Entrelac Laptop Cover – a Pattern

Entrelac, the knitting technique that creates a woven/plaited looking fabric, has been something that I wanted to try for quite a while. I came across the Tenney Park pullover on Knitty which really started my interest.

Isn’t this a beauty?

Of course, knitting for myself is  not something I do that often. However, I upgraded my laptop a few months ago and I gave in to the salesman’s patter on having a coloured case rather than a boring black or standard grey one. My lovely laptop is a gorgeous lacquer cherry red. It struck me that I had to protect it’s beauty by encasing it in wool. And so the entrelac laptop cover pattern was born.

Pattern

I used Katia Oxford Verde (three 50g) and Azul (two 50g) which have been my favourite go-to stroke yarns for a while. Katia Oxford is a DK tweed effect and gently variegated wool-rich yarn. Verde is a mix of gentle grass green with lapis and turquoise blue speckles whereas Azul takes in the different shades of blue denim from deepest indigo right through to faded with speckles of frayed white and grey. I’m describing the colours as my photos, as ever, just don’t do these yarns proper justice.

I held the yarns double on 4mm needles as I wanted a good thick protection for the laptop.

To create the weaved effect, you have to create a base row of triangles, followed by a purl row of squares, knit row of squares, which you repeat for the length of your work and then finish off with a top row of triangles. Bear with it, to start with it will look wrong, but it will all come together.

Cast on 48 stitches

Base Row Triangles with Verde
Rows 1 and 2 – K2 and turn, p1, sl 1 purlwise and turn
Rows 3 and 4 – K3 and turn, p2, sl 1 purlwise and turn
Rows 5 and 6 – K4 and turn, p3, sl 1 purlwise and turn
Rows 7 and 8 – K5 and turn, p4. sl 1 purlwise and turn
Rows 9 and 10 – K6 and turn, p5, sl 1 purlwise and turn
Rows 11 and 12 – K7 and turn, p6, sl 1 purlwise and turn
Row 13 – K8 and do not turn.
You have your first triangle.
Leave these eight stitches on the right hand needle and work the next stitches in the same way. You will have six triangles when you have finished.

Purl Row Squares with Azul
To make the left side straight, you need to work a triangle.
Rows 1 and 2 – P2 and turn, k2 and turn.
Rows 3 and 4 – P into front and back, p2tog (last st of triangle and next st on right hand needle to join) and turn, k3 and turn.
Rows 5 and 6 – P into front and back, p1, p2tog and turn, k4 and turn.
Rows 7 and 8 – P into front and back, p2, p2tog and turn, k5 and turn.
Rows 9 and 10 – P into front and back, p3, p2tog and turn, k6 and turn.
Rows 11 and 12 – P into front and back, p4, p2tog and turn, k7 and turn.
Row 13 – P into front and back, p5, p2tog and do not turn.
You  have used all eight stitches of the base triangle.
Leave these eight stitches on the right hand needle and go on to create your first square.

Pick up and and purl eight stitches evenly along the next edge of the base triangle and turn.
Rows 1 and 2 – K7, slip 1 purlwise and turn, p7, p2tog (to join pieces) and turn.
Repeat these rows 6 times.
Rows 15 and 16 – K7, sl 1 purlwise and turn, p7, p2tog and do not turn.
You have used all eight stitches of the base triangle.
Leave these eight stitches on the right hand needle and repeat these 16 rows four times.

To make the right side straight, you need to work a triangle.
Pick up and purl 8 stitches evenly along the next edge of the base triangle and turn.
Rows 1 and 2 – K7, slip 1 purlwise and turn, p6, p2tog and turn.
Rows 3 and 4 – K6, slip 1 purlwise and turn, p5, p2tog and turn.
Rows 5 and 6 – K5, slip 1 purlwise and turn, p4, p2tog and turn.
Rows 7 and 8 – K4, slip 1 purlwise and turn, p3, p2tog and turn.
Rows 9 and 10 – K3, slip 1 purlwise and turn, p2, p2tog and turn.
Rows 11 and 12 – K2, slip 1 purlwise and turn, p1, p2tog and turn.
Rows 13 and 14 – K1, slip 1 purlwise and turn, p2tog and turn.
All stitches are on the left-hand needle ready for the next row.

Knit row squares with Verde
Slip 1 stitch then pick up and knit 7 stitches evenly along the edge of the right side triangle. Turn.
Rows 1 and 2 – P7, slip 1 purlwise and turn, k7, ssk (to join) and turn.
Repeat these rows 6 times.
Rows 15 and 16 – P7, slip1 purlwise and turn, k7, ssk and do not turn.
All stitches in the square below have been used.
Repeat these 16 rows five times.

Repeat the Purl row squares three times and Knit row squares twice more.

Top row triangles with Verde
Slip 1 stitch and pick up and knit 7 stitches along the edge of the first square and turn.
Rows 1 and 2 – P8 and turn, k7, ssk (to join) and turn.
Rows 3 and 4 – P6, p2tog and turn, k6, ssk and turn.
Rows 5 and 6 – P5, p2tog and turn, k5, ssk and turn.
Rows 7 and 8 – P4, p2tog and turn, k4, ssk and turn.
Rows 9 and 10 – P3, p2tog and turn, k3, ssk and turn.
Rows 11 and 12 – P2, p2tog and turn, k2, ssk and turn.
Rows 13 and 14 – P1, p2tog and turn, k1, ssk and turn.
Rows 15 and 16 – P2tog and turn, ssk and do not turn.
Leave this stitch on the right hand needle.
Repeat top row triangle five more times to finish.
Cut yarn and pull through last stitch to finish off.

You now have a piece of entrelac fabric to cover one side of the laptop. I noticed that it was not very stretchy so I decided to put ribbing on the other side. If you like, you could hold the yarn singly, which would reduce the gauge, making a tighter fabric. Then you could carry on with the entrelac around the other side of the laptop too.

Pick up and k2, p2 along the long edge of your entrelac triangles. I used the top triangles as my cast off tends to be looser than my cast on and I didn’t want a wide top to the cover.

Ribbed back of Laptop Cover

Knit in 2×2 rib until your work is the same length as the entrelac.
Sew sides together and smother your laptop in the softest of wool covers.
I don’t think there’s any need to block this work as the laptop stretches it nicely.

Of course you can use any colour variations of yarn and even pattern your entrelac. The sky is the limit.