As promised, and thanks to the Tofutsies sock recipient, here are pix of that pair. She's a far better photographer than I'll ever be, so for once shots on String have an element of clarity:

Thanks, Merlyn! You can actually make out the diamonds of eyelets. And thanks again to Kathryn for the Tofutsies yarn. (I feel especially enabled today.)

To make life easier for future reference, here's the chart for the ankle pattern. It's repeated four times around the sock, a convenient one panel per needle if you're knitting with four needles holding 18 stitches each, or two circs with 36 each (a sock circumference of 72 stitches, the count for the largest gauge I knit for myself). This can also be worked as side by side panels of 16 stitches by eliminating columns 1 and 18 (a sock circumference of a more usual 64 stitches). The astute will be able to pick out from the excellent photo that I followed the pattern as presented in Duchrow, but my chart below offers up several modifications to the original:

Or if you're adventurous, here's my own riff on the same idea to make an argyle-like diamond studded all-over repeat - this time requiring a fixed multiple of 18 stitches (It can also be worked as a single panel of 18):

This adaptation is so blindingly obvious that it must be presented in other stitch sources. For example, without running to my library I am pretty sure that Walker presents a diamond of double YO eyelets in her second Treasury. Which is another way of saying that there's little new in knitting, and most invention is more of a process of rediscovery than virgin creation.

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Here I am. Remember me?

As occasional readers here have noted before, extended periods between posts usually mean that my professional life has up and swallowed my personal life, and that I'm hard pressed by work-related deadlines. The past couple of months has been no exception. I will say that even though I get swamped, I do try to grab a little relaxation time, but when I do I usually stick to autopilot rather than challenging knitting.

Which is all a round about excuse for why nothing has been done on my Sempre pullover of late. I haven't had time to sit down and draft out the fulll size mockup. I'll get around to it, but not until after I decompress. In the mean time I've been sticking to nice, boring sock knitting.

Long Time Needlework Pal Kathryn surprised me with a nifty gift - two skeins of lively, variegated pink SWTC Tofutsies, a wool/cottom/soy silk/crab shell chitin fingering weight yarn. I was pleasantly surprised by the Tofutsies. I'm not a fan of cotton sock yarns, and usually stick to all wool or wool/nylon. To me cotton is unstretchy to knit, and both clammy and pebbly underfoot. Not so the Tofutsies. It knits up nice and soft, not pebbly at all. It is however not as stretchy as wool - sort of somewhere in between wool and cotton in total stretch. Because I favor toe-ups with short row heels which rely heavily on total stretch for their ankle to instep fit, I was hesitant to use the Tofutsies for my standard issue sock. Instead I adapted Wendy's toe up gusset heel for my stitch count. It worked perfectly, making a sock with more than enough depth and with for comfortable fit, even with the un-stretchy yarn. For the decorative ankle part, I adapted yet another one of the simplest double yarn over eyelet insertion strips from Duchrow, Vol. 1. This one featured diamonds of eyelets, embedded in an 18 stitch repeat. I wish I had pix, but I gave the pair to a pal who was thirsty for warm socks in a sprightly, spring pink. She has promised to take some snaps though which I will eventually post.

And for those who are dying to ask, no. This yarn does not smell like crab shells. If anything, it smells like cotton yarn, not wool yarn, even though it has twice as much wool in it as it does cotton.

My Tofutsies pair was a super-quick knit, so I started a second pair of socks out of another sock yarn new to my stash. This time it was Berroco Sox, in color #1425 (called John Moores on the B. website, and from the grouping named after the UK entrepreneur or Liverpool-based university, not the US baseball team owner), working my standard toe-up with short-rowed heel. I like this yarn. Although I did find one knot in the skein, the rest of the thing was comparable in feel and gauge to Regia or Fortissima. Very nice, indeed. Especially considering that it was slightly less expensive than those Euro-labels. (The yarn itself is imported.)

The color run repeated roughly twice between toe and heel for me, and with each stripe being very shallow and the color patterning being hard to discern in skein, was fun to watch build. You can't really see it in the standard issue lousy String pix below, but I knit the feet smooth and introduced an ultra simple diagonal lacy detail on the ankle:

It's a simple double yarn over diagonal, done on an 8 stitch repeat (my socks are usually 72 or 80 stitches around). The idea was to leave enough solid to let the color repeat play, but keep me from dying of boredom knitting miles of plain stockinette. Here's left and right hand varinants of the thing, just in case you want to make a pair of complementary socks, too:

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In the last post we considered yarn choice and needle choice. Now on to pattern choice and rough dimensions.

