Knitting a Mitered Square

I've been knitting and crocheting since I was knee high to a grasshopper.  Like many who enjoy knitting I have a yarn stash that seems to just keep growing.  This happens because if I see a yarn I like I will buy enough to make something from it and there are always left-over bits and pieces of yarns, not quite enough for a large project but enough that can be worked into other projects.  Two of my favourite ways to use up left-over yarn is slippers and granny square afghans.

Mitered squares are extremely easy to knit.  If knit from cotton yarn they can be used as is for wash cloths.  However, they can be joined together to form an afghan.  The centre decrease forms a seam that can be oriented to create a pattern for the final afghan.  Here is a video of the basics.  At the end of the video there are pictures of a mitered square I made and the pattern for you.

Now that you've watched the video you have a good idea of how to proceed with this project.  The knitted mitered square is done in garter stitch using only one other stitch.  This is an excellent beginning project for someone just learning to knit.

The basic mitered square starts with a set number of stitches equal to 2 sides of the resulting square plus the 3 shaping stitches.  While it is not immediately apparent to a beginner, the piece is being knit from corner to corner in a diamond shape fashion with the 2 bottom edges of the diamond formed by the cast on stitches (1) and the 2 top edges of the diamond formed as the rows are knit.  Once a few rows are knit a peak becomes apparent (2) that when divided onto 2 needles the shape of the corner becomes clearer (3).  The final piece is square with a characteristic diagonal line from the decrease stitches (4).  I used size 4.5 mm needles and 4 ply cotton weight yar.

Mitered Square Pattern

Cast on 63 stitches.
1. K 30, S 1, K2tog, SYO, K 30
2. K
3. K 29, S1, K2tog, SYO, K 29
4. K
5. K 28, S1, K2tog, SYO, K 28
6. K
Continue in this fashion decreasing 2 stitches total on the right side (odd rows) and knitting the even rows until 3 stitches are left.
S1, K2tog, SYO, cut yarn and draw tail up though remaining stitch.

Garden Gnome
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