Projects
Four Easy Pieces: Cuatro Wrap
Dear Ann,
Greetings! I’m here with a quick report from my first cast-on from MDK Field Guide No. 22: Grace, which is Joji Locatelli’s elegant enveloper, the Cuatro Wrap.
I’ll give a few quick tips/things I’ve noticed, and I invite other knitters who are making the Cuatro for the MDK Joji Knitalong to chime in with theirs in the comments.
A headline for the skimmers: this wrap is super fun to knit.
The construction is elegant: you make 4 triangles that are identical except for color, and join them up when they’re finished. Each triangle uses 2 colors (or more! I always like more!) to create a pattern of stripes of color and texture.
You start with a garter-tab cast-on that takes all of 2 minutes to complete, because it’s only 27 stitches, total. (Here’s a Very Pink Knits video to show you how.)
After that, there’s a simple increase pattern that you repeat on every RS row. The table on page 10 of the Field Guide clearly lays out the stitch pattern (garter or stockinette) and color (A or B) for each and every row of the triangle. Easy—just check them off as you go.
Once you’ve completed the first triangle, you don’t even need the table anymore—the first triangle is your table now, so you are freer to roam with your knitting. The table is still handy for checking your stitch count, if you’re nervous about missing an increase. You won’t miss an increase, though, because they are so consistently in the same, clearly identified places in each RS row—they become habitual very quickly. But if you’re like me, you’ll check the stitch count anyway! I’m fun at parties!
That’s all there is to the Cuatro Wrap, except for the sheer fun of knitting it. These triangles have been my favorite portable knitting, since I cast on in the car on our way home from Rhinebeck.
My one complaint: it’s going too fast! I want to linger! (No I don’t. You know I love the speedy knits.)
In the MDK Shop
My Mods
I initially started out wanting—real bad—to knit the blue version of the Cuatro Wrap, which we made into a kit and called it Rhapsody.
But that’s not the colors of Woolfolk Tov DK they sent me from Nashville. I had all 4 of the Rhapsody kit colors: 00 (cream), 06 (blue), 11 (near black), and 16 (light gray).
Plus 1 extra skein of 06 (blue).
Plus 3 additional skeins in 04 (gold), 10 (brownish red), and 13 (another light gray).
Since we already have a sample of the Rhapsody colorway, I decided to just barge ahead bravely with these 7 colors. They look terrific together; I just had to organize them.
The pattern’s 4 colors are designated as A, B, C, and D.
So, to be able to follow the pattern, I arranged my colors thus:
A 00 (cream)
AA 04 (gold)
B 16 (light gray the first)
BB 13 (light gray the second)
C 06 (blue—this is the shade I have 2 skeins of)
D 11 (near black)
DD 10 (brownish red)
As I knit along with A and B for the first triangle, I wondered when would be a good time to switch from A to AA. I wanted to make A last as long as it could, but I also wanted to make the change at a spot that would be, well…gracious.
From top to bottom, triangle 1, 2, and the start of 3
As it turned out, I changed from A (cream) to AA (gold) at Row 95, for the final section of 2-row stockinette stripes and the final 12-row garter stripe section.
I think it looks terrific. For triangle 2, which is colors B and C, I changed to color BB at the same spot as I did for Triangle 1, but my B and BB are so close in color (a taupe-ish gray and a bluish gray) that it’s not as noticeable as the difference between A and AA.
I’m excited to see how the colors play out, and making these changes has me thinking about all the other fun ways this simple triangle could serve as a jumping-off point for playing with color. Wide and narrow stripes! Solids! Color blocks! This is the kind of pattern a person who loves simple knitting could bond onto like a baby duck on a passing farm hand.
Note: these photos show my progress after only 6 days of knitting on this thing. Admittedly, I spent the weekend after Rhinebeck in Rhinebeck Recovery—Sedentary Mode, which included a lot of restorative knitting time. I estimate that each of these triangles took something like 8-10 hours to knit.
Hopefully my next update will be about the Exciting! Grafted! Join! of all 4 triangles into one swingy, sumptuous wrap.
Standing by for everyone’s Cuatro Wrap questions and comments, hopes and dreams. Let’s gloat about how much fun we’re having over in the Joji Knitalong topic in the MDK Lounge!
My Tips
I have few tips, because this project has little need for tips. The Cuatro Wrap is truly beginner-friendly, despite that little old garter tab cast-on at the start.
About that Spine Stitch
The spine stitch is the center stitch of a triangle; it has 1 increase on each side of it on every RS row. When working in garter stitch, the pattern tells you to knit the spine stitch on the WS.
That would be fine, but for the sample, the spine stitch was purled on the WS, whether working in garter stitch or stockinette stitch. And I think that unbroken line of single stockinette stitches looks nice, so that’s how I did it. We went ahead and put this change on the corrections page.
