Mantra Knitting

Gift knitting continues, and I’ve found myself motivated to explore new stitches and textures. Since several of my gift knits are small, I have the perfect canvas to try something new with minimal risk. My latest project, a simple headband using two strands of Cashmere/Wool/Angora Blend Yarn, became the next opportunity to try another stitch pattern from my Knitting Stitches cards.

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As I browsed the card set for a new pattern to try, I had the following criteria in mind:

• The number of stitches in the pattern repeat would work for the width of a headband.
  
• The stitch pattern is not comprised of bobbles or cables. (I like them, I’m just slow at knitting them.)
  
• The pattern is easily remembered.
  
• The stitch pattern does not have to be reversible.

So, I landed on the Smocking Stitch. The smocking stitch is inspired by the embroidery technique of the same name, which has a long history. I’ve most often seen smocking on children’s clothing, and since this headband is for an eight-year-old, it seemed like a good fit.

My criteria were easily met by the stitch pattern. The pattern repeat is a multiple of 16 plus 2. This number allowed for a single repeat to make up most of the desired width of the headband when combined with a border of K2, P2, K2. The ribbed border essentially flows into the smocking pattern, which is primarily K2, P2 ribbing with a special smocking stitch added on the third and seventh rows.

This makes the eight-row pattern incredibly easy to follow. The biggest hurdle for this simple stitch has been tension, but by the 3rd repeat, I felt pretty comfortable with the consistency of the results. The smocking stitch is essentially created in the gap between stitches and wrapped across the width of 6 existing stitches, so I’m especially curious to see how it looks after blocking.

I found a few projects that use smocking stitch, like the popular Jenny Jacket by PetiteKnit, this cute hat by Colleen Powley, and another sweater option by Trine Meulengracht. All three have caught my eye, and now I feel like a big project with this stitch is in my future!