The whole point of this small baby blanket (or lap blanket, or pet blanket) project is to try out some new technique or knitting approach in a low-stress project that produces a useful result, and that doesn't take a ton of time to finish. Because both sides will be visible and the curling inherent in stockinette isn't desirable, it's a great place to try out texture patterns, provided there's a suitable balance between knits and purls - especially in the edge-most two or so inches all the way around. Working a two or three inch border of garter stitch or moss stitch all the way around is a standard approach to fighting curl that results in a pleasing frame around whatever center patterning is chosen. But I'm in the mood to be a bit more adventurous, and to encourage folk to try some lacy knitting and a knit-on border, even if they've never done either before, so I'm going to use a lacy knitting pattern with a garter ground. The whole blanket will be in garter stitch, pierced by eyelets, so curling won't be a problem and the thing will look (mostly) identical on both sides.

On to pattern selection. If we're going to work the blanket back and forth as one unit, the easiest thing to incorporate is an insertion strip or pattern panel, rather than a large spot motif that needs to be centered north/south. An insertion strip can be begun and worked until the desired length is accomplished. Sometimes there may be a logical endpoint so that the insertion's larger motifs display in whole units, but for the most part, strips are easy to place with minimal calculation.

There are tons of lacy strip and panel patterns out there. Some are right here on String and wiseNeedle (hit the Patterns link at the right), but there are lots of excellent choices out there in pattern treasury books and on line, written up as stand alone designs and as part of larger patterns to produce other finished objects. Feel free to pick something you like.

I've chosen a 33 stitch wide lace insertion panel - yet another design from Duchrow V. II. Here's a simplified version of the design in modern notation (the original that I'm following is a 64 row repeat, and features two different treatments for the large center diamond area) plus some bobble-like nupps. I worked the original, so you'll see some differences between my finished item and results from the chart below (caution - it's a big file):

Now how to take a repeat and stuff it onto a blanket?

Easy. Even without doing a gauge swatch, we can make a rough guesstimate of project width. Remember - our blanket only has to hit a window of "usable size." That gives us lots of wiggle room. I know that in plain garter stitch with lots of eyelets, I'm likely to get about 4 stitches per inch at the absolute most in a worsted yarn using size 8 needles. I know this because I know that using 7s, I usually hit 5 stitches per inch on the dot. Garter on bigger needles is likely to make a slightly looser fabric, so I estimate 4 spi just for the garter. But my chosen design has lots of eyelets. Because of the airy looseness that heavy use of eyelets produces, my end product will in all probability be a tad wider than this estimate. Since precision is optional here, I'm going to wing it but base my calculations on the 4 spi figure.

33 stitches at 4 spi works out to about 8.25 stitches across my panel. I could center one panel on my blanket, but I think that two panels might look nicer. Two repeats will cover 16.5 inches. (Any result over 21 inches before adding an edging would be workable.) Two repeats of my panel would eat 16.5, leaving 4.5 inches to eke out to hit my goal - about 18 stitches at my gauge. If I want to place two panels on a piece that's roughly 21 inches across (before adding an edging), that means I'll have to put some of these stitches in a band between the two panels, and some along the left and right sides:

I could put those extra stitches anywhere, on one edge to make an asymmetrical layout, all down the center, or I could distribute them differently, with fewer between the panels and more on the outside edge (or vice versa). I chose to divide them in half, placing half down the center, and splitting the remainder along the right and left edges. When you compose your blanket, you can do whatever you wish. And that includes using more than one texture or lacy pattern to make up your width.

So now we've leapt off the pier into the deep water of design and have violated most of knitting's "must do" rules. We're starting an original project with only the vaguest notion of yarn quantities, no precise grasp of gauge, and the barest nod to final dimension. But we are serene, none the less.

The next step is casting on and knitting. For this you'll need yarn, needles, and enough markers to indicate the beginning and end of each section (see diagram above). I find it very useful to mark the first transition point on my right side row with a marker of special color, size or other easily recognizable appearance. It's very easy to lose track of what side is being worked in garter stitch. Having the quick visual clue of "distinctive marker = beginning right side row" is a big help.

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Moving on with the modular log cabin baby blanket, I decided to take the center square and finish it off as a rectangle, in order to end up with a more usable object. Due to yarn quantity constraints this is a small basket/car seat size blanket - not a crib size throw. It measured about 20.25" x 31.5" before I began adding the simple edge triangles. It's a bit smaller than the blankets I made recently however I'm not worried. I found with my own kids that small blankets were supremely useful for traveling and naps, and were indispensable parts of the lug-around baby support kit.

I started with 10 balls of the Batika. I'm working from the ninth right now, and will probably dip into the last one. If I have enough, I'll make a hat to match from the last ball.

Again, the blues are a bit boring, but I really like the way the strips play with this yarn's shading. I mixed starting at the center and the outside of my yarn balls, to magnify the helter-skelter effect. I also tried to minimize ends. I was able to join yarn throughout by taking a needle and threading the new strand through the center of this chainette for a couple of inches, then tugging the new strand until its end was completely buried in the center of the working strand.

