Old Shale

Old Shale Stitch

For as long as I've been stitching, I've wanted to make a chevron or ripple blanket. I have tried, many, many times to learn to crochet properly because I thought it was the only way to make one of these fascinating yarn-stash-busters:

Great Grandma Ripple Blanket Modeled by Anna Cat Bebe

But behold, the knitting pattern Old Shale:

Hail the Old Shale

This is my first attempt. I read about it on Ravelry. I knew I could do it--I knew it.

The pattern is so easy--it's just a repeat of four simple rows:
Cast on 20 stitches
Row One: K 20
Row Two: K 1, P 18, K1
Row Three: K 1, [K2 Tog] 3 times, [K1, YO] 6 times, [K2 Tog] 3 times, K1
Row Four: K 20

That's it! It's just the right combination of mindless knitting and purling for three rows and one row of increasing and decreasing. It's worked in multiples of 18--I added the single knit stitch at the beginning and ending of each row to help decrease curling. I watched a very helpful YouTube video by iknitwithcatfur (??) that helped me get the groove going.

Corner Curve

I have 840 yards of Malabrigo Worsted Noviembre yarn that I'm thinking of doing a tiny shawl or wrap with in this pattern:

Malabrigo Noviembre Test Shale

I knitted up a test swatch this afternoon and I think it will work nicely.

But first: I must finish Christmas sewing. There are not enough hours in the day.

XO!
TEREZ