The Gold Site Sample of a Pattern

P3 - Easy Ribber Placemat
By Tricia Shafer

Tricia Shafer is a co-founder and the primary pattern designer for Knitters Edge.  Tricia is available for seminars & workshops.  Email triciashafer@gmail.com for availability.

It seems like everyone is spending more time & money decorating their homes & entertaining guests.  This placemat & the other placemats on Knitters Edge will enhance your table setting for your next dinner party.  And just think what you guests will say when you state that you made them!

This placemat is also a great ribber lesson.  You will learn how to use your plaiting attachment feeder and how to rib a welt stitch.  But the best is the finishing.  You only have to finish a few yarn ends & your done!

The placemats were made on a Brother KH970, but they can be made on any standard machine with a ribber.  You may have to adjust the tension to get the size of the placemat.

Yarn
The yarn used for this pattern is Estilo from Tamm.  You can other yarns that are similar, but stay away from fuzzy yarns.  You don't want your guest's fork to get yarn fuzzies on it during dinner. 

You will need 2 colors so that you can plait the pattern.  Choose colors that are close in color for the best results.  We choose the following:
jersey side of plaiting : Off White  T3119
purl side of plaiting:  Straw  T3105

If you don't have a plaiting feature with your machine, you can make the placemats in a solid color, but use 2 ends of the same color.

You will also need scrap yarn & 1 ravel cord for each placemat.  If you steam each placemat before knitting the next, you can keep reusing the ravel cord.

Time
After making the 1st placemat & you become familiar with the pattern, you can make 1 placemat in about 30 minutes.  So you could make a set of 4 or 6 in 1 afternoon.

Getting Set Up
Set up for ribbing. 
Attach the plaiting feeder to the brush assembly.
Have the medium ribber cast on comb near you.
Thread the scrap yarn in the antenna to start.

You will start each placemat with scrap yarn & ravel cord so that you can make a nice, straight edge for the finished placemat.

Cast On with Scrap Yarn & Ravel Cord
Start with both carriages on the right.
Ribber is set to H & center it to MB.
Pull out the needles for the cast on to position E.
Main Bed:  63 -0- 63
Ribber:  63 -0- 62

Main Bed Ten:  1
Ribber Ten:  1

Thread the scrap yarn in the carriage (either slot for in the plaiting feeder for now).  Attach a clothes pin to the yarn end to prevent it from coming out of the feeder & free your hand.

Both carriages set to plain knitting.  Knit 1 row.

Hang the ribber cast on comb.  Hang 3 large weights (1 on each end & 1 in the center).

Set the main bed carriage to part in the left direction.
Set the ribber carriage to part in the right direction.
Knit 2 rows.

Set both carriages to plain knitting. 
Main Bed Ten:  3
Ribber Ten:  3
Knit 10 rows.

Set the main bed carriage to part in the left direction.
Set the ribber carriage to part in the right direction.

Take out scrap yarn, and thread the ravel cord into the feeder.  You will have to knit the ravel cord using your hand as the antenna.  This make take a little practice if you haven't done this before.  Use a clothes pin to hold the yarn under the carriage.  This will let you use your right hand to push the carriage and you left hand to be the antenna.

Knit 2 rows.

This completes the scrap yarn & ravel cord.  The scrap yarn & ravel cord will be removed after steaming the placemat.  Now you need to cast on in the placemat colors so that the placemat will have a finished edge after removing the scrap yarn & ravel cord.

Cast On in Placemat Colors
Thread the yarn in the antenna, each color should be separate.
Thread the yarn into the plaiting feeder.
Jersey side (Off White in the picture) goes in the smaller hole.
Purl side (Straw in the picture) goes in the long slot.
Use a clothes pin for each color to prevent it from coming out the feeder.

Main Bed Ten:  0
Ribber Ten:  0

Both carriages set to plain knitting.  Knit 1 row.

Set the main bed carriage to part in the left direction.
Set the ribber carriage to part in the right direction.
Knit 2 rows.

Set both carriages to plain knitting. 
Main Bed Ten:  3
Ribber Ten:  3
Knit 1 row.

The cast on is complete for the placemat.  Next you will transfer stitches from the ribber to the main bed for the rib layout.

Transfer Ribber Stitches to the Main Bed
Put ribber to P so that the needles line up.  This will let you transfer the stitches to from the ribber to the main bed easily. 

Transfer the following ribber stitches to the main bed using a double eye tool.  The numbers start on the far left & go to the right.
61,  59,  55,  53,  51,  49,  47,  45,  41,  39,  37,  35,  33,  31,  27,  25,  23,  21,  19,  17,  13,  11,   9,  7,  5,  3  -0-  2,  4,  6,  8,  10,  12,  16,  18,  20,  22,  24,  26,  30,  32,  34,  36,  38,  40,  44,  46,  48,  50,  52,  54,  58,  60

Put ribber to H.
Push all empty ribber needles to position A (out of work).
Push all ribber needles with a stitch to position E.
Push all main bed needles with a stitch to position E.
This will make the next row easier to knit.

Knitting the Placemat
RC000.
Main Bed Ten:  7
Ribber Ten:  3

The right side of the placemat will face you.  This is the opposite of how you normally knit.

The horizontal texture lines on the placemat are called welts.  The 1st welt will be created on row 6.  Knit to row 6.

How to Make the Welts
** Set the main bed carriage to part in both directions.
Knit 2 rows.
Set the main bed carriage back to plain knitting. **

You only knitted on the ribber needles.  This will create a raised texture on the ribber (front) side of the placemat. 

Make a welt using the directions from ** to ** above on the following rows.
6,  14,  22,  30,  38,  46,  50,  54,  62,  70,  78,  86,  94,  102,  106,  110,  118,  126,  134,  142,  150

Knit to row 158.

Tip:  If the ribber stitches aren't knitting properly after making the welts, pull the needles out to position E after knitting the welt.

Bind Off
Put ribber to P so that the needles line up.  This will let you transfer the stitches to from the ribber to the main bed easily. 

Transfer all ribber stitches to the main bed.

Remove the large weights from the cast on comb.  If you drop a stitch during the bind off, it won't run as bad with these weights removed.  Leave the cast on comb on for the bind off.

Do a latch tool bind off.

Finishing
Gently set the stitches.
Steam the placemat, and let it dry before moving it.  This will help to keep you shape.

After the placemat is dry, remove the scrap yarn.  Start from the side without the ravel cord ends.  Remember that you knitted 1 row of ravel cord on the main bed & 1 on the ribber, so you will have 2 rows to remove.  You will have a nice straight edge after remove the ravel cord.  You don't need to do anything else to this edge.

Hide the yarn ends, and you are finished.

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