Black Purl Magazine | Sharing the passion and soul of needlecrafts

QUICK CLICKS
About Us
Search
Share
Blog
Subscribe
Contact Us
Advertise
Submit
Media Room
Patterns
Archives
Home

Mourka
Designed by Gina Griffin

Mourka was the name of the cat of the great choreographer George Balanchine. Legend has it that he taught her how to dance, and there are pictures of Mr. B's Mourka leaping and twisting gracefully in the air. And as far as I can tell, Mourka is derived from the word purr, in Russian.

Level of Difficulty:
Intermediate (Must be able to make yarnovers {purlwise} and to be able to follow simple crochet instructions.)

Note:
Keep careful notes on the shaping of your first sleeve. You'll have to do exactly the opposite to make the sleeve balance on the other side, when you're working in reverse. (As an example, my increases ended five inches before I reached the proper sleeve length.) So do keep track of your rows.

Gauge:
4.5 sts. and 5 rows on #8 US needles

Materials:
- 725 Yards of Prairie Silk
- #8 U.S. needles
- Size N crochet hook
- Tapestry needle

Abbreviations:
Beg - Beginning
BO - Bind off
Ch - Chain (basic crochet stitch)
CO - Cast on
DC - Double crochet
K -   Knit
P -   Purl
P2tog - Purl two stitches together
SC - Single crochet
St. - Stitch
X -   Times (as in number of times)
YO - Yarn over

Pattern Stitch:
Row 1: *K4, P4*
Row 2: *(P2tog, YO) 2X, P4*
Row 3: Repeat Row 1
Row 4: *(YO, P2tog) 2X, P4*

[Repeat from * to *, across.]

Instructions:
CO 28 (32, 36) st. Work in pattern stitch until sleeve measures 20.5 (21.5, 22.5) inches. AT THE SAME TIME, increase 1 st. at the beginning and end of every 3 (4, 5) row until you have 72 st. Continue to work even in pattern until sleeve is desired length.

Back:
(Mark beginning of back with a piece of scrap yarn, at beg., and end of sleeve.)

Next row:
Change pattern so that you work the first 4 st. in seed stitch. Continue to work as established in pattern stitch to the last 4 stitches. Work last 4 st. in seed st.

Continue to work in this manner until back measures 12 (13,14) inches from yarn markers. Mark end of back, at the beg. and end of the last row, with scrap yarn markers.

Work the 2nd sleeve in reverse, using the mirror shaping of the first sleeve. Decrease at the beg. and end of every 3 (4, 5) row until sleeve measures 20.5 (21.5, 22.5) inches. BO.

Seam sleeves, using yarn markers to determine the top of the sleeve. (Leave in scrap yarn markers. They'll be helpful in making the crochet edge if you're using a dark yarn.)

Cuffs (using a size N crochet hook):
Round 1: SC 14(16, 18) st. around the edge of the cuff.
Round 2: DC around.
Round 3: Ch 3 in first st, then DC back into the base st. DC the next st. Continue to repeat these two stitches to form a picot edge around the cuff. BO.

Back:
(You can arbitrarily decide which is the bottom.) Work the same pattern stitch (Row 3 of the cuff instructions) across the bottom back of the shrug, beginning and ending with a picot st. (that's the Ch3 in 1 stitch.) BO.

Wash it, and wear it or happily give it away.