…for the first ever The March Hare loves CraftLit™ Design Contest!

WE HAVE A WINNAH!

Yay Kathleen!!!!

Here is Kathleen’s Gorgeous pattern. Here but for a brief time, then …   The pdf has stitch instruction sidebars that were omitted (for my own coding sanity) from this page.

Ms Prynne

Ms. Prynne

“Her attire, which, indeed, she had wrought for the occasion, in prison, and had modeled much after her own fancy, seemed to express the attitude of her spirit, the desperate recklessness of her mood, by its wild and picturesque peculiarity.. . .On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A. It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore; and which was of a splendor in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony.”  (The Scarlet Letter, Chapter Two, “The Market-Place”)

When I began to think about a possible design for a Scarlet Letter inspired piece, I was first drawn to the image of the rose-bush outside the prison door, but as I swatched trellis and floral stitch patterns, they seemed pretty, but also too quaint, too archaic.   I knew I wanted to design something modern, something that I wanted to wear as well as to knit, and something that included the glittery gold as well as the rich red of “the letter.”  I was still thinking that the piece would be a scarf or a shawl of some kind, but during that phase of the process I had a chance to visit the Provincetown Museum which includes, among many, many strange and wondrous items (such as a mangy stuffed walrus and a row of antique doll heads), a large mural depicting the Pilgrims.  Although they all look a little too well fed, and a little too clean, the clothing they wore was historically correct, and I kept noticing the women’s large white collars.

When I combined that notion with a strong open cable stitch pattern which kept  calling me to its page in the stitch dictionary, I could see what I wanted:  a neckwarmer,  almost a ruff, with a bit of attitude supplied by the construction and with gold beading subbing for gold embroidery.

This neckwarmer is knit from the top down in a luxurious wool-silk fingering yarn held double.   The beaded cast-on is the first row of the cabled pattern, and is left to curl and curve as it will, forming one end of the continuum between the freedom of the forest and the strictures of the town.  (Full disclosure: I was a teen-aged English major.) The woven cable pattern creates a fabric of undulating  Scarlet Letter A’s opening into a split yoke, a reference to the Pilgrim collar.  It is embellished with small, abstract  beaded A’s and a more formal beaded border band, echoing

Hester Prynne’s extravagant and defiant embroidery.

The open cables with their two limbs can also be seen to represent the duos in the book (Hester/Pearl, Dimmesdale/ Chillingworth, Nature/Society Hester/ Dimmesdale, and others).

Finished Size

The finished neck circumference is 16.5 inches unstretched, 24 inches stretched.

Yarn

The March Hare Wool-Silk Fingering, 100 gms/435 yards, in colorway The Scarlet Letter.  (Neckwarmer as knit used approximately  85 grams/370 yards, doubled.)

Materials

• Circular needle, US 9 (5.5mm), 24” long
• Circular needle, US 10 ½ (6.5mm), 24” long
• Seed beads, Size 6/0, at least 123 (the sample used size 6/0 beads in sparkling metallic gold-lined crystal from www.earthfaire.com)
• Steel crochet hook, Size 7, 1.15 mm (or size to fit beads)
• Bead needle  (or dental floss threader)
• Cable needle
• Stitch marker
• Tapestry needle
• Crochet hook, Size G (for optional edging)

Gauge

Approximately 20 sts, 24 rows, stocking stitch knit flat with smaller needles.  Row gauge is not crucial, but variation in stitch gauge (tighter or looser) will yield a smaller or larger item, and will alter the yarn usage.  Use a needle size that works for you, and gives you the dimensions you want and a fabric you like.

Notes

Piece is knit from the top down:  in the round to the base of the neck, and then split and knit flat (back and forth) for the yoke.

Yarn is held double throughout.

Instructions for the two methods of placing beads are found in the HOW TO section.

Instructions for special stitches are included as they occur.

Tips

Needles with pointed tips are recommended.

Yarn comes pre-wound in a center-pull cake, so use the ends from the center and outside held together to knit double stranded, or wind yarn into two equal balls and hold strands together.

As you work, keep the beads in a shallow dish or lidded tin for ease in picking up.

Abbreviations

C/O = Cast on

K = Knit

P = Purl

WS = Wrong side (inner face of fabric)

RS =  Right side (outer face of fabric)

M1 = Make one stitch (increase)

BUB = Bring up strung bead to stitch

BDK = Beaded dot-knot stitch

B/O = Bind off

C10(12)F = Cable 10(12) Front

C10(12)B = Cable 10(12) Back

st(s) = stitch(es)

DIRECTIONS

Step One: Beaded Cast On

String 35 beads onto the doubled yarn,
knotting the end.  Measure for long-tailed
cast on, leaving the beads on the tail.

With the larger needle and using the
long-tailed cast-on method, cast
on 107 sts as follows:

C/O2, BUB, *C/O3, BUB* repeat * to *
until 107 stitches and 35 beads
have been cast on.

Step Two: Working in the Round

Place stitch marker and join for
working in the round.

Switch to the smaller circular needle.

Round 1-2 Knit

Round 3 K1, C10F, * K5, C10F *,
Repeat * to * until 6 sts remain, K6

Rounds 4-8 Knit

Round 9 K6, C10B, * K5, C10B *,
Repeat  * to * until 1 st remains, K1

Rounds 10-12 Knit

Rounds 13-24 Repeat Rounds 1-12

Rounds 25-30 Repeat Rounds 1-6

Round 31 Knit all stitches, increasing by 21 sts,
placed evenly around as follows:

K6, M1, * K5, M1 *, Repeat * to * until 1 st
remains, K1 (128 sts on needle)

Round 32-33 Knit

Step Three:  Working Back and Forth

Continue to use the circular needles, but from now on,
knit back and forth, turning at the end of each row.  Rounds become rows, and there is a right (outer)
side and a wrong (inner) side.

