This project unites meditative practice with practical knitting. The project is a head covering that is light and lacy. The stitches pattern is called Turkish Stitch in North American, and worked well for this pattern because it is lacy without the onerous counting or stop-start manipulation one might find in lace knitting. This might seem tedious if your eye is only on the product, but if you try this project as a meditation, see if you can find the calm in the twist and draw of the stitches.
You might try chanting your own devotional prayer as you move the yarn as fluidly as you can around the needles. You can use the chant from the Sufi story la illaha illa’llah, Om, or any other chant that fits with your hands’ movements as the yarn pulls away from the ball, draws it through your hands and loops into the interlocking loops that form this airy lace.
Please note: This pattern has not been fully test knit.
Yarn
1 skein Colinette Parisienne 25 g 70% kid mohair, 30% polyamide
Shown in colorway 75, Moss
Needles:
Size US 4/ 3.5 Metric
Instructions
Cast on 120 stitches
Join, being careful not to twist
Row 1: Purl
Row 2: Knit
Row 3: Purl
Row 4 and subsequent rows: Turkish Stitch
Continue until 20 inches from cast-on edge or to desired length
Purl one row
Knit one row
Purl one row
Bind off very loosely, using elastic bind-off: K2tog and place the resulting stitch back on the lefthand needle. K2tog again and place that stitch back on the lefthand needle. Continue knitting two together and slipping the new stitch back to the lefthand needle until one stitch remains. Cut yarn, leaving a tail and draw the tail through the loop, closing gently.
Turkish stitch: [YO, K2tog] repeat.
Reality check: With an even number of stitches, you should find that you are creating a yarn over, and knitting the YO of the previous row, together with the K2tog of the previous row.