I’m always looking for ways to tweak our decor. Knit afghans and pillow covers are the usual ways to add color and texture to a room, but I’ve also turned my attention to many of the plain (and inexpensive) off-white lampshades on our small table lamps and vintage floor lamps.
Plain white store bought shades are rather boring and add no character to a space. They also tend to allow the light to be too bright.
Now, we’re not ones to use 75 watt or larger bulbs. Most of our lamps are fitted with 25 or 40 watt bulbs, a few have 60 watt bulbs, but with even the lower wattage bulbs, I prefer the light to be a bit softer.
Years ago, I achieved this softness by wrapping the shade with wool yarn – it may well have been an idea I saw on a Martha Stewart episode, or in her magazine.
Years later I decided that I would improve on this idea by knitting shade covers. Of course I could sew them, and I may well get to that one day. I’ve had these 2 Katrin Cargill books a long time, waiting on me to utilize some of the ideas.
Knitters, though, can create anything they wish while comfortably planted on the sofa or in a comfy chair, where sewing always seems to require standing to measure, cut, pin, and iron. I don’t mind the process so long as I’m sewing en masse! I tend to not want to deal with the process just to sew one thing. Hence, knitting.
I knit these lampshade covers years ago, but never got around to finishing the pattern! I am offering it here for free.
I particularly like that the shade covers can easily pop on and off, as needed, to swap out for another color cover, or just when more light is needed.
My favorite is the pale yellow one, which covers the shade on the floor lamp in my bedroom/office. It softens the light *just enough*, and complements the yellow of the counterpane afghan on my bed.
The striped shades came next and show how the shaping within the shade can be highlighted with color.
I used heavy worsted/aran wt. wool yarn for all 3 shades, as it is the weight of yarn I always have on hand. Naturally, one can knit the shades in a lighter or heavier wt. yarn – just do a gauge swatch and apply it to the size of the shade needed, to get your CO stitch count.
About The Design
The shades are knit flat and shaped with short rows. The CO and BO edges are seamed or grafted, then the top and bottom edges are finished with I-cord.
Measure the top and bottom circumferences of the shade you wish to cover, then determine the ratio of increases needed (via short rows).
It is easiest to measure the top and bottom diameters, then use an online calculator to find the circumferences, such as this one.
The next step is to work a garter stitch swatch. Garter stitch *tends* to have twice the # of rows for the stitch count, or said another way, it tends to have the same # of *ridges* as sts per inch. (If your swatch fabric appeals to you and the # of ridges is slightly less, as mine is, don’t fret – it is not critical.)
Then multiply your sts per inch by the depth of your desired shade.
It is best to err on the side of an extra st or two, rather than less sts. Even though the I-cord trim at the top and bottom adds a smidge of depth, and despite that knitting IS stretchy and malleable, a couple extra sts will help maintain the needed depth if a bit of width-wise stretching is needed to fit your lampshade.
Shade Style: Empire
Sizes and Yarn Amounts
Sample 1: The yellow cover has approx. a 15” top circ. a 28” bottom circ., and is 7.3” deep. The shade it fits has a 4” diam. at the top and a 10” diam. at the bottom.
It was knit with Kraemer Yarns Naturally Nazareth Aran wt. (184 yds/100 gr.) in Y1323 Sunshine, and took 85 gr. (3 ozs. yarn. (This yarn is now discontinued, but some colors can still be found in Ravelry stashes.)
Samples 2 and 3: The blue and cream covers were knit with Peace Fleece Worsted in Galooboy Blue and Antarctic White.
Sample 2 (the narrow blue and white striped cover) has approx. a 13” top circ., a 26” bottom circ., is 7.66” deep, and used 93 gr. (3.25 ozs.) yarn. This cover also fits the specified lamp shade.
Sample 3 (the wider striped cover) has approx. a 16” top circ. a 29” bottom circ., is 8” deep, and used 113 gr. (4 ozs.) yarn.
One less pattern rep would yield approx. the same size cover as the others.
Needles
Straights, circular, or long dpns, size 8 or 9
Shorter dpns in the same size
Tapestry ndl
Gauge
Naturally Nazareth: 18 sts and 16 rows (8 ridges)/4” in garter stitch with US size 8 or 9 ndls or size to give gauge.
