The circus arrives without warning

"  The circus arrives without warning. 
 No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.  "

 from "The Nightcircus" by Erin Morgenstern

Rêveur

Something I came up with one night -  after reading "The Nightcircus" by Erin Morgenstern for the third time (I highly recommend this book to everyone !!!) and trying to fall asleep. According to the book I chose a black and white yarn as a symbol for the big top and the tents and added the red as a sign that I'm a rêveuse too :)

A cosy shawlette in any size you like.


Yarn: Schoppel Wolle Zauberball  100g/420m - 75% virgin wool sw 25% nylon (or any yarn you want to knit with) in two colourway.
I used one Zauberball on the green and orange shawlette ... without section 5 it is really small... something I would give to my 5 year old niece. If you add section 5 in the constrast colour and do more than five repeats of those two rows you can use it as a smaller shwalette to cover your shoulders. The black and white shawlette is done with little more than 100 g of simple sock yarn - I needed a bit more because I wanted to do all the repeats. I'm about to knit Rêveur a 4th time with some Zauberball in the Schatten-colourway for all the right data about the shawlette.
        
Gauge: 30 stitches, 42 ridges = 10 cm (4 inches)

You need: 3,0  circular needle ; 15 stitchmarker (I'm using scrap yarn, because I can count and mark the stitches of each section before knitting), tapestry needle

Skills needed: cast on, knit, purl (but you can do the shawlette in garter stitch too, if you like), increase by knitting into the front and back of a stitch, knit to together, yarn over, bind off
 

set up rows (main colour)
co 1 stitch

r1  yo, k1
r2  yo, purl all
r3  yo, kfb, k1, kfb
r4  yo, purl all
r5  yo, k1, kfb, k1, yo, pm, k1, yo, k1, kfb, k1
r6  yo, purl all


section 1  main colour
 
r1  yo, k1, kfb, ktm, yo, sm, k1, yo, knit to the last 2 stitches, kfb, k1
r2  yo, purl all
 
Repeat those two rows 15 times.


section 2  main colour
 
Count your stitches from the beginning of your row to the stitchmarker and divide the counted stitches in half and place your marker, do the same with the stitches from your stitchmarker until the end of your row. 

r1  yo, k1, kfb, ( ktm, yo, k1, yo) 3 times,  knit to the last two stitches, kfb,  k1
r2  yo, purl all

Repeat those two rows  15 times


section 3  main colour
 
Count your stitches from the beginning of your row to the first stitchmarker and divide the counted stitches in half and place your marker, do the same with the stitches from each stitchmarker to another and from the last stitchmarker to the end of the row.

r1  yo, k1, kfb, ( ktm, yo, k1, yo) 7 times,  knit to the last two stitches, kfb,  k1
r2  yo, purl all

Repeat those two rows  15 times


section 4 main colour

Count your stitches from the beginning of your row to the stitchmarker and divide the counted stitches in half and place your marker, do the same with the stitches from each stitchmarker to another and form the last stitchmarker to the end of the row.

r1  yo, k1, kfb, ( ktm, yo, k1, yo) 15 times,  knit to the last two stitches, kfb,  k1
r2  yo, purl all

Repeat those two rows  5/10/15 times (depending on the size of the shawlette that you prefer... you can skip section 4 and do section 5  immediately too if you want something smaller just to cover you shoulder or for a childsized shawlette).


section 5  contrast colour
 
r1   yo, k2tog all the way long
r2   yo, purl all

Repeat those two rows 5/10/15 times (depending on the size of the shawlette that you prefer.).

next row   yo, purl all

bind off loosely

 If you're not comfortable with the purl rows you can do the whole shawlette in garter stitch.

You can skip the two-colour-thing too using just one skein of any color you like...

have fun :D