Designed by Jenny Stark

January slinks along, dragging her cold, gray days along like a dreary cloak- blanketing everything in ashen shades.  She dulls the sun and frosts the air with ice.  Ah, but a closer look yields a secret beauty.  A faint shimmer here, a glittering dusting there – luminescence!  Capture a bit of this luminous beauty with this double knit wreath project.

Loom: 32 Peg Basic Loom

Yarn: 130 yards of Buttercream Alpaca Solid in Gray. 80” of a worsted weight yarn in a similar color.

Notions: knitting tool, yarn needle, scissors, glue gun and glue.

Additional Materials: 16” Floracraft Foam Wreath, 9 yards of 1 ½ inch wide sheer ribbon in silver (Offray Aria was used for the sample),  1 focal piece/item (6” Silver Satin Bird Clip by Touch of Nature was used for the sample)any additional embellishments desired (2 Victoria Lynn Pearl Rhinestone Accent Picks were used for the sample)

Gauge: Not essential for this project.

Size: approximately 16” in diameter

Abbreviations:

HS st – Half Stockinette Stitch

l – left

r – right

Techniques

Modified Figure 8 Cast-On:  Starting on the left side, place a slip knot on the first peg of the lower board.  Bring the working yarn up to the second peg on the upper board.  Wrap the peg in a counterclockwise direction.

Take the working yarn down to the third peg on the lower board.  Wrap the peg in a clockwise direction.

Take the working yarn up to the fourth peg on the upper board.  Wrap the peg in a counterclockwise direction.

Continue working in this manner until the desired number of peg pairs (stitches) have been wrapped.

Complete the cast on by wrapping the knitting board in HS st, r-l.  Knit the pegs that have 2 wraps on them.  (This counts as row 1 for this project).

          Half Stockinette Stitch:  The Half Stockinette Stitch (HS st) is worked on both sides of the knitting board/loom.  The wraps will travel at a slight slant.  One peg is skipped between each wrap.  These skipped pegs will remain empty while working in HS st.  Also, in this stitch pattern, one peg at the beginning of each row will serve as a sort of turning peg and will not be wrapped.  When working from left to right, the turning peg is the first peg on the lower board.  When working from right to left, the turning peg is the last wrapped peg on the upper board.

Wrapping in HS st, r-l:  (Working yarn will be at the last wrapped peg on the upper board).  Take the working yarn down to the lower board and around the nearest wrapped peg.  Take the working yarn back to the upper board and around the nearest wrapped peg.  Continue working in this manner until all the pegs have a second wrap on them, except the turning peg.  Knit the pegs that have two wraps on them.

Wrapping in HS st, l-r:  (Working yarn will be at the first wrapped peg on the lower board).  Take the working yarn to the upper board and around the nearest wrapped peg.  Take the working yarn back down to the lower board and around the nearest wrapped peg.  Continue working in this manner until all pegs have a second wrap on them, except the turning peg.  Knit the pegs that have two wraps on them.

Work back and forth across the board in HS st until the knitted fabric reaches the desired length, or as directed in the pattern.

          Bind Off:  Working yarn should be at the right hand side of the knitting board/loom.  Pick up the stitch on peg 1 of the lower board and move it backward to peg 2 of the upper board, above the stitch on this peg.  With the knitting tool, pull the lower stitch up through the upper stitch and off of the peg.  (This peg will now be empty.)

Move the stitch forward to peg 3 of the lower board, above the stitch on this peg.  With the knitting tool, pull the lower stitch up through the upper stitch and off of the peg.

Move the stitch backward to peg 4 of the upper board.  With the knitting tool, pull the lower stitch up through the upper stitch and off of the peg.

Move the stitch forward to peg 5 of the lower board.  With the knitting tool, pull the lower stitch up through the upper stitch and off of the peg.

Continue working back and forth across the knitting board until the last peg has two stitches on it.  Pull the lower stitch up through the upper stitch and off of the peg.  Replace this stitch on the peg and gently pull on the working yarn to ease out any excess slack.

Cut the working yarn, leaving a 5” length.  With the knitting tool, pull the yarn tail up through the last stitch.  Remove the stitch from the peg and gently pull the yarn tail to tighten and secure the last bound stitch. 

Instructions

Knitted Wreath Covering:

Cast on 7 pairs of pegs using the modified figure 8 cast on method.

Row 1:  Work in HS st, l-r.

Row 2:  Work in HS st, r-l.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until knitted piece measures 50.5 inches in length.  Bind off.  Weave in all yarn ends.

Assembly:

Thread the yarn needle with the worsted weight yarn.  Lay the wreath form down on a flat surface and slip the knitted wreath covering underneath the wreath

Wrap the knitted wreath covering around the wreath form and begin sewing it in place.  (This will be the back of the wreath, so any seaming method will work.)

Continue working around the entire wreath, wrapping and seaming the knitted wreath cover in place.  Once the entire wreath has been covered, take a moment to straighten the knitted wreath cover, then seam the ends together.

Once the ends have been seamed together, weave in the yarn ends and get ready to have a little fun embellishing!

Decorate!

Plug in the glue gun so it will be warming up.  Cut two pieces of ribbon:  a 10” length and an 18” length.  Glue one end of the 18” length to the back of the wreath, covering the joining seam of the knitted wreath cover.

Take the 10” length of ribbon and glue the ends together, creating a loop.

Feed the 18” length of ribbon through the loop that was just created, then wrap it around the top of the wreath and glue in place on the back of the wreath.

With the remaining ribbon, create a bow and glue it to the ribbon wrapped at the top center of the wreath.

Add a focal piece, if desired.

Add additional embellishments, if desired (ie – floral pins, floral picks, beads, buttons, feathers, twine, ribbon, flowers, etc)

Now, go find the perfect spot to hang your beautiful wreath!

(ps – not in love with the monochromatic look?  Try this project using your favorite colors)