After making the ankle warmers for my little babe, I needed to learn some other knitting skills. Looking in my Beginner's Guide to Knitting bookazine, I saw the section on increases and decreases. I knew how to decrease by knitting two together - K2tog, but did not know the other way - SKPO - which means "slip one stitch, knit one stitch, then pass the slipped stitch over" . There was a really cute pattern for knitted bunting, which gave you lots of practice using both kinds of decreases.
Following the pattern, I cast on 30 stitches, but that looked too big. I wanted this bunting to go in my little babe's room, which is a small space. So I decided to try 26 stitches and that looked just right. Since I changed the number of stitches, I had to change the rest of the pattern, so here it is.
Cast on 26 stitches.
Row 1 and Row 2: knit.
Row 3: K1, SKPO. Knit until you have 3 stitches left. K2tog, K1.
Row 4 and Row 5: knit.
Row 6: same as Row 3.
Continue this pattern until you have 6 stitches left. Because this is a Katie project, I don't know what row it is. I didn't take the time to count. For this row: K1, SKPO, then K2tog, K1.
That will give you 4 stitches. Knit 2 rows of 4 stitches.
Then K1, slip 2, knit 1, pass 2 slipped stitches over.
That will give you 2 stitches.
Knit the 2 stitches then slip one over and bind off.
With one stitch left, cut the yarn, leaving a tail several inches long. Use the embroidery needle to close the loop and tuck in the ends.
One of my reasons for doing this was to use up some small balls of yarn that I had. They were different types and thicknesses, which made slightly different sized triangles. I like the thicker pink and white wool yarn - they made neater, more uniform triangles. The yellow and green are not wool and are pretty loose - they made slightly longer triangles.
After I decided I had enough, it was time to string them! The tutorial used pretty ribbon, but keeping with the frugal vibe, I didn't want to buy any. I had some purple yarn that I thought would work fine.
Using the embroidery needle, I just started pulling it through the top row of cast-on stitches. I didn't have the time or patience to count the number of stitches, so they are not evenly spaced. I am fine with that. Perfection is not my goal - fun, crafty, and handmade is.
I realized that I had to pull enough string for the entire bunting the whole way through, starting with the first triangle. I didn't know how much it would take, so I just guessed. My yarn kept getting tangled, slipping out of my needle, and stringing them took much longer than it should have. Oh, and I spotted a stray cat outside sitting in our shed, eyeing up our chickens, so I had to take time out to photograph him. He looked so photogenic and content, soaking up the winter sun, out of the wind.
So back to the bunting. Once it was all strung, I took it upstairs to see where I would hang it. I had planned on making it into two small buntings to string in the windows, but then zoned out and forgot about that while I was stringing it.
So for now the one long bunting is hanging from the wood beams, decorating the wall. I may move it around. As you can see, it is not perfect, with the triangles being different sizes, the tips being kind of wonky (to use my favorite British word), but it is fun, makes me smile, and makes my little babe smile. So that means it was a successful project.