When I worked the final two non-circumference strips at left and right, to avoid having to cut the yarn and begin again, I worked the outermost strips picking up my attachment points purlwise instead of knitwise, to keep all the "seams" on the reverse. I will have only four ends total to darn in at completion: my cast-on end, the cast-off end on the outermost strip at the left, and the end resulting from rejoining the yarn to make the two final strips on the right. I even started my edging at the bind off point for the final right-most strip, and began my edging without breaking off the yarn. Every other end is already buried.

The edging is super simple. There's no point in doing anything fancy with the garter stitch texture and the native shading of this yarn. I used the same pull the loop through attachment method I used on all of the strips. About the only thing I did that was in the slightest bit creative was to move the increase point from the outermost stitch of my triangles to the inside attachment edge. I did this in order to keep the edges of the triangles firm and to avoid little baby finger trapping loops.

Because my blanket is made up of garter stitch strips that are 12 stitches wide by 12 ridges, I know for a fact that all of my edges will be multiples of 12. Therefore I'm working a simple edging that is also a multiple of 12. Doing so guarantees that I can avoid working complex corners or mitering. I begin and end each side at Row 1 of my edging, with one stitch on the needle. (If need be and the count of a side is off, I can fudge a stitch or two provided I spread any fudge points out and work them an inch or two before the corner). Super simple.

I'm not done with this concept. I plan to do another piece with a long-repeat yarn. Unfortunately my budget right now constrains me to work from stash for a while, so splurges on blanket quantities of Noro or other similarly demonstrative wild color yarns will have to wait.

Simple Garter Triangles Edging
Multiple of 12 rows

Cast on 1.

Row 1: With right side of your main item facing, pull a 12 inch long loop through the edge-most stitch of the item to be trimmed. Using the loop yarn turn the work over, then YO, K1. (You now have 2 stitches on the needle).

Row 2: Slip the first stitch purlwise, K1. Grab the yarn strand going back to the ball and pull the excess length of the loop to the back of the work, drawing the edging snugly up to the item to be edged, but taking care not to collapse the little "bride" (twisted threads) that will eventually form an arcade of eyelets between the main piece and the edging.

Row 3: Draw another working loop through the next stitch of the main piece. Turn the work over, YO, K2. (You now have 3 stitches on the needle)

Row 4: Slip one purlwise, K2, snug up excess loop length.

Row 5: Draw another working loop through the next stitch of the main piece. Turn the work over, YO K3. (You now have 4 stitches on the needle)

Row 6: Slip one purlwise K3, snug up excess loop length).

Continue rows 7-11 in this manner until you have 12 stitches on your needle, ending after finishing row 11.

Row 12: Bind off 11 stitches. You should have only one stitch left on your needle.

Repeat rows 1-12 as desired.

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First, in answer to a question about how to draw up a loop, I do a normal pick-up one into one chain selvage (or bind off, or cast on) stitch, then I grab it and pull more yarn through, distending the newly made stitch until I've pulled a foot or more of yarn through. Once I've got the giant loop, I use it to knit the next two rows. When I've finished the two rows I grab the strand leading back to the ball and give it a firm tug to pull any left-over yarn back out of the loop, and to snick the newly knit piece up closely to the existing work. Here you see the loop being pulled through prior to knitting with it:

After much trial and error, I've hit on the best way to cast on for the strips in my modular knit Log Cabin Baby Blanket. (Wish I'd looked at yesterday's comments before all that fiddling and seen Karen's suggestion). Crocheting onto a knitting needle, like I do when I start off the waste chain for a provisional cast on, works nicely. It produces an even chain type edge, analogous to the strip's bind off and chain selvage edges. I've described crocheting on before, but here's another swag at it.

In the snap below I've stuck my crochet hook into the final stitch remaining after I've cast off the stitches on the last strip. I'm holding the working yarn BEHIND the target knitting needle, and I'm reaching OVER the needle with the crochet hook

I'm grabbing the working strand with the crochet hook and am about to pull the just-grabbed strand through the existing stitch (in effect, I'm making a crochet slip stitch).

Ignoring the errant strand of Smaller Daughter's hair in the shot above, what we wind up with is a stitch on the knitting needle. I've moved the working strand to the back of the knitting needle again, and am poised to make another.

Crocheting on works especially nicely for provisional cast-ons. Instead of crocheting a long chain THEN fiddling with the bumps on the back of the chain, trying to pick them up, this method produces the chain edge and mounts the stitches in one step. It's one of the core techniques I teach in my occasional "Crocheting for Knitters" workshop.

As you can see, my blanket is growing. According to the logic diagram, I'm in the middle of unit #7:

Finally, here's the working method. It's not a pattern because I am not giving yardage estimates, gauge or dimension. These log cabin blocks can be made to any size and assembled like a standard patchwork quilt, or the working logic can be used to make a larger object as a single square. For the record, I'm using Austermann Batika Color, a bulky weight yarn with a native gauge of 4 stitches per inch in stockinette, on 6mm needles. I'm getting roughly 4 stitches per inch and four garter ridges per inch in garter stitch on US #9s (5.25mm). My initial square was about 3x3 inches (roughly 7.6cm), and all my subsequent strips are about 3 inches wide.

