Saturday, October 20, 2007

Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks pattern



This is a scarf based on star stitch.
The name comes from a song by The Brunettes.

“Holding hands, feeding ducks
When I met you, that's what I wanted to do”

Yarn: Handpaintedyarn Colonia 140 or other thick-and-thin aran weight yarn, around 1.5 - 2 100-gram skeins.

Needle size: US 10.5 / 6.5 mm

Gauge: Doesn't really matter. Vary yarn and needle size to get the fabric you want. I recommend using bigger needles than you normally would for the yarn.

Abbreviations:
RS: right side
MS: make star--purl three stitches together but leave the stitches on the left needle. Wrap yarn around the working needle once, then purl the same 3 stitches together again.
P: purl
K: knit

Star stitch:
Multiple of 4 stitches + 1 (i.e. 17, 21, 25, 29...)
Row 1 (RS): Knit all stitches
Row 2: P1, (MS, P1) repeat to end
Row 3: Knit
Row 4: P3, MS, (P1, MS) repeat to last 3 stitches, P3
Repeat these 4 rows.

Additional notes:
Making the star is easier if you knit loosely and/or use a bigger needle size than usual.
When deciding how many stitches to cast on for the width you want, keep in mind that scarves tend to stretch lengthwise and thus become narrower when worn.
The edges of this stitch pattern will tend to curl.
This stitch is not reversible; there is a right side and wrong side.

Scarf Pattern:
Cast on 25 stitches (or other multiple of 4 stitches +1) and work in star stitch till desired length.
Long tail cast on counts as the first knit row (otherwise there is a purl ridge at the edge).
Bind off on RS. I like the sewn bind-off.

updated 11/21/2010

27 comments:

Christy said...

Very pretty! Thanks for the pattern!

m said...

thanks, and you're welcome! enjoy it!

Laura said...

Printed! Winding Yarn! Thanks! :)

m said...

yay! you're very welcome!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE the Brunettes!
i've seen them live 4 times in a month... :) where are you from Marianne..? cheers! enrico

m said...

I'm in the Los Angeles area and saw the Brunettes when they were touring with Ferraby Lionheart. :)

JO said...

Just wanted to let you know that I've started one of these in a purple variegated Manos del Uruguay. I'm madly in love with it. Thank you for posting the pattern!

m said...

purple manos sounds wonderful! I'm so glad to hear that you're enjoying the pattern!

Anonymous said...

i have just made this gorgeous scarf of yours if you want to check it out. :)
thanks for the pattern, love it.

kirsten @ assemblage.typepad.com

Patty said...

Just the perfect thing for ombres--thanks for reminding me of the star stitch! It had been lost in my hard drive;)

Windybrook Spinner said...

Gorgeous!

Persnickety Knits said...

Thanks so much for the pattern. I really enjoyed making this :)

Anonymous said...

thank you so much for sharing! my scarf is turing out beautiful.

sandra said...

have just tried this stitch and i LOVE it - just need to cast on more and get cracking! thanks

Krys said...

You should post this on Ravelry because it's a great pattern. I just LOVE how my scarf came out. :)

Napiligal said...

Great pattern, thanks. I'm using Brown Sheep Yarns Handpaints in Dessert Blossom

Unknown said...

This is so pretty! What does 'MS' mean? I'm just learning how to read patterns...

Sabrina said...

Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful pattern!
I will try it really soon!
Sabrina

Anonymous said...

Amazing scarf pattern. Thank you, just finished one for a gift =)

YarnSleuth said...

Thank you for the pattern! I am making one to give away to a charity sponsored by our knitting guild. I'll follow-up with a photo and information once complete! Thank you, the YarnSleuth

Unknown said...

It's beautiful Marianne! You don't happen to know if this can be adapted to crochet? Also, the multi-colored yarn that looks like rainbow colors, do you happen to know who the yarn brand and lot number to it? It's just very pretty colored yarn! :) Thank you

m said...

thanks, Shelley! I'm not familiar enough with crochet to know if this pattern can be adapted--sorry! if the multi-colored rainbow yarn is the one I'm thinking of (Ravelry link here), it's Malabrigo Seleccion Privada, colorway Code B. I hope this helps!

Sparkling Palette Blog said...

Hey nice stitch, but I am a littlepoor in reading patterns is there any video available for this?

m said...

I don't have a video for the stitch, but if you search youtube for knitting star stitch (sometimes it is also called daisy stitch) I think several videos come up. I hope this helps!

Leahcar said...

Finishing mine right now with the sewn bind off. Lovely! Many thanks!!

Anonymous said...

Hi is there a way to tell which purling row is next?it seems my rows were diagonal and now seem to have stars on top of each other..??

Anonymous said...

I keep getting lost in the 4th row, because I get to the last 4 stitches after I MS not the last 3.