- Image via Wikipedia
The Alpha, or letter A flag, when hoisted on its own means “I have a diver down; keep well clear at slow speed.” It looks like this: (That’s white on the left side and blue on the right side)
Since it has a swallowtail shape, as opposed to the square or rectangular shape that most of the other letter flags have, it’s a bit tricky to knit. One simple way to do it is to knit two trapezoidal blue pieces and one white rectangle, and stitch them all together. Here’s how:
Pieced Version (also easily adaptable to crochet):
1. With blue, Cast on an even number of stitches (to measure half the desired width of the finished flag). Knit each row (garter stitch), decreasing by 1 stitch at the beginning of each right side row, until you have half as many stitches as you originally cast on. Example: If you originally cast on 30 stitches, keep working in garter stitch, working a decrease in every other row (every other row because, if you do it on every row, you will end up with a triangle instead of a trapezoid) until you have only 15 stitches left on the needle. Cast off.
2. With blue, follow #1 above so that you end up with two identical blue pieces.
3. Attach the two blue pieces by their short ends to make the shape of the blue field in the flag pictured above.
4. With white, Cast on the same number of stitches you cast on for the blue pieces, and work in garter stitch until piece measures total height of blue area.
5. Attach white to blue, weave in ends, and you’re done!
Alternatively, you might want to work in an Intarsia style, in which case I recommend beginning with the white and working up to the pointy bits. Here’s how:
1. First, how big do you want the flag to be? For turning into a tote bag or displaying on a wall or as part of an afghan, you might want it to be about 8″ x 12″
2. With white, cast on an even number of stitches to equal the length the shorter side. (In this case, 8″)
3. Work in garter stitch for 6″
4. Change to blue, and work in garter stitch for 2″. You should now have an 8″ by 8″ square, with 6″ of white and 2″ of blue.
5. On the next right side row, knit only half way across (4″). Note: You might want to put the other half of the stitches (the other 4″ which are still unworked) on a stitch holder.
6. Continue to work in garter stitch, decreasing by 1 stitch at the end of every right side row, until you have only 2 stitches on the needle.
7. Bind off.
8. Go back to those unworked stitches, and work them in garter stitch with blue, decreasing by 1 stitch at the beginning of every right side row, until you have only 2 stitches left on the needle.
9. Bind off.
Here are links to some great YouTube videos about adding color and intarsia knitting:
- How to Add Color to Your Knitting Knitting Tips by Judy. Basics of adding color (always on a knit/right side row!) This technique also works in the middle of a row.
- Intarsia Knitting Basics Explains how to chart and knit in intarsia color blocks, and when and how to twist the yarn. Come back to this video when something in your intarsia knitting is just not working.
- How to Wind a “Butterfly” of Yarn for Fair Isle or Intarsia Knitting Using a whole skein of each color yarn for intarsia knitting is silly. It makes a HUGE tangle, plus you have to have multiple matching skeins for each color. Don’t do it! This video shows how to wrap a butterfly of yarn, or a miniature center-pull skein, for color work.
