Last fall I took an amazing course on Coursera – Creativity, Innovation and Change. Part of the course was designing something – as a multi-step process guided by the course :) . Of course, I decided to go for a knitting project. The first step was trying out techniques for idea generation. I went for a wilder one, as I wanted to get some new ideas, and not the stale ones that had been on my mind for months. So I used technique where you open a dictionary, poke the page with your finger eyes closed, and use that random word as you starting point. My word was “kikiriki”. So I was thinking about roosters, their colorful tails, early morning when they wake people up in the country… One thing led to another, and this idea was born. I am proud to present my Kikiriki pattern, which can be a pot holder, or a hot pad (or anything else you choose it to be).
This hot pad or potholder is made of stockinette stitch stripes that curl in naturally – finally a project that will use that property of stockinette stitch to an advantage! The stripes are joined together as you go, only the last one is sewn to close the curl. This project takes some endurance, but the result is great!
I do not recommend this project for people suffering from arthritis – tester reported it being more painful than regular knitting.
Notions you will need:
- Fingering weight 100% wool yarn – around 600 meters/yds altogether in one or several colors. I do not particularly recommend using cotton, it makes working on the project more difficult. Also, as it’s less stretchy, it is possible that the hot pad would not lay flat.
- 2 mm/ US 0 needles. I suggest using circular needles with longer (at least 80 cm / 30 in cord), this way it will be the easiest to work the pattern.
- Darning needle
- Large amount (appr. 50m/55 yards) of scrap yarn – DK weight worked well for me (or possibly a circular needle – one size smaller).
- I suggest using a circular needle for this project with long cord (at least 80 cm / 30 in), as it makes joining easier
Gauge
3o rows and 35 sts in stokinette stitch = 10 cm x 10 cm (4 in x 4 in). If your gauge is different, or you use different weight yarn, it is possible that the hot pad will not lay flat.
Other notes
When making this pattern, you will need to mark stitches of certain rows and join live stitches of following stripes to those marked rows from previous stripe. Pattern includes a detailed photo tutorial on how to do that using scrap yarn.
