Modifying a Pattern

KNITTING CORNER

Fingerless mitt patterns (Photo – Robin Southworth).

It happens. You want to knit something, but the pattern you like is sort of dull. You want to spice things up…but HOW?

By Robin Southworth

When I first re-learned how to knit, I knit patterns as written. That quickly got boring. It didn’t take long before I realized that if I understood a pattern, I could futz with it and make it unique for me, more interesting to look at, and not as boring for me to knit. How do you do that? Let me talk you through a few examples of things I’ve modified.

Fingerless mitt patterns (Photo – Robin Southworth).

This fingerless mitt is from a pattern designed by Heidi May called Jersey Cap/Mitt. Designed to be knit in a super-bulky yarn, it is charming in its own way. However, I live in the temperate Central Valley of California and bulky yarn is a bit too warm, not to mention that I look awkward in bulky yarns. I decided to modify the pattern to work with a worsted-weight yarn to give a more delicate, girly look to the pattern.

First, understand the gauge, or how many stitches and rows per inch will the yarn knit up into. The bulky yarn is 2.5 stitches per inch; the worsted-weight is 4.5 stitches per inch. I measured the circumference of my wrist (7 inches) and multiplied the worsted-weight stitches by that number = 31.5. Let’s just round that number up to 32. I decided I wanted a slightly tighter fit than the original, so I subtracted 4 stitches. 28 stitches. That is the number I started with. Up to the thumb-hole, I knit the mitt faithful to the original pattern. I knew that the worsted weight wouldn’t look right in the ribbing around the hand, so I did a plain stockinette stitch for the hand and finished it just as the original. First knit up in shades of blue, you can better see the way the pattern fits together. Knit in Christmas colors of red and shades of green, you can see the color possibilities in this pattern. [Check out Heidi May’s patterns on Ravelry. They are creative, charming, and not difficult for those new to knitting.]

Knitting hat patterns (Photo – Robin Southworth).

The next example is a hat. This slouchy hat is designed by Susan Mills. I knit it up in a light dusty pink. As I finished it, I realized that it needed to be knit up in a lace pattern. I had just knit a shrug in a lovely lace pattern. The lace pattern would fit in well with the stitch count of the slouchy hat.

Fingerless mitt, blue (Photo – Robin Southworth).

This fingerless mitt (with a knit thumb) is another example of how to modify a simple pattern. I had this lovely multi-colored hat knit in the Canadian-Winter Hat pattern designed by Sally Melville. I looked at the matching mitts (Canadian-Winter Mitts), but, like the Jersey Mitts, these would be too warm for the Central Valley. I decided to knit them fingerless, keeping the thumb, but making the thumb “less”, as well. I knit the pattern as written until just before my first knuckle. I mirrored the 1×1 rib from the wrist section for about ¾” and bound it off. I knit the thumb until it got to my first knuckle and I bound it off.

Will you make mistakes modifying a pattern? Of course you will! That happens. I can’t even start with all the mistakes I’ve made modifying patterns. I just unravel (or frog) what I’ve done and start over, fixing, as best I can, the mistake I made. Mistakes make you a better knitter. I promise…they really do.

Start with something simple. A pattern you’ve used before. Add a twist – a new stitch, a different weigh yarn – and go for it!