Materials:
Two colors of Worsted weight yarn. About 600 yards of main color (MC) and 300 of contrast color (CC). I used Caron Simply Soft in Bone and Sage. The Caron Simply Soft yarn is a great yarn for baby projects because it is (as it says) VERY soft, has a slight sheen which really makes this pattern pop, and is acrylic so it is machine washable and dryable.
Size 9 32’’ circular needle
Cable needle
Tapestry needle
Graph paper
http://www.printfreegraphpaper.com/
Finished size approximately 30’’ X 30’’
Gauge: not terribly important but I was 16 stitches and 7 rows per 4’’ square
Necessary skills / Required stitches:
K: Knit
P: Purl
K2tog: Knit two stitches together
M1: pick up bar between stitches and knit into it (creates a new stitch)
YO: yarn over. Wrap yarn around the needle (creates new stitch)
C4B: Cable stitch. Pass two stitches to cable needle and hold behind work. K2. K2 from cable needle.
Knit in two colors. Both Intarsia and Stranding methods are used in this pattern. For great tutorials, see
http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/advanced-techniques.
Pattern:
Cast on 122 stitches in CC.
Bottom Border: (all in CC)
R1: K
R2: P
R3: K2tog across
R4: *K1, M1. Repeat from * until one stitch remains. YO. K.
R5: K
R6: P
R7: K2tog across
R8: *K1, M1. Repeat from * until one stitch remains. YO. K.
R9: K
R10: P
Body:
R1: K2tog three times. Tie in MC of yarn, but do not cut CC string. Every time you make a color switch, be sure that the old color string lies on top of the new color string. In MC: *K10. P2, K2 five times. Repeat from * until six stitches remain. Tie in CC of yarn (approximately 50 yards), but do not cut MC string. In CC: K2tog three times. You will now have three balls of yarn hanging from your work. These will get very tangled as you work, so you should try to straighten your strings often.
R2: In CC: *K1, M1. Repeat from * 3 times. In MC: P10. P2, K2 five times. P10. K2, P2 five times. P10. P2, K2 five times. P10. K2, P2 five times. P10. P2, K2 five times. P10. In CC: *M1 (be sure to pick up a bar that is in CC), K1. Repeat from * 3 times.
R3: In CC: K6. In MC: K3, C4B, K3. P2, K2 five times. K10. K2, P2 five times. K3, C4B, K3. P2, K2 five times. K10. K2, P2 five times. K3, C4B, K3. P2, K2 five times. K10. In CC: K6.
R4: In CC: P6. In MC: *P10. P2, K2 five times. Repeat from * until 6 stitches remain. In CC: P6.
R5: (Same as R1)
R6: (Same as R2)
R7: (Same as R3)
R8: (Same as R4)
R9: (Same as R1)
R10: (Same as R2)
R11: (Same as R3)
R12: (Same as R4)
R13: (Same as R1)
R14: (Same as R2)
R15: (Same as R3)
R16: (Same as R4)
R17: In CC: K2tog three times. In MC: *P2, K2 five times. K10. Repeat from * until 6 stitches remain. In CC: K2tog three times.
R18: In CC: *K1, M1. Repeat from * three times. In MC: K2, P2 five times. P10. P2, K2 five times. P10. K2, P2 five times. P10. P2, K2 five times. P10. K2, P2 five times. P10. P2, K2 five times. In CC: *M1 (be sure to pick up bar that is in CC), K1. Repeat from * 3 times.
R19: In CC: K6. In MC: P2, K2 five times. K10. K2, P2 five times. K3, C4B, K3. P2, K2 five times. K10. K2, P2 five times. K3, C4B, K3. P2, K2 five times. K10. K2, P2 five times. In CC: K6.
R20: In CC: P6. In MC: *P2, K2 five times. P10. Repeat from * until 6 stitches remain. In CC: P6.
R21: (Same as R17)
R22: (Same as R18)
R23: (Same as R19)
R24: (Same as R20)
R25: (Same as R17)
R26: (Same as R18)
R27: (Same as R19)
R28: (Same as R20)
R29: (Same as R17)
R30: (Same as R18)
R31: (Same as R19)
R32: (Same as R20)
You now have the first two sections of the body completed. Notice that the four textures of squares are moving upward and to the right on a diagonal. (See table below). Continue in this manner until you have 8 sections completed.
For the 9th section, you can either continue the pattern, or insert a name or design. If you are going to insert a name or design, do the entire section in stockinette stitch. Do 4 rows plain stockinette. 8 rows of your design. 4 rows of plain stockinette. To create your design, print out a sheet of graph paper and plot out your design (8 rows tall). To be sure that your design is centered count how many stitches across your design is. Subtract this from 110. Then divide by 2. This is the number of stitches you should count into the MC before beginning your design. Remember that your first row of your design (and every right side row) you will be knitting across your design backwards!
For the 10th section, whether you did a special 9th or not, continue the original section pattern so that the diagonals remain in tact.
Top Border: (all in CC)
R1: K2tog across
R2: *K1, M1. Repeat from * until one stitch remains. YO. K.
R3: K
R4: P
R5: K2tog across
R6: *K1, M1. Repeat from * until one stitch remains. YO. K.
R7: K
R8: P
Bind Off loosely.