The best way to join ends of Batkia when starting a new ball is to thread the new strand into a standard tapestry needle and stitch it through the center of the chainette for about 2 inches, like feeding an one eel to another. Once the doubled length has been knit, any flapping ends can be trimmed back without fear of raveling.

Working Method for Modular Log Cabin Square

First square:

Cast on 12 using crocheting on.
Row 1: Slip the first stitch purlwise, knit 10, k1b.
Repeat Row 1 until you form a square of garter stitch. In all probability there will be 12 chain selvage edge loops running up both sides of the square. Cast off 11. One stitch should remain. Do not break yarn.

Strips:

Using the last remaining loop, crochet on 12 stitches.
Row 1: Slip the first stitch purlwise, knit 10, k1b. Draw a loop through the first available chain selvage stitch on the previous square or strip (it will be the edge to the left of the new strip's attachment point). Enlarge this loop until it's big enough to knit with. Turn the work over.
Row 2: Pulling the loop tight and making sure you're knitting with the anchored side rather than the side that runs free back to your ball of yarn, knit 11, k1b. Turn the work over.
Row 3: Slip the first stitch purlwise, knit 10, k1b.
Repeat Rows 2 and 3 until your new strip runs the whole width of your piece. The first time you do this, it will be a square of 12 stitches x 12 garter ridges. The second strip will be a rectangle of 12 stitches x 24 garter ridges and will run across the top of the first two squares.
Next row: Cast off 11. One stitch should remain. Do not break yarn.

Repeat the strip directions, always adding strips counterclockwise around the perimeter of the piece, with each strip running the full length of the available side.

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Some folk have written to me privately with questions about the Fish Hats:

What yarn did you use, and at what gauge?

We used oddballs and leftovers for the set of four - all acrylic mostly given to me by a dear family friend (Hi, Jean!). She is a big fan of yard sales and flea markets, and accumulates yarns of all sorts over the course of a year, to use as packing material when she sends gifts to the kids at holiday time. Some of her yarn I knit up myself, and some I donate to charity or to schools. Not all of the yarn I used for my fish hat retained its original label, but the skeins that did included Red Heart Classic, Lion Jamie (which I used doubled), Sears Best Worsted, Caron Sayelle, Woolworth Worsted and Phentex - a regular salad of mass market acrylics.

With the exception of Jamie they're all marked as worsted, but they're really not. Except for Jamie they all work up (normally) at 4 stitches per inch, which makes them sort of in between bulky and light Aran weight. (Textbook worsteds knit up at 5 stitches per inch.) I did the fishes on US #7s, at the specified 4.5 stitches per inch, knitting these acrylics down in gauge somewhat. In this case the tighter gauge is acceptable, yielding a denser and stiffer and slightly more windproof hat. Also in this case - for kids' sledding/snowboarding hats - washable acrylic is a good choice. I've seen how muddy play mittens and coats can get when the snow gets melty and worn down to grass. These hats can be thrown in the washer and dryer.

Did you make any mods to the Fish Hat pattern?

No. I knit it up as written, with only a couple of minor elaborations:

1. After finishing the stockinette stitch mouth, I worked one row of the head color before leaping into the Shape Mouth section. I did this so that any wraps I did would be embracing stitches of the same color. (You can see red wraps on white stitches in the pattern's close-up of the pink-headed fish).

2. On one of the hats I did the knit the wraps trick. It made little difference in the overall appearance EXCEPT in one spot. I strongly suggest knitting the wrap along with its carrying stitch on the last two stitches wrapped - the leftmost and rightmost ones. Otherwise you get a slight gap in the row behind the fish's grin. It's not necessary to do the others, but working the wraps formed on rows 15 and 16 does avoid holes.

3. When picking up the fins I identified the point on the body specified in the pattern for the first stitch to be picked up, then counted down the requisite number of stitches towards the tail. I held a length of yarn the same color as the fin on the inside of the body, and using a crochet hook, picked up my stitches. Once I had enough on my needle, I joined my working yarn on the outside of the fish and finished the fin. This left four ends per fin to finish: two of the scrap yarn on the inside of the body; and two of the working yarn on the fin itself. I found that picking up towards the head rather than towards the tail was much easier.

4. When working the fins, I did them entirely in twisted ribbing (k1b, p1b) to give them a bit more body and stiffness.

5. To sew up the fins, I used mattress stitch for the vertical seam and whip stitch for the cast-off row.

Are you fished out?

Not yet. It's a fun form, easy to play with, and faster than a sock. I've got a request from an adult pal for a hat. This one I'll make out of some other all-wool leftovers. I'm pretty sure this set of remnants is Jamieson Aran weight 100% wool, bought as an experiment for a pullover that I ended up deciding not to make. I've only got four skeins of the stuff - these and a deep plum, but the recipient asked for no purple. Lovely stuff with great stitch definition. If these colors are not to her liking, I think I'll keep this hat for myself.

