The Weekly Swatch: Three-Colour Balloon Knit Stitch

 

After the Two-Colour Balloon Knit Stitch in my last post, this post showcases the Three-Colour Balloon Knit Stitch. 

It's essentially the same knit stitch with the addition of a third colour on rows 11 to 16. The stitch motif requires a multiple of 8 plus 4 stitches and is worked over a total of 16 rows. All stitches are slipped as if to purl.

The Weekly Swatch: Two-Colour Balloon Knit Stitch

Having more fun with simple colourwork, next up we have the Two-Colour Balloon Knit Stitch. This stitch requires a multiple of 8 plus 4 stitches and is worked over a total of 16 rows. All stitches are slipped as if to purl.

The Weekly Swatch: Garter Brick Knit Stitch

 

Sticking with the colourwork theme for the weekly swatch, here is another colour fix, the Garter Brick Knit Stitch. 

Alongside the colour, this stitch has a super squishy texture. The Garter Brick Stitch requires a multiple of 6 plus 2 stitches and is worked over a total of 12 rows, with rows 5, 6,11 and 12 being repeats of rows 3, 4, 9 and 10 respectively. In between it's just simple knit and purl. 

The Weekly Swatch: Two-Colour Loop Knit Stitch

 

Injecting a splash of colour with this week's knit swatch...

The Two-Colour Loop Stitch is super simple and rewarding. The loop effect is achieved by mostly knitting, some purling and slipping lots of stitches. 

It's worked over eight rows and requires a multiple of four plus one stitches. 

Two Colour Loop Knot Stitch

Vintage 1980s Knitting Patterns - Part 11: The Kaffe Fassett Special

Time for another fix of 1980s knitting patterns. 

As no review of 1980s knitting patterns would be complete without making reference to the knitwear designs of Kaffe Fassett, a designer synonymous with 80s knitwear and best known for his elaborate colourwork creations, I decided to feature some of the patterns from Glorious Knitting, Fassett's seminal 1985 collection of knitting patterns, in today's instalment of my ongoing series on vintage 1980s knitting patterns. 

Originally published by Century Hutchinson and now out of print, second-hand copies of this vintage publication are widely available in both paperback and hardcopy formats and I highly recommend getting your hands on this classic. 

Even though the patterns in Glorious Knitting may seem daunting at first sight and some of the bolder statement pieces in this collection may not be to everyone's taste, Glorious Knits is a fantastic showcase of the possibilities offered by integrating colourwork into knitwear design.

The book has an extensive section on colour knitting, in which Fassett sets out his approach to colourwork (not colour theory!) and knitwear design, before introducing us to the elements and motifs constituting the building blocks of his designs.

 

Kaffe Fassett Striped T-Shirt