It is easy to design a knitting pattern with a Celtic knot. There’s just one step. You call Jodi Green and ask her to do it for you. You go to lunch together, and after ordering but before the food comes, she starts writing in cryptic symbols line by line, and at the same time she explains it really clearly, so that you understand how it works. This is a miracle.
So it went from idea . . .
. . . to sketch and swatch and graph paper . . .
. . . to test swatch with a real genuine Celtic knot!
I’m going to do one more repeat, see if it needs any adjusting, then put together a pattern. Even with the yarn doubled, this is a small knot, so just to make it even more years before the Professor gets to wear his scarf, I think I’m going to do three knots side by side, perhaps with a bar separating them.
Jodi said she got some of these tricks when she designed Mariah from Aran Knitting by Alice Starmore, but warned it was expensive, suggested I try the library. Didn’t see it in the local library’s holdings, so tried Amazon. Used for $217. Uh. Yeah. Did a little more internet searching and found that Barbara G. Walker’s Charted Knitting Designs: A Third Treasury of Knitting Patterns also has some tips, and I have that already, since I lusted over Melanie‘s copy a while back. I’m not sure I’m opening the loop right, since it’s leaving a bit of a hole, but going to keep trying. Will report on my progress. It’s so exciting to learn how this works! Thanks so much, Jodi!
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Dude, she is SO GOOD at explaining things. I remember when I was knitting this super cabled sweater, and I said, ‘oh, I can’t knit on it right now, I left the pattern at home’ and she said, ‘no, the pattern is right in front of you, look at the knitting!’ and explained how the cables worked and then I didn’t need the pattern anymore. she is a genius.
and your celtic knot looks awesome!
Actually, I made a mistake when I told you how to do that increase; I was pretty much winging it since it’s been a long time since I knit cables. The right side row stitch to open the loops goes like this: knit 1 through the back loop, knit 1 in the stitch (so you’ve increased one stitch, not two. Then put the tip of your left hand needle into the vertical strand of yarn below your two new stitches (this strand is formed by the increase you did) and knit it.
I’m not sure that this change will completely eliminate the little hole, as that might be caused by the p, yo, p on the wrong side. But you could try twisting that yo stitch when you knit it on the next right side row (if you can do that without the twist showing; it’s a purl stitch nestled in the crook of the curve in your new cable, so it might be well enough hidden).
[Note from Courtney: I tried two different approaches to the loop and got a small hole each time, so I suspect I’m just not pulling the yarn right or doing the stitches right since I’m unfamiliar with the techniques. Hence practice swatching. I will try Jodi’s suggestions and see if that corrects my sloppy knitting. Thanks again, Jodi!]