Sand Dollar Cape
SAND DOLLAR CAPE:
The overlaying theme is that of a sand dollar. The splits you see in a sand dollar are achieved with dropped stitches. The simple lace and texture that makes the starfish shape and some decorative scrolls. This is the second pattern based on this theme. The first is a round piece. This version starts in the round and splits to make an elegant cape.
YARN: I have worked this in two very different and distinct yarns. The first version, seen above, is made with a tape style yarn in a summery cotton-linen blend. The second is a chainette style in several luxury fibers; merino, baby alpaca, yak & silk. They both are amazing and have similar glorious drape and panache. For the linen cotton version needed to break into a new skein, using very little of it. Conversely the luxury fiber version used less yarn than I had anticipated, possibly due to the stretch absent in the tape (cotton / linen) yarn.
NEEDLES & GAUGE: US 15’s/10.0 mm AND US 17 /12.0 mm. round needles. Since the project widens in the round you can either start DPNs and then switch to round needles or use magic loop. I used interchangeable needles with varying length cables for different parts of this piece.
GAUGE used US 17’s/8.0 mm in stocking knit, before and after blocking was the same.
Bonsai - GAUGE 9 Sts to 4” & 12.5 Rows to 4”
Santi II -GAUGE 8 Sts to 4” & 10 Rows to 4”
SIZE: With Minimal blocking (basically shaping), I did not hard block or try to significantly open up the lace.
Bonsai version is about 56" DIAMETER. Santi II version is about 62" DIAMETER.
NOTIONS: A yarn sewing needle for sewing & tucking in some ends. Markers, some removable.
The sand dollar idea came when my kind friend from Sheep Thrills in Florida offered me some yarn to play with. The original version of the design was worked in BONSAI yarn. I was struggling to make it all work, so I created a round version in bulky weight yarn called Sand Dollar Round. It is a bit larger and made with smaller needles.
My piece is knit in super bulky weight yarn. These yarns can vary drastically from one to the next. The yarns I choose are on the lighter end of the super bulky spectrum. However, with nature of this piece size is not as crucial as in other types of projects. As you can see, my yarns did not achieve the same gauge. So, if you are unable to use either of the suggested yarns, you should be able to find a suitable substitution even if your end product is a little different than the ones I made.
MY YARN CHOICES:
String Yarns – BONSAI, 94% Cotton / 6% Linen, 65 yards to 50 grams. Color SAND - #308994 14 skeins
Illimani Yarns – SANTI II, 45% Merino, 25% Alpaca, 15% Yak, 15% Silk, 131 yards / 100 grams. Color Blue #M3994 6 skeins
The plant fiber version needed more yarn, I think this may be due to the ridged nature of the fiber and yarn. This made the overall project, gauge, and yardage less than the second, Santi II version.
The animal fiber version used less yardage, even though I tried hard not to stretch the yarn.
Approximate yardage for the BONSAI version was 850 yards. Approximate yardage for the SANTI-II version was 780 yards.
ERRATA:
(7/10/2022)
An error was found in the TEXT - CHART is correct. PAGE 5, CHART 4, ROW 19. the REPEAT should read as written below:
[K2tog, yo, K1, P4, K1, yo, SSK, K9, yo, SSK, K3, yo, SSK, K2, K2tog, yo, K3, K2tog, yo, K9] ×4,