I've decided to rip back the small teal and gold scales shown, and restart the head section using a larger scale pattern. I'll use a smaller scale variant closer to the tail (click on thumbnail below for full size). And yes, I use my wire Strickfingerhut for stranding at this weight, too.

Contemplating any other mods?

Possibly. It would be easy to knit on a segment of sawtooth edging instead of the picked-up and knit-out-from-the body fins. I see a shark in the future. Or if I use a lacy edging for all of the fins, end of the body blunt and add a tail of the same lacy edging, perhaps an angelfish variant. But why stop there? I've got a body shape now thanks to this pattern. Fantastic fins, tentacles, catfish style whiskers - all manner of body mods are possible. Perhaps I'll end up working some sort of sea monster. But to do that, I'll have to find someone willing to wear a (woolly) aquatic nightmare through the winter.

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Here are all four, finished and ready to swim. Elder Daughter did the one at the upper left, with the lighter orange fins and tail.

The two new ones are the dark green fish that looks something like a cross between an athletic sock and a trout, and the pastel fish, with its pattern of stranded scales. Dark green and pastel will be wriggling their way to my nephew and niece in Buffalo by Monday.

If you're working your own fish hat and want to do stranded scales, here's my six-stitch repeat. It fits nicely into the 90 stitches around segment of the body, and the clever can probably work it into the decreased sections as the body slims down towards the tail, which are also multiples of six. Click on the thumbnail below for the full size version.

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I was wrong and I freely admit it. Remember the post in which I described a method for estimating the depth of stripes that would be produced by a skein of space dyed or multicolor patch yarn? I applied that method to my skein of Noro Kureyon Sock, and it flat out missed the mark.

Based on skein size and color strand counting, I estimated that each solid color stripe would last 4-6 rows or so before shading into the next. I still stand by that for the yarn on the outside of the skein, but I didn't factor into my estimation how seemingly random Noro yarns can be. Here's the skein:

I see lots of turquoise and magenta, with side trips to royal blue and deep green. The color segments of the yarn on the outside of the skein appear to last for the lengths I indicated.

But here's the resulting slouch sock (a sock with a deliberately wide ankle part), knit from the center of the ball out. It's brother is just a tiny turquoise cast-on speck right now:

Huh? where did that huge lump of royal blue above the heel come from? And the green/orange mix directly above that? And why is the pink/purple section so unexpectedly wide? Counting the strands on the inner layer visible on the un-dissected skein, pink/purple should be equal in width to green. What gives?

I might have been less surprised had there been more than one skein of this color number available on the day I bought the yarn. Looking at several, each starting at a different spot in the color progression might have revealed larger (or different) color segments than I anticipated. In any case, the color repeat has gone through about one and a half cycles in this sock, hitting the toe's hue blend about halfway between orange stripe and densest part of the magenta, although factoring in the wider circumference of the ankle part than the foot, the second appearance of the pink/purple is longer than that combo's debut.

So there's my caveat. I still say my estimation method works. Mostly. Except for Noro, where all bets are off.

Pattern footnote:

How to do a slouch sock? Easy. US #00s. Standard figure-8 cast on toe, worked on a set of five DPNs. Increase to 17 stitches per needle until just before the heel (68 st total). Increase one stitch per needle to 18 (72 st total), work a standard short row heel across two needles (36 stitches), instead of decreasing away the two sneaky stitches used to minimize any top-of-heel-decrease gaps, keep them, and increase one stitch each on the two non-heel needles for a total of 19 stitches per needle (76 st total). Work leg part equal in length to foot (folded along the heel's natural equator), then work about 20 rows of K2, P2 ribbing and end off.

Why do a slouch sock? Between the wild colors, thick/thin spin, and overtwist, any lacy or texture pattern would be lost in this stuff. Also this yarn isn't a good candidate for stranding or striping with another (although two different but closely related skeins in a simple stranding pattern might be interesting). I've had some breakage, and I'm not inclined to use this stuff for a nice, snug sock that takes a lot of stretching to put on. The roomy top will diminish that strain.

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For those who have asked, the dragon panel pattern from the Siebmacher modelbook I regraphed for The New Carolingian Modelbook has been posted over at Bibliodyssey.



Apologies to anyone who wondered why this was posted three times.  I've had problems wrestling with the "post away from home" feature.

Enjoy!

The yellow baby blanket is mostly done. All that's left is to graft the beginning of the edging to its end, and darn in the dangling ends. Here it is patted out and pinned to the back of the sofa, which accounts for the strange dimensional distortion.

I'm 80% satisfied with it. It's small, more like basket or car seat size than crib size. I only had four skeins and used all but about ten yards of it. I'm only halfway pleased with the corners. The math worked out to be a multiple of a half repeat. That means that two corners were mitered starting at the narrowest point of the repeat, and two were mitered starting at the widest point. I will say that mitering at the narrowest point for this symmetrical edging worked better. That corner is in the upper left of the photo. Its opposite at the upper right looks clunky by comparison. If I had the thing to do over again (with more yarn) I'd work another three inches of the center panel so that all four corners could begin at the narrowest spot on the edging repeat.

