A week ago today, I wrote my first official blog post documenting the progress of my knitting project du jour, the “Trapeze Jacket” by Stefanie Japel, taken from her “Glam Knits” book. Last week, I had focused on my experience with tackling the yoke portion of the jacket, which mainly comprised of a series of raglan increase rows. I also got around to starting the body part of the jacket, which involved separating the sleeve stitches from the body (i.e. by putting them on hold on scrap pieces of ribbon), and shaping the waist with another series of increase rows.
At this point, I’m actually pretty far into this knitting project… in fact, I’ve already started work on the first sleeve! However, I still have yet to blog about my work on the body trim portion of the jacket, so that’s what I’m going to cover today.
Just like in last week’s post, here is a diagram of my current knitting project, with the part that I’m currently blogging about highlighted in green.
Image Source: Scanned From “Glam Knits” Book, w/ Notes Added by Karina
Decoding the Knitting Pattern (Part 3): Working on the “Body Trim” (By Completing 3 Cycles of “Fishtail Lace” Pattern)
For my chosen size of 34″ bust, the body trim pattern starts off by requesting a cast on row of 111 stitches. Personally, I have a fondness for the long-tail cast on method. Here is a photo of what my body trim cast on row looked like on size US 13 (9mm) circular knitting needles.
Except for a few initial rows of garter stitch (which, along with the cast on row, will help form the bottom edge of the jacket body… see diagram above), the rest of the body trim consists of 3 vertical repetitions (or “cycles”) of the Fishtail Lace Pattern.
Here is the exciting part! Decoding complicated knitting patterns like this Fishtail Lace Pattern by Stefanie Japel is exactly the reason why I had wanted to start a knitting blog. I hope that by blogging about my experience with deciphering these knitting patterns, I can ideally provide insight and potentially help anyone else who may be having trouble while trying to tackle the same project.
Here is a diagram of Stefanie Japel’s 8-row Fishtail Lace Pattern.
Image Source: Scanned from “Glam Knits” Book, w/ Notes Added by Karina
This diagram is great and all… but are you like me, and are better at following step-by-step instructions instead of studying visual diagrams? Then follow me as a I go through the Fishtail Lace Pattern row-by-row, analyzing each line and offering any tips that I may have to my fellow blog readers!
How to Knit Stefanie Japel’s Fishtail Lace Pattern?
“Work over a multiple of 10 sts + 11″
Translation? The Fishtail Lace Pattern can only be performed on rows that consist of multiples of 10 stitches, plus an extra 11 stitches at the end of the row (i.e. 21 stitches, 31 stitches, 41 stitches, etc…).
“Row 1 (RS): K1, *yo, k3, SK2P, k3, yo, k1; rep from * to end.”
Translation? The 1st row of the Fishtail Lace pattern takes place on the “Right Side” (RS) of the knitting pattern. Start off by “Knitting 1 Stitch” (K1). You’ll then have to repeat the following steps for the multiple (i.e. what’s listed between the asterisks, a.k.a. *…*) until you’ve reached the end of the row:
- “Yarn Over” (YO) by wrapping the working yarn on the back of your right needle around the bottom, and then up across the front of that right needle
- “Knit 3 Stitches” (K3)
- “Slip 1, Knit 2 Together, Pass Slipped Stitch Over” (SK2P) by slipping 1 stitch purlwise from left to right needle, then knitting 2 stitches together, followed by passing the previously slipped stitch from the right needle over the remaining stitch formed by knitting the 2 stitches together, on the left needle
- “Knit 3 Stitches” (K3) again
- “Yarn Over” (YO) once more
- “Knit 1 Stitch” (K1) to finish the multiple before starting the repeat again from the first *
“Row 2: Purl.”
Translation? On the 2nd row of the Fishtail Lace Pattern (which occurs on the “Wrong Side” or WS of the knitting pattern), simply purl the entire row.
“Row 3: K1, *k1, yo, k2, SK2P, k2, yo, k1, p1; rep from * to last 10 sts, k1, yo, k2, SK2P, k2, yo, k2.”