Row 34: (WS) Purl

Row 35:  (RS) K7, C12B, * K6, C12B *, Repeat * to * until 1 st remains, K1

Row 36-42: Working in stocking stitch,
Purl the WS rows (even-numbered) and Knit the RS rows (odd-numbered), beginning and ending with a Purl row.

Row 43: K1, C12F,* K6, C12F *, Repeat
* to * until 7 sts remain, K7

Row 44: Purl

Row 45: Knit all stitches,
increasing by 7 stitches evenly around
as follows:

K10, * M1, K18 * Repeat * to * until
10 sts remain, M1, K10 (135 sts
on needle)

Row 46: Purl

Step Four:  Beaded Border

Row 47: K 10, *BDK1, K18 *,
Repeat * to * until 11 sts remain,
BDK1, K10

Row 48: Knit

Row 49: Purl

Row 50: Knit

Rows 51: K7, * BDK1, K5,
BDK1, K12 *, Repeat * to * until
8 sts remain, BDK1, K7

Row 52-53: Purl

At end of Row 53,  cut the yarn  in preparation for the last two rows and the beaded bind off.

String 67 beads on the doubled yarn, and rejoin to body of the piece at the same place where the yarn was cut and resume knitting (wrong side row).

Rows 54-55: Purl

Bind Off: Turn work and work beaded bind off in Purl as follows:

P1, *BUB,  P1, B/O 1, P1, B/O 1*   Repeat

* to * until all beads are placed, end with P1 and B/O the last stitch.

Step Five: Finishing

Optional edging for split yoke: before cutting off the yarn after the bind-off use the large crochet hook to work a simple edging (alternating Single Crochet and Chain Stitch) up to the center and back down.  Do not work the Single Crochet in every row, or the edge will pucker.

Weave in ends: Cut the yarn leaving 12-inch tail.  With the tapestry needle weave in all loose ends.

Steam block lightly, concentrating on smoothing out the lower border of the yoke, and the beaded cast off.

The beaded cast on edge at the top of the neck is intended to curl, hiding and revealing the beads in a varying pattern.

There are several ways to wear the neckwarmer: split yoke to the front or back, neck turned under for a shorter ruff-like collar, yoke turned under and worn as an earwarmer,  neck pulled down over the ears with yoke sticking up like a crown (be bold, like Little Pearl).

HOW-TO

String beads (premeditated placement)

Thread  the working end of your yarn through eye of beading needle (or dental floss holder, or a loop of dental floss).  Insert point of beading needle through bead, picking up a few at a time.  Push the beads down onto the yarn.  Continue until desired number of beads are strung.

Place beads with hook (on the fly)

Slip hook end of tiny steel crochet hook through the bead.  Transfer the stitch to be beaded from the left hand needle  to the hook and push the bead down onto the stitch., Return the now-beaded stitch to the left hand needle and purl the stitch.

VARIATIONS ON A THEME

Ideas for modifications to Ms. Prynne and for additional projects using the same stitches

Omit beads for a plainer look

Knit piece entirely in the round, remembering to change purl rows to knit rows, and perhaps increasing more sts in the yoke

Add more beads, applying randomly throughout the woven cable sections, or heavily beading the triangle A’s in the border.

DIMMESDALE’S SCARF

Cast on 47 sts and using the woven cable stitch, three repetitions across, knit until piece is desired length and bind off.  The edges will curl.

For a more structured scarf, cast on 47 sts, and knit three rows of garter st.  On the next row, increase by 8 sts, and knit the rows with 2sts garter, 2 sts rev st stitch, woven cable pattern over 47 sts, 2 sts rev st stitch, and 2 sts garter.  Knit to desired length. After decreasing 8 sts evenly across the nest row, end with three rows of garter stitch and bind off.

For a neckwarmer, knit scarf of desired width and before binding off, fold over the end (as many inches as the scarf is wide) to the wrong side and knit it in place by picking up and binding off.  End of scarf tucks through loop when worn.

LITTLE PEARL’S MADCap

Cast on as for Ms. Prynne (with or without beads) and join to knit in the round.  Using the woven cable pattern, knit to desired crown height, decreasing Cable from 10, to 8, to 6 to create shaping, ending with plain decrease rows.  To finish, run thread through last row of stitches and gather up, embellishing the top with a button, a bobble, or a tassel, beaded or not.

THE LEECH’S POUCH

Using any of the toe-up sock cast ons, cast on and knit a few rows increasing to 60 or 70 sts.  Switch to Cable 10-stitch pattern and knit to desired size.  Bind off.  Knit 18 inches or so of I-cord for drawstring and thread through cables.  Use for collecting mysterious herbs.

RESOURCES

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter.
Many print editions available, or listen at CraftLit: A Free Podcast for Crafters who Love Books (www.craftlit.com)

Chin, Lily M. Knit and Crochet with Beads. Loveland, Colorado: Interweave Press, 2004.
Many beading techniques and patterns employing each, also includes a chapter on designing your own projects.

Sivia Harding Knit Design (www.siviaharding.com)
An array of instructional patterns for lace and other beaded projects.  Free patterns and techniques section.  Access to designer through Ravelry (www.ravelry.com) and Yahoo groups as well.