The stitch patterns for this one also came from the the first Duchrow book. The center is pretty much verbatim, and can be found on page 35. The edging is inspired by the companion edging presented on the same page. My version is truncated by about a third of the original width. I arbitrarily cut off about eleven right hand side stitches, turning what were diamonds framed by a zig zag on the dagged side and triangles on the join side into plain old triangles, and eliminating a column of fagoting. Along the way I noticed that a smaller "junior" version of the same thing could be worked by using only a portion of my rows. I present both in the pattern graph below (click on it for full size version).

How to miter the corners? It's easier than you think on a symmetrical pattern like this. I do them on the wrong-side rows, working one stitch fewer each wrong side row and wrapping the last stitch I work in each wrong side row until I reach the reflection point of the repeat (the shortest or tallest point depending on where I start), then I reverse the process, re-incorporating one previously wrapped stitch (along with the wrap at its base) on each wrong side row until I've reclaimed my full width and returned to the same point in the repeat where I started. Sounds confusing, but give it at try.

Now on to Baby Gift #3 - the little sweater kit. It turns out that there's yet another in queue, after the sweater it looks like I'll be knitting at least one more small blanket, plus some other thing to be determined when inspiration strikes.

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Like most parents, I spend a lot of time rolling my eyes at what passes for homework and school assignments. There are way too many feel-good tasks - making posters and collages, even well into high school. Where are the analytical reading pieces? Where is learning how to write a convincing essay? But every once and a while something engaging and creative is requested.

This month Smaller Daughter (now 9) had to construct a Rube Goldberg device, with a goal of popping a balloon. I sat on my hands and watched her experiment for the better part of a week. She scribbled out her designs and went down several possible paths before settling on her device components. She constructed (and re-constructed) each station scrounged from toys and oddments at hand, testing out each one individually, then assembled them into her final chain reaction. Eventually, after much tinkering she got it just right, and the whole thing worked as intended.

I wish I had a video camera, but you'll have to use your imagination. Especially the part where the balloon makes a satisfying pop, and she leaps up in triumph.

Click on any thumbnail on this website to see detailed pix.

Someday I will loose this proto-engineer on the world. I hope the world will be ready.

In knitting news - not much. I've been working like a demon. All I've had time to do over the past two weeks is one mindless sock. For me to take two weeks to knit one sock says a lot. This one is a standard 72 stitch sock with a figure-8 toe and short rowed heel, worked using five DPNs. That calculates out to 18 stitches per needle. My insertion strip is 18 stitches wide as graphed below, so I do the pattern in its entirety once on each of the four working needles. I've stuffed a piece of white paper inside the sock so you can see the diamond patterning. and provided a chart for the simple design .

I used Meilenweit Mega Boot Stretch, knit at about 9spi. The shaded reds with the touch of orange is color #709. I'm not wild about this yarn. It feels nice and cushy knit up, but I don't enjoy tensioning it. The stretch is throwing my gauge off a bit, especially on my heel's purl rows. It also is rather lofty unstretched, and prone to catch and split on needle tips. I'll post a review of the stuff when the pair is finished.

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Just because I was eaten by work doesn't mean there was no knitting going on at my house. I'm very proud of Elder Daughter (currently in 11th grade), who completed her first sweater this weekend past.

She used Sirdar Denim Ultra - a very soft and lofty cotton/acrylic blend, and made a top-down original, working off a pattern produced using Sweater Wizard. She did all the steps - knitting gauge swatches until she had one with a hand she liked, then calculating the gauge; taking body measurements; inputting the gauge and measurements into SW, and then tinkering with different lengths, eases, and necklines until she got the look she liked (comfy/baggy, for relaxing after class). Then she cast on and followed her pattern to the end.

She had a ton of fun working through the project, and is extremely happy with the end result. Her only criticism of the yarn is that it's a bit splitty, and being composed of lots of individual smaller strands, does have a tendency to catch on things.

I know that Sirdar Denim Ultra is discontinued now, but in the chance anyone has a similar lofty acrylic/cotton blend that works up to 10 stitches/12 rows for 4 inches or 10cm, Elder Daughter shares her pattern:

My Best Friend Dorm Sweater

Needles: 11, 13 Size: 40 Gauge: 2.5 sts 3 rws per 1" Estimated Ydg required: 718

Note: Sweater begins at the top back and is worked to underarm back. Cast on sts are picked up to work to front underarm. Remainder of garment is worked in the round.

Start Back

With larger straight needle, using a provisional cast on 54 sts. Work Back to Underarm Working back and forth, work until piece measures 10.5". Place sts on a string.

