Lanyards cords, useful for knitters was part 1 of this series. But lanyards aren't only for making cords They also make very pretty CAST-ONs and CAST-OFFs!
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| Colorful and quick: Lanyard cast-on |
To demo, here are some little fish. These little quick projects show off how stretchy and pretty lanyard edges can be, with the cast ON matchy-matchy to the cast OFF.
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Cast on (fish bottoms) and cast off (fish tops): a perfect and colorful match
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The next post will show the lanyard cast-on and cast-off in real life: on the edges of a baby sweater. And as a bonus, a matching deco-band which echoes both the cast-on and cast-off. But for today, the basics, so...
Let's make a fish
The sample fish is the pink one, featuring yellow borders and a red dotted outline.
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| Let's make a fish |
To make the fish, you will need:
- three different colors of scrap amounts of yarn: wool in worsted weight preferred (worsted weight = yarn ordinarily worked at 5 st/in)
- A crochet hook suitable to the yarn-gauge
- One small thin double pointed needle (DPN)
- Two knitting needles in a size suited to your yarn--I think DPN's will be easiest here.
- tartar sauce--haha! Not!
This is a three-color lanyard, but in the finished product, really only two colors are obvious in the lanyard itself. Specifically,
- The first color laid down will be the color of the fish (A): PINK in our example. This color shows somewhat in the lanyard border itself, but the other two colors dominate.
- The second color laid down (B) will be the contrast color which runs inside the border in a series of attractive purl-looking bumps, RED in our example.
- The third color (C) makes the top and bottom outline of the border. In the example, C = YELLOW: the yellow edges outlining the fish and the red border. This will also be the color of the wrapping on the fish's tail.
This demo project uses short rows so you can cast OFF without having to pick up along any edge: the cast-on segues directly into the cast-off. Even if you've never worked a short row before, these ones are super-basic: don't let the short-row component scare you off.
LANYARD CAST-ON
Make a three-strand S-mounted lanyard as shown in the first post of this series (illustrated directions for cord here, video of "s" mount here).
Continue drawing loops through one another in regular order: pink-A, red-B, yellow-C until you have 11 pink bumps. End with the full sequence, meaning, after there are 11 pinks, make one more red and one more yellow. (Geek note: in this way, you are set to begin the cast OFF in correct color-cycle sequence with another pink.)
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| An S-mounted three color lanyard worked for 11 full cycles of pink-red-yellow. Running yarn to right, tails to left. The yellow loop is inactive at this point, but will patiently wait be picked up again as part of the cast-OFF. |
With the slim, small dpn, pick up out of the lanyard, the pink bumps. Mount these right arm forward, as for ordinary knitting stitches.
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| A repeat of the opening photo, showing pink "bumps" mounted right arm forward on a slim dpn. Click here to enlarge. These mounted loops are now ready to knit into. The yellow loop continues to patiently wait in suspension until we begin the cast off. |
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KNIT THE FISH
Row 1 (front). Switch to larger dpn's.
- Slip 1 pink st "open" (i.e.: not twisted, also called "slipping purl wise").
- *P1, K1, repeat from * until within 2 sts of end, P1.
- Wrap last st by holding yarn to back, slip last st to right needle, bring yarn to front, return last st (the one you just wrapped) to the left needle.
- Turn work.
Row 2 (back). Due to the slipping maneuver which ended row 1, row 2 begins with 1 st on the right needle and the yarn to the back. Don't forget to transfer the slipped stitch to the second of the larger dpn's before knitting row 2.
- *P1, K1, repeat from * to within 2 sts of end of row.
- Wrap second-to-last st by holding yarn to back, slip second-to-last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. return second-to-last st to left needle.
- Turn work.
Row 3 (front). Due to the slipping maneuver which ended row 2, row 3 begins with 2 sts on the right needle and the yarn to the back.
- *K1, P1, repeat from * until within 3 sts of end of row.
- Wrap third st from end of row by holding yarn to back, slip third-to-last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. return third-to-last st to left needle.
- Turn work.
Row 4 (back). Due to the slipping maneuver which ended row 3, row 4 begins with 3 sts on the right needle and the yarn to the back.
