My First Skirt

I knitted a skirt. Something new and different. Why not? It was easier than I thought—and it fits!

I didn’t have a pattern and made one up along the way. It is a very easy, straight-forward design entirely knitted in the round.

Here is what I used:

YARN: 2 x 150 gr skeins in color FJORD

NEEDLE: 3.75 mm (Gauge: 21 St/4 in)

SIZE: M+ (pants size 12-14)

BEADS: 1 tube of 6/0 beads

NOTIONS: Stitch markers, elastic for the top

Here is what I did:

Cast on 248 stitches (a number divisible by 8) and knit in the round for 2 inches. Purl one round, then continue knitting until 4 inches. Fold over the first 2 inches to create a tunnel for the elastic. Purling that one round will create a nice edge at the top. You can create the tunnel by sewing or by knitting it together.

Once the tunnel is finished, knit 6 more inches straight (8 inches from the top). Now the increasing begins. Set a marker every 31 stitches to create 8 equal sections. Increase in your preferred increase method; it doesn’t matter how as long as you are consistent.

After setting the markers and increasing at every marker (= 8x), continue to knit straight. Continue increasing after 10 rounds, 9 rounds, 8, rounds, 7 rounds, and 6 rounds. Then continue every 6th round until the skirt is long enough or you are out of yarn.

I ended up with 496 stitches = 62 stitches per section, which is double my initial stitch count. My overall skirt length is 30 inches.

I added beads in the second to last row before the bind-off. This

a) looks pretty,

b) gives extra drape because of the weight, and

c) prevents the edge from rolling.

I used an entire tube of 6/0 beads—with 3 beads to spare—by placing one bead every second stitch. I purled the last row before the bind-off to create a pretty edge. Voilà!

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