So it begins

One of the things I loved when we moved to the States about 20 years ago was that you could tell which month it was by looking at everyone's front gardens! In September, colourful yellow leaves festoon door wreaths and mailboxes for Labour Day, then in October white ghosts float from the trees while fake tombstones sit nestled in the long grass in celebration of Halloween.

In November, the ghosts have been replaced by garlands of red leaves and colourful gourds ready for Thanksgiving at the end of the month. Then in December, Christmas lights and berry‐laden door decorations appear. It's magical.

It's a wonderful build‐up to the end of year celebrations but more than that, the changing of the decorations gives us all a good "Heads Up!" that the Festive Season is well and truly on its way.

So here's an idea to make your next big family event an occasion to remember: knit a brand‐new table runner! These are always an elegant way to dress up your table, whether it is a small centrepiece for a display of fruits and vegetables or a lovely long runner falling gracefully over the ends of the table‐top.

​A table runner acts to set the scene for the whole room and brings a wonderful sense of elegance and tradition to any event. Add accessories, flowers and decorations to match your colour theme and you will have the perfect setting for the day.
​
There are lots of ways to use table runners but they work especially well with wooden tables because they bring out the beauty of the wood. You can also drape them over the top of a simple tablecloth for a stunning effect or use a narrow runner on your favourite sideboard.

The pattern I am featuring today is the Hamilton Table Runner which shows off a stunning stitch from our Reversible Knitting Stitches book. The stitch is called Elongated Diamond Pattern, and features long embossed diamonds set between garter stitch ridges. The pattern really catches the light and gives a wonderful sense of proportion to a table setting.

The beauty of using a reversible stitch for this design is that it will then sit so wonderfully flat. This is all about the balance of knits and purls on both sides of the fabric, and if you would like to read more about that, then please see my earlier Knitting Notes post here. ​

​The two sides have quite a different look, so if you are careful when finishing off your ends, you will be able to choose which side to have on display for your next occasion.

I worked this runner in Knit Picks Cotlin which is a crisp cotton/linen mixture, but if you can't get hold of that then Rowan's Creative Linen would be a good alternative, or any DK cotton or cotton/linen mix with a reasonably tight twist so the stitches will pop out.

The pattern includes three sizes: The small size is 25cm/10 ins wide x 150cm/60 ins long, while the medium runner you can see in the photos above measures 33cm/13 ins x 180cm/72 ins.

For even larger tables, then the runner can also be worked in a 40cm/16 ins width, which gives a large surface for setting dishes along the length or for an impressive flower display in the centre. That size is 210cm/84 ins long, but of course you can modify the length easily to suit your table. 

The Hamilton Table Runner looks good in a variety of colourways, too. I worked one in a lovely natural linen colour a while back and it suited the overall colour scheme beautifully. If you would like to read more details about this pattern, then please click here.

---

For information about any of the patterns featured here or our
Reversible Knitting Stitches book, ​please click the Patterns tab above.

For more blogposts & knitting notes
​please see the index list on the right of this page ---->

---

<--- Previous Post: ​A rug for every room

Next Up: No time to knit him a scarf --->