Translation? For the 3rd row of the Fishtail Lace Pattern, start off again by “Knitting 1 Stitch” (K1). You’ll then have to once again repeat the following instructions (i.e. what’s listed between the asterisks, a.k.a. *…*) until you’ve reached the last 10 stitches the row:
- “Knit 1 Stitch” (K1)
- “Yarn Over” (YO) once by wrapping your working yarn on the right in a clockwise cycle around your right needle
- Knit 2 Stitches” (K2)
- “Slip 1, Knit 2 Together, Pass Slipped Stitch Over” (SK2P) by slipping 1 stitch from left to right needle, knitting 2 stitches together, and passing the slipped stitch back from the right needle to the left needle, over the stitch that resulted from knitting 2 stitches together
- “Knit 2 Stitches” (K2) again
- “Yarn Over” (YO) again
- “Purl 1 Stitch” (P1)
Like I said before, repeat these 7 steps until you’ve reached the last 10 stitches in the row. For the first 9 of these last 10 stitches, you can follow the pattern that’s listed in the multiple. However, instead of “Purling 1 Stitch” (P1) at the end on the 10th stitch, you simply “Knit 1 Stitch” (K1) in its place.
“Rows 4 and 6: P10, *k1, p9; rep from *to last st, p1.”
Translation? On rows 4 and 6 of the Fishtail Lace Pattern, you will be following the same instructions. You are essentially purling the entire row for both, except in between “Purling the 1st 10 Stitches” (P10) and “Purling the Last 10 Stitches” (P10), you will be “Knitting 1 Stitch” (K1) for “Every 9 Stitches Purled” (P9). In layman’s terms, you will be starting off rows 4 and 6 by “Purling 10 Stitches” (P10), then repeating the next 2 steps that make up the multiple:
- “Knit 1 Stitch” (K1)
- “Purl 9 Stitches” (P9)
Repeat steps 2 and 3 above until you’ve reached the last 10 stitches of the row, then “Purl 10 Stitches” (P10).
“Row 5: K1, *k2, yo, k1, SK2P, k1, yo, k2, p1; rep from * to last 10 sts, k2, yo, k1, SK2P, k1, yo, k3.”
Translation? Start off row 5 by “Knitting 1 Stitch” (K1), then follow the next few steps which make up this row’s multiple:
- “Knit 2 Stitches” (K2)
- “Yarn Over” (YO)
- “Knit 1 Stitch” (K1)
- “Slip 1, Knit 2 Together, Pass Slipped Stitch Over” (SK2P)
- “Knit 1 Stitch” (K1) again
- “Yarn Over” (YO) again
- “Knit 2 Stitches” (K2) again
- “Purl 1 Stitch” (P1)
Repeat the previous 8 steps (i.e. the multiple) until you’ve reached the last 10 stitches of the row. Just like in row 3, you can follow the pattern that’s listed in the multiple for the first 9 out of 10 stitches. However, instead of “Purling 1 Stitch” (P1) at the end, you simply “Knit 1 Stitch” (K1) in its place.
“Row 7: K1, *k3, yo, SK2P, yo, k3, p1; rep from * to last 10 sts, k3, yo, SK2P, o, k4.”
Translation? “Knit 1 Stitch” (K1) to start off row 7 of the Fishtail Lace Pattern. Then go through the following steps for this row’s multiple:
- “Knit 3 Stitches” (K3)
- “Yarn Over” (YO)
- “Slip 1, Knit 2 Together, Pass Slipped Stitch Over” (SK2P) in the same format as before
- “Yarn Over” (YO) again
- “Knit 3 Stitches” (K3) again
- “Purl 1 Stitch” (P1) again
Repeat the previous 8 steps (i.e. the multiple) until you’ve reached the last 10 stitches of the row. Just like in row 3, you can follow the pattern that’s listed in the multiple for the first 9 out of 10 stitches. However, instead of “Purling 1 Stitch” (P1) at the end, you simply “Knit 1 Stitch” (K1) in its place.
“Row 8: Purl.”
Translation? Just like with the 2nd row, all you will have to do on the last row (i.e. the 8th row) of the Fishtail Pattern is to simply purl the entire row.
And that, my friend, is the entire Fishtail Lace Pattern, broken down and deciphered…. step-by-step! These 8 rows together will form 1 vertical repetition (or “cycle”) of the lace pattern. To see how all of this looks, visually, check out this close-up view of 1 cycle of Fishtail Lace Pattern in the body trim of my “Trapeze Jacket” knitting project…