- *P1, K1, repeat from * once. You are now 4 sts from end of the row, P1.
- Wrap third st from end of row by holding yarn to back, slip third-to-last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. return third-to-last st to left needle.
- Turn work.
Row 5 (front). Due to the slipping maneuver which ended row 4, row 5 begins with 3 sts on the right needle and the yarn to the back.
- *P1, K1, repeat from * once. You are now 4 sts from end of the row.
- Wrap fourth st from end of row by holding yarn to back, slip fouth-to-last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. return fourth-to-last st to left needle.
- Turn work.
Row 6 (back). Here is a progress photo showing the work just before starting row 6. There are four sts on the right needle, 7 sts on the left needle and the pink running yarn is at the back of the work. In this back-view, the tails from the cast on are to the right, the red and yellow running yarns from the lanyard cast-on are to the left. The yellow loop waiting patiently to left shows where the lanyard remains in suspension while we continue knitting the fish.
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| Progress photo: just before starting row 6 |
- Commence working row 6 by K1, P1, K1. You are now 4 sts from end of the row.
- Wrap fourth st from end of row by holding yarn to back, slip fouth-to-last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. Return fourth-to-last st to left needle.
- Turn work.
Row 7 (front). Due to the slipping maneuver which ended row 6, row 7 begins with 4 sts on the right needle and the yarn to the back.
- *K1, P1, repeat from * once, K1. You are now 2 sts from end of the row.
- Wrap second--to-last st by holding yarn to back, slip second-to-last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. return second-to-last st to left needle.
- Turn work.
Row 8 (back). Due to the slipping maneuver which ended row 7, row 8 begins with 2 sts on the right needle and the yarn to the back.
- * K1, P1, repeat from * to within 1 st from end of the row.
- Wrap last st by holding yarn to back, slip last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. return last st to left needle.
- Turn work.
Row 9 (front). Due to slipping maneuver which ended row 8, row 9 begins with 1 st on the right needle and the yarn to the back.
- *P,1, K1, repeat from * to within 2 sts of end of row, P1.
- Wrap last st by holding yarn to back, slip last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. return last st to left needle.
- Turn work.
Row 10 (back). Switch to smaller dpn and slip the wrapped st onto it. Working with the smaller dpn,
- *P1, K1 until within 2 st of end, P1. Slip last st.
The knitting is done, 11 stitches are on the slim dpn. Cut the pink yarn to a tail of several inches.
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LANYARD CAST-OFF
Lanyard cast-off echoes the lanyard cast-on. The main difference is, the first stitches in the sequence--the pink ones--are not worked from the pink running yarn (which, in any case, you just cut off at the end of row 10!) Instead, the pink stitches of the last row of knitting--waiting there on their smaller dpn--will be used instead, acting as the first stitches of each cycle of the lanyard.
Specifically,
- Hold the work in your non-dominant (usually left) hand.
- Take the crochet hook in your dominant (usually, right) hand and slip it through the yellow loop which has patiently been waiting in suspension all this time.
- Next, onto the crochet hook, slip in the "open" position, the first pink stitch from the tip of the smaller dpn.
- Draw the pink stitch through the yellow loop, and snug up the yellow. The upper inset shows this: the first pink stitch has been slipped off the dpn onto the crochet hook, with the yellow loop now snugged up around its little neck. In the square overview photo, middle, you can see the yellow running yarn which has been tugged upon to do the snugging.
The lower inset shows that after the pink has been drawn through and the yellow loop snugged and dropped off, the next step is exactly as for the lanyard cast on: the red is caught around the hook of the crochet needle, ready to be drawn through the pink.
Recall that the color-cycle sequence of the lanyard cast-ON was pink, red, yellow, then starting again with pink. So, you have just replicated that color-cycle by drawing a "first pink" through a "last yellow." and there is the second color--red--waiting to to go through the pink. After the red is through, the cycle will end again when the yellow running yarn is drawn through the red loop. Then, the next cycle will be set up to begin with next pink stitch drawn off the dpn by the crochet hook, and again drawn through yellow.
