This week’s Meet and Make designer is Megan Goodacre. You’ve seen her knitting designs in Knit Magazine, Creative Knitting, Interweave Knit.wear and Twist Collective. You can find more of her knitting patterns and knitting help at www.tricksyknitter.com. Megan is also a freelance graphic artist, and lives with her husband and two sons on Vancouver Island, Canada.
Let’s meet Megan!
10 Fun Facts about Megan Goodacre:
- I learned to knit when I was six years old.
- My first word was “cheese”.
- Was born and raised on Vancouver Island.
- I am outnumbered by males in my house.
- I have a degree in Communications and a diploma in art, but I’d rather be knitting!
- I have a stationery fetish, especially for notebooks.
- My favorite color is chartreuse.
- My favorite fiber is silk. And merino. And alpaca. And linen. And bamboo.
- I usually work in my pajamas.
- I drink a lot of espresso.
Here’s Megan’s Project:
Today Megan introduces a new free knitting pattern for knitted bookmarks. Lace knitting is a lovely way to add texture to your knitting, but can be daunting in a large project. If you’re new to lace, these little bookmarks are a nice way to try out some common lace knitting techniques. They make lovely gifts for book lovers, and are a great use for leftover yarn. These two bookmarks use some simple, traditional lace motifs that are simple to work and easy to memorize.
Materials
- Fingering weight yarn, about 40 yards
- Size 2 U.S. knitting needles/3.0mm knitting needles
- Tapestry needle (for weaving in ends)
- Pins (for blocking)
Gauge
Gauge is not essential for this project. The gauge after blocking, is about 26 sts and 35 rows to 4 inches/10cm in the lace pattern. Your finished bookmarks, after blocking, measure 2 by 8 inches/5 x 20cm.
Skills you’ll need
- The basics (casting on, binding off, knit, purl).
- Some increases and decreases (see the abbreviation section for a full list).
- A little finishing: weaving in your ends and blocking.
Abbreviations used
dec – decrease
k – knit
k2tog – knit two stitches together
p – purl
rep – repeat
RS – right side
sl1-k2tog-psso – (leaning double dec) slip 1 st, k2tog, pass slipped st over
sl2-k1-p2sso – (central double dec) slip 2 as if to knit together, k1, pass slipped sts over
ssk – (slip-slip-knit) slip 2 sts knitwise, put left needle through front of slipped sts and knit them together
st – stitch
WS – wrong side
yo – yarn over
Shetland Bookmark
Shown in Knit Picks Palette color Calypso Heather.
(Do you like to work from a chart? You can follow a chart here.)
Instructions:
Cast on 13 sts.
Row 1 (WS) (and all WS rows): K2, p9, k2.
Row 2: K2, ssk, k2, yo, k1, yo, k2, k2tog, k2.
Rows 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14: Rep Row 2.
Row 16: Knit across.
Rows 18 & 20: K3, yo, k2, sl2-k1-p2sso, k2, yo, k3.
Row 22: Knit across.
Rows 24 & 26: Rep Row 2.
Rows 27-62: Repeat Rows 15-26.
Rows 63-65: Repeat Rows 15-17.
Bind off loosely.
Demi Chevron Bookmark
Shown in Elann Peruvian Baby Cashmere color Pewter.
(Do you like to work from a chart? You can follow a chart here.)
Instructions:
Cast on 13
Row 1 WS (and all WS rows) K2, p9, k2.
Row 2: K2, yo, ssk, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, ssk, k2tog, yo, k2.
Row 4: K3, yo, ssk, k3, k2tog, yo, k3.
Row 6: K4, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, k4.
Row 8: K5, yo, sl1-k2tog-psso, yo, k5.
Row 10: K2, ssk, k2, yo, k1, yo, k2, k2tog, k2.
Row 12: Repeat Row 10.
Repeat rows 1-12 five times.
Work one WS row.
Bind off loosely.
Finishing
Wet the bookmark thoroughly in cool water. Stretch it and pin it along all edges to straighten out the edges and open up the lace. Let it dry. Weave in your ends.
Want to try knitting more bookmarks? You can download a free pattern for bookmarks (and more!) on Megan’s site.
