Monday, May 10, 2010

The twisted loop double knit resuable duster

I just plain gave up on the brickyard bag - for now.  I did learn a lot - mostly what not to do - but learning is learning.  I'll post more on that after the ughhh factor has worn off a bit.  I had such high hopes for that design.

But now on to a happy design result.  The May challenge for project yarnway on Ravelry is to design a project to teach a new technique - and the technique has to be something you've never done yourself.  I had been noodling around the idea of a reusable dust cover for my dust wand since my February one small change commitment.  I love it when I can finagle two challenges with a single effort.  Anyway, I kept thinking about using a double knit process - two sided fabric knit at the same time, with a loop stitch on the front, and some kind of pocket on the back to stick the prongs of the wand holder thingy through.   Never tried the loop stitch or double knitting before, and the duster cover is small and less stressful than the Brickyard bag (lesson 1 learned).  And it's a dust rag for heaven's sake - how much less stressful can you get.

Here's what I came up with:

Ok - let me explain the use of acrylic.  First, it was in my stash.  And second, I did try cotton first.  And the bottom line is that acrylic has electrostatic properties and just plain attracts dust better. Cotton works, but needs some spray to be really effective, in my opinion.  To keep your eco-self intact, use acrylics already in your stash, or unravel some of those lovely sweaters from the 80's and use that. 

Here's the pattern - I'll post it in pdf form and get it on Ravelry in short order.  All comments and suggestions welcome.  Oh- to make it an even faster project, you could make it even less wide (say 3 or 4 loop stitches instead of 5 like I did).

Materials - about 100 yards of worsted weight yarn - I used Vanna's Choice for one and also  tested with peaches and cream cotton.  I think any worsted weight would be fine.

Needles - 1 pair US size 6 (4mm) - I'm a bit of a loose knitter - so you may want to try 7s if the 6s feel too tight.

Gauge - 5 stitches and 10 rows = 1 inch in double knit pattern stitch - but hey it's a dust rag -so I just wouldn't really worry too much about gauge - grab some worsted weight and needles you typically use with that weight and get knitting.

Key:
K - Knit;
P - Purl
K2tog - knit two stitches together
Kfb - increase by knitting into the front and then the back of a single stitch
Kb -knit through the back loop
Sf -  Slip1 with yarn in front by bringing yarn to the front between needles, slip one stitch purlwise, take yarn to the back between needles.
TLS - Twisted Loop Stitch - knit into stitch but do not slip stitch off left needle, bring yarn to front between needles and wrap counterclockwise around thumb and to the back, knit same stitch on left needle THROUGH THE BACK LOOP, slip stitch off the left needle and bring first stitch over second stitch on right needle (same motion as if binding off ) and give the loop a tug to tighten on right needle. I found that using a twist tightened up the stitch better, especially for slippery acrylic yarn  - my twist on the loop stitch!

Directions:

Cast on 19 stitches loosely -I used long tail cast on over two needles - loose cast on helps with the next row.
Set up row: K1, Kfb5, K7, Kfb5, K1 (29 stitches)
Row 1 (front/ loop side): K1, (Sf,TLS)5, K1, TLS2, K1, TLS2, K1, (TLS, Sf)5, K1
Row 2: (smooth side) K1, (Kb, Sf)5, P1, Sf2, P1, Sf2, P1, (Sf, Kb)5, K1 

Repeat rows 1 and 2 for about 5 inches ending with row 2.
Finish row: K1, K2tog 5, K7, K2 tog 5, K1 (19 stitches)
Bind off knit wise.
Weave in ends.

Thread the wand through the slip stitch "pockets" on the back and dust away - machine wash when it needs it.

6/8/2010 - corrected Row 1 to add missing knit 1 after second set of TLS2.


Please don't copy or distribute this pattern without crediting this blog.  If you knit this pattern, feel free to do whatever you like with the results - if you can, post a project on Ravelry.com so we can all see what you did.  Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions for improvements or questions.

Check back soon for a modified version of the pattern designed especially for t-shirt yarn.
    

18 comments:

  1. Oooo! I love this. What a great idea!

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  2. I wonder what you could use if you don't have a wand thingie on hand ...

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  3. Sherri - good question. Maybe some chop sticks? :} I have been thinking about a mitt design as well, that wouldn't require a separate tool, just your hand.

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    1. I am sure you could bend a clothes hanger to work.

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  4. When printing this, it's just a blank page....

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  5. Sorry if you are having troubles printing this - it does print out ok for me. I'm am not that good at troubleshooting these things, but will see what I can find out. In the mean time, I am working on a pdf for the pattern so check back and I will have a link to the pdf posted in a few days.

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  6. OK - I just researched the blogger help forums and added some code that is supposed to help with printing - should be able to just print post and comments. It's working for me. Tried to add a little "print this post" button, but alas that exceeded my skills at the moment! Should still be able to print from main menu.

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  7. Nope, still only prints 1 page which is not the pattern...second page is blank

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  8. If you are having problems printing, send me an email (see contact me under profile) and we can try to trouble shoot. Too many variables to try to work out through comments.
    Also, I will be posting a pdf version, so keep checking back - or let me know via email, and I'll send you a copy as soon as it is ready.

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  9. A PDF version of the pattern has been posted - see right hand section of post under complimentary patterns

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  10. Thanks so much for the lovely pattern. My 17 years old is going to college this fall. Second lovely knitted gifts aside from her winter jacket from mom LOL.

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  11. What a surprise! I'll try to do it!

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  12. Great Rosalia - let me know how it turns out. Anxious for feedback on the pattern.

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  13. What a great idea, do you it in a crochet pattern ? I do not knit
    much.

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  14. Sorry, I only design for knitting. If anyone does create a crochet version, I'd be happy to link to it and promote it with the knit version.

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  15. I took the sides and stitched them together in the back with the yarn tail. 360 Duster!!

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  16. Can't wait to try this pattern! It will be a stretch for me as I am a basic knit and purl gal but your stitch explanations I believe will help! This will be a good project while we are all quarantined and not able to buy the refills. God bless you!������

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