Peace Fleece Worsted: 18 sts and 20 rows (10 ridges)/4” in garter stitch with US size 8 or 9 ndls or size to give gauge.
(I either used a smaller ndl for the Peace Fleece covers OR the 2-ply PF knit denser rows than the Naturally Nazareth, which is a 4-ply yarn.)
Note
I am specifying wool, just for safety’s sake, as lightbulbs, at least the old style, give off quite a bit of heat, and wool is much more fire resistant than synthetics or cotton. I am likely just being extra cautious, as commercial lampshades certainly *aren’t* made of wool, and are often made of some kind of synthetic fabric or plastic. I also find that wool doesn’t seem to get dusty.
Special technique - Wrap and Turn (w&t)
Directions - Single Color Cover
Long Tail CO 30 sts, which counts as row 1.
Knit 3 rows = 2 ridges.
* Short Row 1: K10, w&t, k10.
Short Row 2: K20 (knitting the wrap with its st), w&t, k20.
Knit 2 rows = 1 ridge, knitting the wrap with its st on the first row.
Short Row 3: K20, w&t, k20.
Short Row 4: K10, w&t, k10.
Knit 8 rows (4 ridges), knitting the wraps with their sts, on the first row.
Rep from * 23x more.
There will be 60 ridges around the top of the cover and 108 ridges around the bottom of the cover (5 ridges at the top for every 9 ridges at the bottom – a 5/9 wedge.)
BO, then seam the CO and BO edges together (or graft the edges together).
Using 2 shorter dpns, CO 3 sts, then slide the sts to the other end of the ndl.
* K2, slip 3rd st, and with same ndl, pick up 1 st along the edge, then ssk the slipped st with the picked up st. Slide the sts to the other end of the ndl.
Rep from * around the edge. Graft the end of the I-cord to the beg.
Rep for the other edge.
Directions - Two Color, Narrow Stripe Cover
With blue (A), Long Tail CO 30 sts, which counts as row 1.
Knit 1 row = 1 ridge.
* Short Row 1: K10, w&t, k10.
Short Row 2: K20 (knitting the wrap with its st), w&t, k20.
Knit 2 rows = 1 ridge, knitting the wrap with its st on the first row. Break A.
Short Row 3: With white (B), K20, w&t, k20.
Short Row 4: K10, w&t, k10.
Knit 2 rows = 1 ridge, knitting the wraps with their sts, on the first row. Break B.
Rep A and B wedges 15x more. There will be 64 ridges around the top of the cover and 128 ridges around the bottom of the cover (2 ridges at the top for every 4 ridges at the bottom – a 2/4 wedge.)
BO, then seam the CO and BO edges together (or graft the edges together), then work Applied I-cord.
Directions - Two Color, Wide Stripe Cover
With blue (A), Long Tail CO 33 sts, which counts as row 1.
Knit 1 row = 1 ridge. Don’t break A.
With B, knit 2 rows = 1 ridge. Break B.
With A, knit 2 rows = 1 ridge..
Short Row 1: K11, w&t, k11.
Short Row 2: K22 (knitting the wrap with its st), w&t, k22.
Knit 2 rows = 1 ridge, knitting the wrap with its st on the first row
Short Row 3: K22, w&t, k22.
Short Row 4: K11, w&t, k11.
Knit 2 rows = 1 ridge, knitting the wraps with their sts, on the first row. Don’t break A.
With B, knit 2 rows = 1 ridge. Don’t break B.
With A, knit 2 rows = 1 ridge. Break A.
With B, knit 2 rows = 1 ridge.
Short Row 1: K11, w&t, k11.
Short Row 2: K22 (knitting the wrap with its st), w&t, k22.
Knit 2 rows = 1 ridge, knitting the wrap with its st on the first row
Short Row 3: K22, w&t, k22.
Short Row 4: K11, w&t, k11.
Knit 2 rows = 1 ridge, knitting the wraps with their sts, on the first row. Don’t break A.
Alternate the A and B wedges with the all B wedges 7x more.
There will be 80 ridges around the top of the cover and 144 ridges around the bottom of the cover (10 ridges at the top for every 18 ridges at the bottom – a 5/9 wedge.)
BO, then seam the CO and BO edges together (or graft the edges together), then work Applied I-cord.
Happy Knitting!
Dawn