About Those Slipped Stitches
The pattern instructs to slip the first stitch of every row, for an elegant chained edge at the base of the triangle. But if you forget to slip the first stitch, at some point you’ll notice that lonely nub of garter stitch on the edge, and it may bother you. It bothers me, so I always drop the slipped stitches down to the missed one, and hook them all back up properly again—this is easy and intuitive to do, but fiddly.
If I were starting over, I’d consider a plain 2-stitch garter edge, with no slipped stitch. One less thing to worry about! But since I’m committed to the slipped stitch at this point, I check the edge frequently, so that I can make a repair quickly if I need to.
One other thing I have messed up a couple of times is remembering when I’m on a garter stitch row. I get into a Stockinette State of Mind (don’t we all), and only realize at the halfway point of a long WS row that I’m supposed to be knitting, not purling. There is no fix for this except un-knitting and starting over, but it’s keeping me alert, attentive, and humble. Knitting is good at that.
Love,
Kay
Alert, attentive and humble. Good watchwords for us all
Kay, I so love reading your posts even when I’m not making the Project of Which You Write! (Even though you inspire far too many WIPs.) Again, many thanks to you and Ann and everyone for such excellent day-starters!
Lovely triangles!! I love playful knitting.
Thanks for the tip on fixing slip stitches! I’m always nervous about messing with the edge stitch.
Very inspiring Kay and I love your colors, thanks for all the details! What do you think about the possibility of rearranging the triangles to make a squarish blanket/throw?
Your prose is so lively, funny, AND informative!!! Thank you.
Very inspiring. I may one day actually do this one! For some reason, despite my long history as a befuddled knitter, I have never had a problem with the garter stitch tab. I followed precisely the instructions for it – years ago – in the Summer Flies pattern. They refer to the sides to pick up by length – so obvious. So I haven’t needed Very Pink’s video on this one although she is great for many other techniques that have befuddled me. Also came across Stephen West’s video on same for people who like a variety of instructions in their learning process. Chloe
I’m feeling the stirrings of a temperature project here. Time to open Excel.
Take two Felted Tweeds and call me in the morning.
A good laugh!!
I love the idea of adding a few “surprise” colors. I can see including a bright pink or a bold citron in an otherwise neutral palette.
Oh, what about shaking it up colorwise and using a lot of brights?!? As long as the same width of stripes continue, couldn’t you use lots of colors? It would be a wild one.
YES. I can’t stop thinking about this idea! Currently dreaming of doing the triangles in a neutral solid, no skinny stripes at all, and then popping in some neons for the bands of garter. Neons ‘n navy? I would wear the heck out of that. Since Tov DK doesn’t have those brighty-brights, my plot may include a Freia Yarn bomb—cherry-picking those long sections of bright color would be so fun.
Please explained again ….How to save articles in my MDK account and how to access them..you explained it not to long ago but I can’t remember how or where I saved it. I loved the idea but of course I forgot how to do it. There are so many great thing in this article I want to save. Thank you.
Just sign into your MDK account, and the “save it” flag appears on the post and then you click on it to save it. The flag looks like a bookmark.
Here’s our tutorial, and you can save it, too! https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/2017/11/14/save-later-mdk/
Such a fun knit. I’m well into the 4th triangle and thinking about joining using a three needle bindoff because my Kirchner is so awful. If I ever do another (which I’m already leaning toward) I will certainly change center stitch on back of garter roses. Using rosy green yarn. Cheers.
Or use this tutorial of Patty’s: https://youtu.be/JLpcy3YuX4U. Game changer for me
That’s a great alternative to grafting. You can use a modified 3-needle bind off that makes a flat chain of stitches, which will mimic the spine stitch lines! Here’s a post with a link to a video that shows you how to do the flat 3-needle bind off: https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/2022/02/24/marlogram-cowl-a-new-trick/
Kay, your colors are gorgeous!!! It is SO FUN to read about your knitting adventures. Thank you for sharing the inspiration.
Part of me wants to knit this so bad … and I’ve a conference coming up, and it would be perfect conference knitting … but I have to fool around, as it is way too long for a wee petite person.
And when the time to Kitchener comes, remember Patty: enter the knit side knitting, leave it purling enter the purl side purling and leave it knitting (and damm be the set up may I add ). Congratulations on that beautiful wrap!!!
Isn’t “un-knitting” better known amongst knitters as tinking? It’s a made-up word but a useful one for knitters because it’s the word “knit” spelt backwards. This is when you’re slowly going back stitch by stitch to a mistake not too far away. Ripping, aka frogging (b/c rip-it, rip-it sounds like ribbit, ribbit) is the action of taking the project off the needles and fearlessly (or even trepidatiously) going back several rows or (gasp!) to the beginning to start afresh.
Where can I find a pattern for the Quatro wrap? It usnt immediately evident ( to me) but I am an odd one. I would like to purchase the pattern, please.
Thanks so much.