Melancholy: a free lace knitted border

When Ron suggested melancholy as this month’s word (funded by my backers on Patreon), I immediately had the thought that I should design this specifically to be an edging. Note that it might work just as well as an allover design; I just didn’t try it out that way.

Instead, I swatched three repeats wide by one repeat high to see what it would look like with row 1 as the bottom edge, worked a bunch of stockinette, and then swatched three repeats wide (offset by half from the first edging) to see what it would look with the last row as the top edge.

Though both have their charms, I like the latter better, and so that is the chart shown below.

melancholy: a free lace knitting stitch pattern, thanks to my supporters on Patreon

melancholy: a free lace knitting stitch pattern, thanks to my supporters on Patreon
Click to enlarge.

Notes:

  • This is a stitch pattern such as might be found in a stitch dictionary. It is not a pattern for a finished object. You will need to add selvedges or some other form of knitted stitches to either side.
  • Melancholy is a multiple of 18 + 1 stitches and 16 rows.
  • I’ve made a stitch map for it.
  • Designers, please feel free to use this stitch in your patterns. I’d like credit but won’t be offended if people don’t give it.
  • If you like my posts like this, please consider supporting me on Patreon or donating with my Paypal tip jar in the sidebar. Thanks!

Abbreviations:

  • CDD: centered double decrease: slip the next 2 stitches as if to knit 2 together, knit the next stitch, then pass the 2 slipped stitches over the third.
  • DSD: double slip decrease: ssk, slip the resulting stitch back to the left needle, pass the next stitch over, then slip the result. (Right-leaning double decrease. Substitute k3tog if desired; they are similar but don’t look quite the same.)
  • k: knit.
  • k2tog: knit 2 stitches together as if they were 1. (Right-leaning decrease)
  • p: purl.
  • sk2p: slip 1 stitch knitwise, knit the next 2 stitches together, then pass the slipped stitch over the newest stitch. (Left-leaning double decrease.)
  • ssk: slip each of the next 2 stitches as if to knit, then knit them together through the back loop. (Left-leaning decrease)
  • yo: yarn over.

Row 1 (RS): ssk, yo, k3, DSD, k1, yo x 2, *p1, yo x 2, k1, sk2p, k3, yo, CDD, yo, k3, DSD, k1, yo x 2 ; work from *, p1, yo x 2, k1, sk2p, k3, yo, k2tog.
Row 2 (WS): P7, k1, p1, k1, *k1, p14, k1, p1, k1 ; work from *, k1, p8.
Row 3: K3, DSD, (k1, yo) x 2, k1, *p1, (k1, yo) x 2, k1, sk2p, k5, DSD, (k1, yo) x 2, k1 ; work from *, p1, (k1, yo) x 2, k1, sk2p, k3.
Row 4: P9, k1, *p17, k1 ; work from *, p9.
Row 5: K2, CDD, yo x 2, (k2tog, yo) x 2, *p1, (yo, ssk) x 2, yo x 2, CDD, k3, CDD, yo x 2, (k2tog, yo) x 2 ; work from *, p1, (yo, ssk) x 2, yo x 2, CDD, k2.
Row 6: P3, k1, p5, k1, *p4, k1, p6, k1, p5, k1 ; work from *, p4, k1, p4.
Row 7: K1, CDD, k4, yo x 2, k1, *p1, k1, yo x 2, k4, CDD, k1, CDD, k4, yo x 2, k1 ; work from *, p1, k1, yo x 2, k4, CDD, k1.
Row 8: P6, k1, p2, k1, *p1, k1, p12, k1, p2, k1 ; work from *, p1, k1, p7.
Row 9: K1, sk2p, yo, CDD, yo x 2, k1, yo, k1, *p1, k1, yo, k1, yo x 2, CDD, yo, DSD, k1, sk2p, yo, CDD, yo x 2, k1, yo, k1 ; work from *, p1, k1, yo, k1, yo x 2, CDD, yo, DSD, k1.
Row 10: (P4, k1) x 2, *p3, k1, p8, k1, p4, k1 ; work from *, p3, k1, p5.
Row 11: K1, sk2p, k4, yo, k1, yo, *p1, yo, k1, yo, k4, DSD, k1, sk2p, k4, yo, k1, yo ; work from *, p1, yo, k1, yo, k4, DSD, k1.
Row 12: P9, k1, *p17, k1 ; work from *, p9.
Row 13: K1, sk2p, k2, yo, k1, yo, k2, *p1, k2, yo, k1, yo, k2, DSD, k1, sk2p, k2, yo, k1, yo, k2 ; work from *, p1, k2, yo, k1, yo, k2, DSD, k1.
Row 14: P9, k1, *p17, k1 ; work from *, p9.
Row 15: Ssk, yo, k1, yo, k4, ssk, *p1, k2tog, k4, yo, k1, yo, sk2p, yo, k1, yo, k4, ssk ; work from *, p1, k2tog, k4, yo, k1, yo, k2tog.
Row 16: P9, k1, *p17, k1 ; work from *, p9.

Designers, please feel free to use this stitch in your patterns. I’d like credit but won’t be offended if people don’t give it. Thanks! – Naomi

Encoding the word:

I encoded rain in base . Each letter becomes two digits: 15 05 14 01 16 03 10 17 14 31

melancholy lace grid.png

I’m showing the mirrored grid because I did things a little differently with this. Ignore the section with light grey squares and the column of purl stitches for now.

I started in the bottom right corner, as if knitting. M is 15: I counted 1 square, then marked the next square. I counted five squares, and marked the next. E is 05: I counted no squares, so the very next square is marked. I ran out of room for 5, so I jumped up to the next row and started counting there. The code stops at the last marked square.

Because the rightmost column has no stitches in it, I decided to use it as my axis of symmetry; I didn’t double it in the mirroring. And because I wanted to avoid quadruple yarnovers, I added a purl column to go between repeats; I like to made added columns purl to indicate that they’re not part of the code. (I also like the effects this makes in lace sometimes.)

Once I had the squares arranged to my satisfactions, I replaced black squares with yarn overs and started swatching to figure out where to put decreases.