Doh!-nut (As Originally published in Mag-Knits)

 First comes love, then comes marriage…
(After that you have a whole lot of figuring out to do!!!)

So, first, I fell in love with two types of self-striping yarn – one thick, one thin – and bought a ball of each with a vague notion of knitting a scarf for my husband. Then, realising that he never wears scarves, I decided on a neckwarmer. In the meantime, I fell in love with a stitch pattern: corrugated slip-stitch, which caught my eye when designer Jillian Moreno used it to great effect with two self-striping yarns.

And so, the match was made / the plan was hatched: knit a tube, in the round, in corrugated slip-stitch, with two self-striping yarns. Then, to hide the wrong side, with all the yarn runs, double the tube over, graft the beginning to the end, making the tube a doughnut!

All I had to do then was learn a few skills: provisional cast-on; knitting in the round and Kitchener stitch! In the process, I accidentally learned a thing or two about the mathematical properties of doughnuts: if you to graft the ends with right-sides facing the vertical stripes go horizontal when you turn it back to right-side-out. Doh!

Difficulty level

Intermediate/Advanced

Size

One size fits all
Circumference: 18″ [46 cm]
Height: 8″ [20.5 cm]

Materials

MC: 1 skein Wendy Fusion (50% wool, 50% acrylic; 96 yds [88 m] per 50g), color #151 Allspice
CC: 1 skein Twilleys of Stamford Freedom Spirit (100% wool; 130 yds [120 m] per 50g), color #502 Fire

set of US 11 [8 mm] double pointed needles or 16″ [40 cm] circular
set of US 15 [10 mm] double pointed needles or 16″ [40 cm] circular

tapestry needle
stitch marker (optional)

Yarn substitution:

The recommended gauge for Fusion is 16 sts and 20 rows to 4″ [10 cm] on US 9 [5.5 mm] needles—equivalent to a heavy worsted or Aran weight yarn. The recommended gauge for Freedom Spirit is 22 sts and 28 rows to 4″ [10 cm] on US 6 [4 mm] needles—equivalent to a DK weight yarn.

Due to the density of the fabric produced by the stitch pattern, the needles used are several sizes larger than recommend on the ball bands. Any yarns with similar properties would be fine.

Gauge

17 sts and 32 rounds (each apparent stitch can be counted as two rounds) = 4″ [10 cm] in corrugated slip stitch with larger needles

Notes

There are several ways of working a provisional cast on. This site has instructions for the crochet-chain type. Knittinghelp.com shows another kind in the Basic Techniques section.

Pattern

Inside

With MC and smaller needles, using a provisional cast on method, cast on 90 sts. Join for working in the round, place marker if desired. Knit 1 rnd.

Begin working in Corrugated Slip Stitch Pattern:
Note: slip all sts purlwise with yarn in back.
Rnds 1 and 2: With MC, *K2, sl 3; rep from * to end.
Rnds 3 and 4: With CC, *Sl 2, k3; rep from * to end.
Rep rnds 1-4 until work measures 7.5″ [19 cm] from cast-on edge.

Outside

Change to larger needles. Continue in established pattern until there is not enough CC left to complete a round. Do not bind off. Cut MC, leaving a long tail for grafting.

Finishing

Bring the cast-on edge up to the top edge, from inside the tube so that the wrong sides are facing each other. Carefully unpick the provisional cast on and put the live stitches on the smaller needles. Take care not to rip past the first knit row as the slip-stitches become yarnovers and will be difficult to graft.

Weave in all ends except the long tail of MC from the top round of stitches, which instead you thread on a tapestry needle. Using kitchener stitch, graft the bottom to the top—make sure wrong sides are facing. Secure the yarn and trim, allowing the tail to “get lost” within the doughnut.

Designer

I’ve been knitting on and off since childhood – I always stuck slavishly to the pattern, sometimes yarn-subbing but never swatching and was always bemused by the outcome!

Recently, when I took up my needles again, after a six year hiatus, I discovered the world of knitting was revolutionised in my absence. Now my mind has been opened, I’ve learned the joy of swatching and customising and is designing things all my own way.