumblr You know those fascinators the British royals have made amazingly popular these days? This is not one of those. This is it yarn-y cousin. The knitted (and crocheted) fascinators may not be as well known or as fashionable but I promise you, they are much warmer. (I wrote a guest post for The Woolery! Its almost like I’m a professional blogger now! Except I did it for fun and not money. Its a post on sharing the joy of handspinning yarn. So after you grab the pattern below, maybe you could head on over there, give it a read, make a nice little comment. You know, make me look good! Maybe they will invite to guest post again. Ha!) Today most people would call this strip of lace a head scarf. But I’m in a vintage-y mood so I’ve dubbed it a fascinator. It sounds so much more elegant. Also I get the opportunity to make clever puns like A Fascinating Fascinator, and A Fascination in Knitting. How could I resist that? Really its leaf-lace, aka fern-lace, worked up in the shape of a large trapezoid. I’m not the maker of this lace motif; its been around forever. Like any artistic design that has been in use for a century (or longer) there are more varieties than you can shake a stick at. I was inspired by these: Leaf Sampler Shawl by Sally Bode Leaf Lace Scarf by Cayli Malone Woodland Shawl by Nikol Lohr (This one especially! Trust me, its worth a click.) For my fascinator, I made the cast on the longest edge. As each repeat is worked, the number of stitches is reduced, resulting in a trapezoid shape. At the end of each repeat, the leaves on the very outermost edges are reduced to three stitches wide. Then they are bound off. It gives the piece the nice scalloped edge that I was looking for. A Knitted Fascination Yarn used: I used 500 yds of handspun Dorset Down in sportweight. Use a good quality sportweight wool or wool blend. The pattern is flexible and can be adapted to greater/lesser yardage. Needle used: Size 4 circulars (about 40 inches long) Gauge: Before blocking – 30 stitches in pattern = 4 inches (10 cm) After blocking – 24 stitches in pattern = 4 inches (10 cm) Finished Size: After blocking, mine is about 77 inches (196 cm) long and 11 inches (28 cm) wide. Stitch Key: k – knit p – purl YO – yarn over (an increase) ssk – slip two stitches as if to knit, knit them together (a decrease) k2tog – knit 2 stitches together (a decrease) sk2togp – slip a stitch as if to knit, knit next two stitches together, pass slipped stitch over (a double decrease) B – bind off The pattern: Cast on 361 stitches Knit 2 rows Work the following repeat 9 times (or until you are almost out of yarn): Row 1: k2, p1, k7, p1, *p4, k7, p1*, repeat from * until 2 stitches remain, k2 Row 2: k2, *k1, p7, k4*, repeat from * until 11 stitches remain, k1, p7, k3 Row 3: k2, p1, ssk, k3, k2tog, p1, *p1, YO, k1, YO, p2, ssk, k3, k2tog, p1*, repeat from * until 2 stitches remain, k2 Row 4: k2, *k1, p5, k2, p3, k1*, repeat from * until 9 stitches remain, k1, p5, k3 Row 5: k2, p1, ssk, k1, k2tog, p1, *p1, k1, YO, k1, YO, k1, p2, ssk, k1, k2tog, p1*, repeat from * until 2 stitches remain, k2 Row 6: k2, *k1, p3, k2, p5, k1*, repeat from * until 7 stitches remain, k1, p3, k3 Row 7: k2, p1, sk2togp, p1, *p1, k2, YO, k1, YO, k2, p2, sk2togp, p1*, repeat from * until 2 stitches remain, k2 Row 8: B3, k2, *k1, p7, k2, p1, k1*, repeat from * until 5 stitches remain, k1, p1, k3 Turn & B3. ← (don’t forget this! its easy to miss in the pattern but you’re gonna need it!) Begin next repeat. Knit 2 rows Bind off all remaining stitches A chart…. I love charts. If you’re not a regular chart user, I’ve included some extra explanations and tips to encourage you to give this one a try. Also, I wrote a whole series of posts on how to read charts a while back. I really love charts. Some help – Every row starts and ends with a “k2”. That’s shown by the pink boxes on each edge. – The repeated stitches are shown in purple. Do those as a set over and over. – The stitches that are only worked once are shown in white. – Don’t forget those “b’s” at the top right. Turn, bind off 3 stitches, then start over again at Row 1. I hope you enjoy your Fascinator as much as I enjoy mine. If you are looking for a way to take this pattern with you, check out the handy “Print & PDF” button down there on the left. And check out our other free patterns. You might find something else you like. Print Friendly Related Content Old Vine – the green lace becomes a pattern Have Some Vintage – a girl’s crochet p... Penny Bracelet – a Free Crochet Pattern Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinteresttumblr Want a link to this post? Knitted Fascination – A free pattern Dorset Sliver free pattern Knitted Fascinator knitting leaf lace January 28, 2015 knitsbyjenn Edit Post navigation Thursday Poll – That’s Some Mighty Fine Fur You Got There → ← Dorset Down Done
Knitted Fascination – A free pattern

Or a set of coasters/wash cloths/place mats I also once made.

A Knit Leaf In Three Sizes
A Knit Leaf In Three Sizes – also a free pattern

What can I say, I like to knit leaves. I like to knit the same basic leaf lace motif over and over but in different shapes and different yarns. I’m dull, repetitive, a big fan of leaf lace. And I tell myself that me knitting leaves over and over is exactly like Georgia O’Keefe painting her back patio door over and over and Claude Monet painting the House of Parliament 19 times on the same size canvas from the same vantage point. I’m exactly like them! Except for how no one will ever pay hundred of thousands of dollars for my knitted leaves. But other than that, I’m just like those masters of the art world.

 

I’ll get the pattern for these written up and published. I’m almost done with that. Actually, I would have been done with it in time for this post but… I took a break from that knit a few more leaves.

Its a compulsion.

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14 Comments on "Its Falling Leaves"

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Debbie
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These are so cool I would love to knit up a bunch 🙂

Linda
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Really nice. I would like to give those a try. I can till its fall because my long hair kitties are putting on their winter coats and I am making Christmas gifts.

Lllamamom
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What’s the yarn for the washcloth? Looks soft, scrunchy and wonderful!

Itsy
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Put me down on the anti winter side. But I do love all you leaf patterns.

JeanS
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Love the leaves

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