Octans is a self edged blanket (in many sizes) or a shawl (in two sizes). You cast on, work in a rectangle then bind off. The construction is simple, because the patterning is exciting.
My Mom’s favorite part of these patterns (Octans, Habibi and Andalus) is the corners. By extending the ribbing an inch, the natural curl of the short row slides calms down, and you get a pattern inside a right angle.
Someday I’ll explore using short row slides to make an intentional curly edge. Maybe you will beat me to it.
There are 4 grounds in the shawl, stockinette, reverse stockinette, garter and 1,1 rib. This means that whichever side you look at, you’ll be seeing stars. Here is a hint for keeping track of which side you are on, because that is the tricky part of reversibility: Put a locking stitch marker on the right side of the fabric and move it up from time to time. That way you know if you are working an odd row or an even row.
In a pattern named for a navigation devise, I don’t want anyone to get lost.
When I figured out how to work Short Row Slides (it must have been the country music in my dentist’s office 😉 I was excited that I could make tessellations with stars, but first I wanted ogees, and Arabian Ogees. Octans is the first of these star patterns (I am working on more). Octans also is the name of a constellation in the Southern Hemisphere, so it’s a stellar name.
The stars are outlined in ribbing, that is moved through the fields with increases on one side, decreases on the other. Until the short row slide rows. Then it is moved with a combination of increases, decreases and short rows, with slipped stitches instead of wraps to keep the fabric mostly solid. I linked to Jill Wolcott’s tutorial on knitting back backwards because flipping a big blanket that much is really athletic.
When you finish those rows of short row slides, celebrate! They use as much yarn and time as 3 regular rows so they count as a side quest. Be sure you look at your knitting and feel accomplished, you made a ribbing go sideways, and that ribbing looks good on both sides of the fabric!
My husband and my friend Loni both saved tissue boxes for me with a variation of this pattern on it. I love how my friends and family help me figure out designs. If you have ideas for sideways ribbing patterns, e-mail me, I’d love to hear your thoughts too. christine at christineguestdesigns dot com
And if you are a designer who wants to work with short row slides, go forth and make beautiful things with them. And let me know so I can let other people know about your work too.
Thank you for your kind comments on Instagram and Ravelry!
And thank you to all the people who signed up for my mail list too!
That list really grew last night, like the vegetables in the community garden near my apartment where we took these photos.
I’m delighted.
May we all navigate wisely.