Front Shoulder & Neck Shaping

Slip 19 left shoulder sts (from cast on string) on needle, skip 16 back neck sts. Slip 19 right shoulder sts onto needle. Using two balls of yarn, begin neck shaping as follows: Inc 1 st at neck edge every 3 rws, 3 x. Then every 4 rows, 5 x. Complete Front Top: Work even until piece meas same as back. Slip front body sts onto scrap yarn.

Work Sleeves.

Pick Up Sleeve Sts [pick up 4 sts, skip 1 row] 4x [pick up 5 sts, skip 1 row] 2x to shoulder. From shoulder down [pick up 5 sts, skip 1 row] 2x [pick up 4 sts, skip 1 row] 4x (52 sts) ending at underarm. Place marker, join.

Shape Sleeve

Work 1 rnd. Begin sleeve shaping: Dec 1 st on each side of marker every 2nd rnd 6x, then every 4th rnd 8x. Cont in pat st until piece meas 15.5"[rnd 46]. Change to smaller needles for cuff. Sleeve-to-Rib Dec Round: [Work 7 k2tog, work 6, k2tog] 1x, work 7. Work rib for 10 rounds[3"].Bind off 22 sts.

Work Body

Slip front and back body sts onto a circular needle. Work across front, pm(side seam), join front and back, work across back, pm (beg of rnd). Join. With larger needles, work one RS row. Begin shaping: Dec 1 st each side, every 20th rw 1x. Inc 1 st each side, every 20th rw 1x. (108 sts).Cont until piece meas 14" from underarm

Work Ribbing

Body-to-Rib Dec Round: [Work 8, k2tog.] 10x, work 8. (98 sts) Change to smaller needles. Estab rib pat: *

K2 , P2. Repeat from * to end. Work 10 rnds.[3"]. Bind off.

Standard Neck Finishing

With smaller circular or dp needle and RS facing, pick up 16 sts from back neck, pick up 22 sts from left neck edge, place center marker, M1 st in center, pick up 22 sts from right neck edge, place end of round marker. (61 sts) Rnd1: work in k1, p1 ribbing to within 2 sts of center marker, ssk, pm, k1, k2tog, work in k1, p1 ribbing to end of round. Rnd2: work in estab ribbing to within 2 sts of center marker, ssk, pm, k1, k2tog, work in estab ribbing to end of round. Repeat rnd 2 for approx. 1". Bind off loosely in ribbing.

Pattern and schematics produced using Sweater Wizard software. Pattern copyright 2008, Alexandra Salazar and Kim Brody Salazar.

Technorati : knitting

Yet another spate of horrific deadlines has washed past me. I survived (barely), but I haven't had much time to knit.

I'm still working on that second lace doodle scarf - the one composed from patterns out of the Duchrow books. (Which I wholeheartedly recommend for lace fanatics.) I've finished the center panel, and have applied the edging down one long side, around the narrow end, and am now starting back up the second side:

The edging in this case is a bit unusual. It's predicated on motifs that are somewhat heart-shaped, and sports a very deep dag. I managed to fiddle around with the attachment rate so that I ended up at the corner of the body at the exact narrowest point of the edging repeat. That let me miter the corners using short rows. I wish I'd stopped and taken pictures of that process, but I'll try to explain it sight-unseen.

To miter the corner on this symmetrical lace, I knit this edge onto my main body piece, either directly calculating the pick-up ratio, or (more likely) fudging the rate of attachment so that I ended with my narrowest row (the valley between two points) at the exact corner stitch of the corner I wish to go around. Sometimes this is easy - if I'm a stitch or two off, those can be made up in the last repeat just before the corner. If I'm more than just a couple of stitches off, I might need to rip back a repeat or two and space the required extra rows or skips (or k2togs) over a larger interval. Obviously, it's easier to fit an edging with fewer pattern rows into any given arbitrary length than it is to fit a longer one, because there are fewer rows between the widest and narrowest points of the repeat.

Back to actual performance. Arriving at the narrowest point of my edging in concert with reaching the absolute corner of my piece, I'd knit the next right-side row of my edging as usual. BUT on the return journey instead of working all the way back to my attachment point, then purling the last stitch of the edging together with one from the body, I'd wrap that attachment stitch (Row 2, Column A). Then I'd turn the work over and head back on the next right side row, taking care to keep my place in the edging pattern. I'd continue like this, but on each successive wrong-side row, I'd work one fewer stitch, and wrap the next one prior to turning. All of this is complicated of course, by the increases and decreases that form the lace pattern itself. Liberal fudging is usually in order to maintain the pattern as established - or a close to it as is possible.

Eventually I'd reach the row that on a "normal" repeat, would be the longest row - the one that happens in the centerpoint of one of the protruding dags. My actual row worked is much shorter than usual because I've been wrapping stitches to form my miter. It's at this point I go back and begin the second half of my short row sequence, working each row one stitch farther along, waking them up one by one by working them along with the wrap at their base. If I've done this correctly, by the time I have reawakened all of the stitches on my row, I'll also have arrived at the narrowest row of my lace edging repeat, and all of my previously parked short row stitches will have been reincorporated. When that happens, my mitered corner is complete, and I can I begin resume working the edging along the side of my piece.

