Yesterday I talked about working shaping and charts at the same time as helical knitting, and today I’m sharing the two patterns that come with chapter 3 of Something New to Learn About Helical Knitting…

We are continuing to introduce each aspect of working helically in a stepwise manner, so the two patterns each serve a different purpose. First up is the Sangallo cowl (above), which uses just two skeins of our Something to Knit With Aran yarn, and features helical garter stitch (no seam line!), worked with a cable panel. I really enjoyed knitting this one. There was a great rhythm to it as one yarn just knits all the time, while the other does the purl for the garter stitch and the cables. The tutorials in chapter 3 include information on using a chart with a helical design, as well as showing you how to move your helical yarn change so that it doesn’t happen in the middle of the cable panel.

I’ve cast on a second Sangallo cowl in the Ginger colourway, as I think my brother-in-law will get a lot of wear from it while he’s watching rugby! We planned the projects in Something New to Learn About Helical Knitting, as with all our books, to be relatively quick to knit, so that you can gain confidence quickly and then apply your skills to larger projects. Because they don’t take too much of a time or yarn investment, your skills improve and you end up with a nice pile of gifts ready for the holidays!

The second chapter 3 pattern is the Bramante mittens. These are the perfect accompaniment to the Bramante cowl from chapter 1, and they allow you to get to grips with shaping, whilst working helically. Again, there are full photo tutorials in the chapter that show you how to troubleshoot if your helical yarn change comes in the way of decreases (or indeed increases). The most tricky choice will be which combination of colours to choose! The mittens require one skein each in two colours of Something to Knit With Aran, and feature a long cuff to tuck in to your coat, with an i-cord edging.

Now that you’ve got the tutorials on basic stripes, stitch patterns and working helically, I’ve added some bonus patterns to the ebook - Hyacinthus armwarmers, Alcombe socks and Cutcombe socks. These all use Schoppel Zauberballs - in the armwarmers you divide your yarn into two balls and work helical stripes, but in the socks you pair the Zauberball with a solid yarn and work a slip stitch pattern. I made the originals with Lang Jawoll, but Coop Knits Socks Yeah! 4ply would be perfect too. I’ve been dreaming of a pair of Cutcombe socks in the Shadows Zauberball with one of the Socks Yeah! neon shades for a while now, so perhaps I need to take some yarn home with me to cast on…

I hope you’re enjoying your helical knitting explorations. The final chapter is released on Tuesday 20th November, and is all about how to work multi-round helical patterns. This is the chapter where I went slightly nuts seeing how far I could push it… And it was a great deal further than I had originally imagined possible, so I hope you will enjoy that when it’s released.

Something New to Learn About Helical Knitting is an ebook in four chapters, covering a range of aspects of working helically. The ebook contains 7 patterns to showcase the techniques, as well as a number of bonus helical designs and a discount code for 10% off in our online shop (valid until 27th November 2018 but not valid in conjunction with any other offer). When you purchase the ebook through our online shop, you can automatically add it to your Ravelry library from the order confirmation page at checkout. You will find the ebook along with the yarn, Something to Knit With Aran, and a number of kits, over on our website: Something New to Learn About Helical Knitting

Happy helical knitting!