Below is one final progress photo with the cast-off more than half done, and a pink about to be drawn off the slim dpn, then through a yellow. Recollect that, except when one loop is in the process of being drawn through another, there is only ever one loop at a time on the barrel of the crochet needle, so that yellow will drop off the needle as soon as the pink is pulled through.
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| Lanyard cast-off in progress |
Geek note: Heads up! When we come to troubleshooting, we will revisit the above photo for an optional alternative bind-off. This photo has been given a green background rather than blue so you will remember it!
The cast off ends with a yellow, and the last step is to use the yellow running yarn to work a wrapping over the fish's tail. Begin by cutting the the red tail to the length of a few inches. Holding all the tail ends in a bunch in your left hand (non-dominant), work a single crochet casing over the strands (or use the yellow running yarn to work any other ending which catches your fancy in the second post of this series).
Here is a close-up of the crocheted tail-wrap being worked. Again, the directions for this are in the second post of this series.
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| Crocheted tail wrap worked over fish tail-strands |
For finishing, work in the pink cut end near the head of the fish. If desired, knot the individual tail strands to prevent their coming unplied in the future, and make an eye with a scrap of contrast color yarn.
Wondering what to do with your fish? These are small enough to fit into an envelope with a card or letter, where little kids like them as a surprise. They also fly surprisingly well when thrown--the tails stream out and catch the breeze.
TROUBLE-SHOOTING
Trouble-shooting a too-loose cast off. If the problem is that the main color stitch is too loose where it is worked as part of the bind off, then re-work the last row of the garment before the cast off with a smaller knitting needle. Because the cast-off often is somewhat loose, the fish pattern calls for a smaller needle on row 10, and if that's still too loose, use a smaller needle still.
If the problem is that the cast off is just overall sloppy and loose, use a smaller crochet hook and/or pull the yarns tighter after each stitch.
Of course, all these tricks can be combined.
Trouble shooting a too-tight cast off. Sometimes, the problem is not a too-loose cast off, but a too-tight one. The first and easiest thing try is working the cast off with a larger size crochet hook.
If that is not sufficient, perhaps the last row of knitted stitches was knit on too small a needle. It stands to reason that if the last row of stitches on the slim dpn are too tight, the cast off will also be too tight. Correct by re-working the last row on a larger needle, rather than switching to a slim dpn.
If the problem persists even with a looser last row and a larger hook, there is a third alternative: you may work the cast-off in the manner of a single crochet instead. And this is where we re-visit the photo with the green background.
Suppose instead of drawing the pink through the yellow and the yellow dropping off, that you hold both the pink and the yellow on the crochet hook, as shown in the green-background photo AND THEN, draw the red through BOTH. This replicates how a single crochet is worked by drawing a third loop through two loops over the barrel of a crochet hook.
Specifically, *draw the pink off the slim dpn onto the barrel of the hook, BUT ALSO retain the yellow on the hook--there are now TWO loops on the barrel of the crochet hook as per photo. Through BOTH of these, you would draw the red as a loop. This would be followed by a single yellow drawn through the red in the manner of a chain stitch, but the next pink would NOT be drawn through the yellow, with instead, a new cycle commencing by repeating from *, above.
Do you wonder whether the single-crochet-like alternative looks different than the ordinary lanyard cast-off? The fact is, you might notice the point where one switched to another, but they are otherwise extremely similar. The real difference is in the tension, not the overall appearance.
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CAST-ON AND -OFF IN REAL LIFE
On a larger project, the cast-on and cast-off are the same as shown here with one exception: you don't usually have a situation where one segues into the other, as they do on this pattern. Therefore, the cast on usually ends after the last main-color bump has been worked, meaning, you wouldn't add another red, yellow combo after the last pink as you did on the fish. Similarly, the cast-off usually starts by drawing the contrast color through the first stitch to be cast off. In terms of this pattern, there would have been no yellow loop waiting patiently to start the cast-off color cycle. Instead, you would have started by slipping off a pink stitch and drawing through a red, then a yellow, before starting the cycle over again by slipping the second pink off the knitting needle, and through the yellow.
--TK
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