Virtue: A Cabled Bookmark

Hey there! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I had a wonderful Mother's Day and I got some knitting/crocheting done, too! Rock! More on that tomorrow...

I want to share the bookmark design (my first design ever) that I mentioned in a previous post. It was being featured in the Monthly Bookmark Knit-Along Yahoo! group, and I didn't want to give it away before everyone there got first dibs t it. :) A million thanks to Briley for allowing such a new designer to offer her design, then testing it and actually using it for the group. That boosted my confidence more than you know!

I called this bookmark Virtue because I made about three of them as gifts before I ever wrote it down, just keeping the pattern in my head. So, I had to be very disciplined with counting stitches and rows. You can also make it's cousin, Vice, by merely removing the cables. So much easier!

Here is the pattern!

Virtue Bookmark

(I'll get a picture of Vice up soon, too.)

This pattern is a great introduction to cabling. While it looks pretty impressive, and the cables are big and obvious, there are only six cabling rows in the entire piece. Such is the power of cabling! It just goes to show that one simple technique can really revolutionize a piece.

Materials:

Crochet thread, size 3 (or something similar)

Size 3 needles

Cable needle

Scissors

Special stitch:
Cable 6 in front: slip three onto the cable needle, hold in front, purl 3, and purl 3 from cable needle.

Abbreviations:
k-knit
p-purl

Cast on 18

Rows 1-3 (and every even row throughout) knit across.

Row 5 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 7 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 9 k3, p2, k1, cable 6 in front, k1, p2, k3

Row 11 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 13 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 15 k3, p2, k1, cable 6 in front, k1, p2, k3

Row 17 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 19 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 21 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 23 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 25 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 27 k3, p2, k1, cable 6 in front, k1, p2, k3

Row 29 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 31 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 33 k3, p2, k1, cable 6 in front, k1, p2, k3

Row 35 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 37 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 39 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 41 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 43 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 45 k3, p2, k1, cable 6 in front, k1, p2, k3

Row 47 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 49 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 51 k3, p2, k1, cable 6 in front, k1, p2, k3

Row 53 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 55 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 57-59 knit across

Block.

Please feel free to use this pattern for your own personal use and link others to this pattern. I also give permission to use this pattern to make items to sell at school craft fairs, church bizarres, or other non-profit charitable fundraisers. Please do not sell this pattern or reproduce it for distribution without my express permission.

Because she did such a great job, I asked Jody, a member of the KAL, if I could use a picture of her bookmark in my blog to show how she worked it up. Please note, she cabled to the back and she used sport weight yarn. I just wanted to show you that you don't have to follow my, or anyone else's, directions exactly. You can make something beautiful when you break the "rules!" I want to thank all the members of the KAL for trying my little pattern. Thanks!!

My very creative Mom suggested after receiving the first Virtue I ever made, that it would make a great headband if it were longer and attached to some wide elastic. Great idea, Mom!! To do that, repeat rows 15 through 26 one more time before moving on to rows 27 to the end. Block it, back it if you need to with fabric, sew some elastic on, and you have a cute headband.

I hope you enjoy it!

BB!

~Jeannie