One of the many patterns I used in my recent garland project was this Woven Stars pattern, by Frankie Brown. I've done a couple of her other patterns in the past, including this hat, and I really like her work, her whimsical aesthetic, and how she plays with concepts. All her patterns are free, although she does ask that those who want to support her make a donation through her Just Giving page to the British Liver Trust, which benefits people with liver conditions.
Since this pattern is a six-pointed star, it's made from two interwoven triangle. The triangles are each made as long strips, starting on what will be the outer edge of the triangle. Three equidistant decrease points are placed on top of each other in each row, to make the corners. The strips are made in garter stitch, so they are approximately reversible, but the decreases are centered, creating an attractive decrease line at each corner on the "right side."
After binding off, one strip is sewn into a triangle, and then the other strip is woven around the first, before being sewn closed in a second triangle.
The pattern is clearly written and has useful photos to demonstrate how to assemble everything into the finished star.
While the pattern calls for US size 3 needles and DK weight yarn, I made six of them using embroidery floss and size 1 needles, which made things a bit more fiddly than they would have been if I had made them as written. Still, there are a couple changes I made to the pattern that I think make these stars easier to make.
First of all, the very first row, worked into the cast-on row, uses a centered decrease to set up the decrease points. In case you're wondering, a centered decrease involves slipping two stitches together, as if you were going to knit them together, knitting the next stitch, and then passing those slipped stitches (again, TOGETHER) over the knitted stitch. That kind of decrease puts the middle of the three stitches on the right side of the fabric, on top of that stack of three stitches.
Now, that centered decrease looks great on the corners of this star pattern, but it's a bit tricky to do in the first row. After fighting with it for a while, I started doing (sl 1, k2tog, psso) for the first row decreases instead. It's a much easier double decrease to work into the cast-on row, and it really doesn't make a visual difference in the finished ornament.
The other change I made was to make one triangle flat (light blue) and the second triangle in the round (dark blue). Since I was using dpns to make the strips for the triangles anyway, making some of them in the round didn't require additional needles for me. However, it did mean one less seam for me to make, and that was worth it to me. Working some of the triangles in the round meant that the even numbered rows had to be adapted for being purled, not knitted, and being worked on the right side instead of the wrong side, which isn't difficult, but does require a little thought at first.
All in all, this is a fun and quick to make ornament pattern, so have fun!
This post has been linked to HIH, Busy Monday, Senior Salon, Inspire Me Monday, WITS, Wonderful Wednesday, Thursday Favorite Things, and Create-It.
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