fringe Archives - Laylock Knitwear Design

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This project may be even simpler than the Bow Pouch. Great for a beginner knitter, and great for experienced knitters looking for something super-quick, cute and mindless. :)

I’ve seen fringed arm warmers in a few photos around the web and I really like the way they look. Things that swish and sway as you move are so much fun to wear (especially if you ride a bicycle!).

If anyone knows what show/designer this is from, please let me know!

Tassel Arm Warmers (£13.00) from River Island.

Fringe Arm Warmers (£12.00) from ASOS

Cashmere Fringe Gloves from Minnie Rose.

I feel like these arm warmers would work with many different styles, from mori girl to cowgirl to rock chick. They’re so simple to make that you can knit several in different yarn weights and colours. I look forward to seeing how you’ll knit & wear them. :)

instructions

YARN: Approx. 120m / 130yds of DK/Worsted weight yarn
NEEDLES: 4.5mm (US 7)
GAUGE: 16 sts / 32 rows over 10cm / 4in
FINISHED SIZE: 8cm / 18cm (+ 15cm fringe)

CO 33 sts (26 for armwarmer, 7 for fringe) using knitted cast on method, leaving a 20cm / 8in tail.
Work in garter st (knit every row) until piece measures 18cm / 7in (or desired length).
Cast off 26 sts, cut yarn, leaving a tail long enough to sew seam + 10cm / 4in.

Unravel remaining 7 sts*.

Fold arm warmers in half. Using cast off tail, mattress stitch along fringe edge. Work one stitch in from the fringe, or things get loose!

Don’t bother weaving in the ends. Just trim them to the same length as the fringe. You can cut your fringe loops open, or leave them as they are, it’s up to you.

All done, now make another!

TIP: If you can’t be bothered to swatch, just cast on as many stitches as you think will be enough to go around your wrist, then a fourth of that number of stitches again for the fringe. The fringe will end up about twice as long as it looks when knitted. Then if your armwarmer ends up a bit big, unravel a few extra stitches for the fringe and trim the fringe to length.

* It seems illogical that knitters would have so much fun unravelling their own knitting, but unravelling on purpose is so incredibly satisfying!

12th December, 2011 // Downloads // tags: armwarmer, free, fringe.

How to Make a Fringe

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Here’s a quick guide to fringe-making. I don’t know how correct it is to say fringes are really “in” right now, after all, do fringes ever go away? But they definitely take a project from drab to chic. So…

You will need:

yarn
a piece of card
a crochet hook

How Long?
The length of your fringe will really depend on what looks good to you, so I recommend you make a few “tassels”, attach them to your project, and step back to see if you think it looks the right length. Remember that the frequency of tassels will change the overall effect as well. Then cut your card to the right size, making sure you have an even width across (or some of your strands will end up shorter). Remember that if it’s a thick piece of card, this will add to the length of your strands when you wrap the yarn around it.

How Much Yarn?
Fringes take a LOT of yarn. It’s very difficult to estimate, but you could measure each of your strands, multiply it by the number of strands, then figure out how many “tassels” you have for every 10cm/4in of your edging and thereby figure out how many tassels you need in total and how many metres/yards of yarn that’s going to require. If you’re following a pattern, you might even be able to “guesstimate” how much extra yarn you need to purchase in advance in this way.

Instructions

1. Place your yarn against the card, lining the end of the strand up with the bottom of the card.

2. Wrap the yarn around as many times as the number of strands you want. You can see that for this shawl I used 6 strands in every bundle.

3. Get your scissors and snip through the bottom of the strands, then snip the end of the yarn at the same length.

4. Keeping the strands all together, get a crochet hook, insert it through the edge of the piece where you want to attach the fringe, and pull all the strands through. To get the neat side of the fringe on the right side of your work, you need to insert your hook from the back.

5. Pull the ends through the loop, making sure to keep them at an even length.

6. Tighten the tassel. This is called a “lark’s head knot”, in case you want to look it up. Now repeat the process for however many more tassels you need.

Tips

For thicker yarns one strand may be enough for a fringe, but for thinner yarns like the one I’m working with, I recommend you bundle up several strands together or you may find that your fringe looks rather thin and scraggly. A card helps even when you’re working with a single strand, though.
Remember to always pull through the same side. Examine the back and front of your fringe and you’ll see what I mean.
For a triangular shawl, it might help to attach the fringe to the point to begin with, to see how far down it will extend (you don’t want to be treading on it all the time).

By the way, in case you’re wondering, this is a KniTwit Shawl that I knit the summer before last in a lovely soft mohair blend. The “pattern” is less than 147 characters long, so I think it’s fair to say it’s one of the easiest shawls you can make. Add a fringe like this & it’s also very stylish. If you knit it in a thicker yarn (DK or maybe even worsted), I bet you could have it done in a weekend!

12th October, 2010 // How To, Technique // tags: edging, finishing, fringe, How To, shawl, tassel, Technique.