Good Times and the Candy Wrap

Golden Willow held its holiday drop in on Saturday.  Our regulars brought treats and we knitted, spun, crocheted, visited, laughed and had a great time all day long.  (One person shed a tear or two over problems with her shawl, but we sorted that.)  We covered the gamut from recipe swapping, charkha spinning, sock knitting, to the best exercises for relieving finger cramps acquired, rather ironically, from knitting gloves.  The day reminded me why I value my community of fibre people and how important their energy is to me. When we come together with shared interests and generous spirit, the world becomes a better place.

Many people remarked on the poncho/wrap/shawl kinda thing I was wearing that day, knitted from a bulky Louet boucle yarn I dyed a few years back.  I had only one 225 gram skein of the yarn and it was discontinued a while ago.  I wanted to knit something simple, but useful, limited to that amount of yarn.  I needed a wrap to ward off a chill, a piece that was easy to pull on and off and that would leave my arms free for knitting or spinning.

What I came up with is so complex, so inventive, that I hesitate to publish the pattern here, lest you perish in awe.  It was-wait for it-a garter stitch rectangle, shaped at one end, with buttons added, so that I can vary the look of the wrap.  I knit the wrap loosely, which eliminates the need for planning buttonholes.  Depending upon how you button the piece, you have a poncho with the point in front, a wrap with armholes, a simple scarf or. . .whatever you can come up with as a way to wear the thing.

Off the body, this wrap doesn't impress.  (See the photograph with the wrap opened.)  Put it on, and the fabric drapes to suit almost any body. 

So, here it is, my Candy Wrap, named after Candace, who was running around the store on Saturday, looking for ideas for yarn to use for this wrap and who demonstrated her own special baby wrap with Alex, one of our favourite GW babies.

Candy Wrap

The wrap can be worn many ways.  I usually wear it with the buttons running up my arm.

200 to 250 grams  of a bulky boucle yarn or any other bulky yarn to give approximate gauge of 2 sts per inch.  My yarn measured about 200 metres per skein.  (Please note that the Louet Diana yarn yardage on the Yarndex site is listed as 185 metres per 50 gram skein.  My wrap weighs  215 grams with 3 large buttons and I am certain that this wrap did not require 740 metres of yarn.  40 metres per 50 grams would be more likely. I have long since lost the label for this yarn, but this yardage seems more accurate.) 


1-60 cm/24 inch 10 mm circular needle or size required to give gauge.

3 large buttons.

Finished Size: 45 cm x 140 cm/18 inches x 55 inches

You don't have to shape the end, but it gives the wrap more versatility.  Note the offset button.

Pattern:

Cast on 36 stitches loosely.

Knit in garter stitch rows for approximately 120 cm/48 inches.


Begin decreases:  Decrease 1 stitch each edge on every right side row:  K1, SSK (slip one stitch as if to knit, slip next stitch as if to knit, place tip of left hand needle into front of both slipped stitches and knit these two stitches together), knit across to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1.

WS Rows:  Knit.

Continue decreases on every right side row until you have 14 stitches remaining.  Bind off loosely.  Wash and block the piece.  Allow it to dry completely before adding the buttons.

Sew 3 buttons at regular intervals along the bottom edge of the long edge of rectangle, i.e., the edge without the shaping.  (See the photograph.)  I recommend experimenting with button placement.  Sew your buttons in place temporarily and button them through the wrap in various ways to determine the best effect, before securing them. Notice that one of my buttons is inset a few centimetres.  I did this in order to make my wrap hang evenly when it was done up. 

Because of the loose knit and the strength of the mohair, you do not have to plan buttonholes for this wrap.  Simply loop the button through a hole in the knitting and you're good to go.