I've taken the liberty of translating the historical pattern from Duchrow into modern notation. She doesn't present a mitered corner for this edging, but I've noted where the short row shaping should take place so you can see (more or less) what I am writing about. Click on the image below for a full size pattern. Apologies for the file size.

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O.k. I've finished and posted the half-completed blog entry I was working on last month when life so rudely interrupted me. Since then (if anyone is interested) work deadlines have come and gone; our normal holiday-related seasonal bustle has forced its way in and retreated, complete with the annual flood of cookies and New Years cassoulet; and we even managed to grab a couple of days to run away with the kids to visit Washington D.C. The last was the most fun, being a time to revisit the Smithsonian museums and a dear family friend in Maryland - about the only things I miss from the time we lived down in that area.

In terms of knitting, progress has been made as well, both by me and by Elder Daughter. I'm especially proud of her's. She designed and knit herself a pair of fingerless mitten style handwarmers from Cascade Fixation/Elan Esprit. They are K2, P2 ribbed throughout, with a twist-stitch cable running down the back of each hand.

Following up her mitts, she has now embarked upon Her First Sweater ™. She's using Sirdar Denim Ultra, a loosely twisted lofty and soft acrylic/cotton/wool blend. She's getting the recommended gauge of 9 st/ 12 rows = 10 cm, and is working up a simple top-down stockinette stitch pullover from a pattern I calculated for her using Sweater Wizard (About size 40, needle size US #11,13, approximately 720 yards of yarn knitting to Ultra's gauge)

She's up to the first sleeve, and is basking in the delight of mastering the arcane arts of following a written pattern and the SSK decrease, so that the tapering under the arm on her sleeve is symmetrical. Pix of her sweater once it matures from the large blue speckled mass phase and sports a bit more recognizable shaping. Due to the huge gauge it's galloping along, so that should be quite soon.

My own holiday-related knitting was light this year - three pairs of socks and two scarves. In addition, I knit myself another pair of Fingerless Whatevers, quick replacements for the last pair, one of which has now gone AWOL. I'm also now about halfway done with Elder Daughter's Kyoto, and made good progress on my latest lace doodle scarf. Pix of these in the next post.

Resolutions? None. Except for this.

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First, let me reassure everyone that it's not my intent to supplant the need for the books I've been using lately. I strongly recommend that people interested in lacy knitting buy them, and have as much fun learning to knit from them as I am having. But I also realize that it's very daunting for many people to think of picking up a book in a language they don't read, that uses an unfamiliar symbol set, and that can be full of unexpected differences from modern knitting logic (to the point that would be thought errors in modern books.) Mining these older works for usable ideas is a form of Extreme Knitting* - one that I want to encourage more people to try. I hope these posts help bridge some folk over to beginning their own explorations.

For example, here's another lace redaction problem that turned into a paddle in the lace design pool.

I intended to finish out my black lace doodle scarf with an edging appearing in the same book as the insertion strip I modified for that scarf's body. But the graph of the original isn't quite logical, especially when compared to the engraving of the finished item. The edging I originally intended to use is on page 12 of Knitted Lace (Kunst Stricken) by M. Niedner anf G. von Reden (edited by the Kliots).

If I flat transcribe each of their chart symbols into modern notation, I get the chart in the diagram below (click on it to make it bigger).

Although the chart looks good, it's not knittable. Not if you want to make an edging that looks like the one in the engraving. Why? Look at each graphed row. If you count up the increases (the YOs) and the decreases (ssks) you quickly find that there is an equal number of both in each row. That's perfect if you're doing a straight insertion with parallel sides, but this is supposed to be a dagged edge that grows and shrinks to make triangular points. In order to achieve the ragged left edge indicated the stitch count should increase or decrease each row. But you say - it does! The little points are being formed. MY point is that there is no indicated origin for those extra stitches. For Row #3 to have one more stitch on it than Row #1 as shown, there should have been an increase without an accompanying decrease on Row #1. Otherwise that stitch just appears **poof** without a logical point of origin.

Now, if we want to knit this edging, we need to add that missing stitch. In fact, if you look at each and every line of the pattern you'll see that there's either a missing increase or decrease on each illustrated row. We need to put them in.

There are several ways to make those corrections. The simplest is to leave out one strategically placed decrease somewhere on the "growing" rows (working the two stitches involved as plain knits); and to introduce one somewhere on the "shrinking" rows (working two stitches shown as being knit as a decrease). Another fix would be to make up the differences on the interstitial even numbered rows. A third method would be the most noticeable - incorporating the corrections as visible additions to the pattern, in effect, editing the pattern to introduce new eyelets or decreases to form a new design element.

Now. Where to put them? Again looking at the original graph, you'll see that the only area that changes is the part I marked in blue on the original chart (the original didn't differentiate these stitches in any way). Other than growth/shrinkage in that triangle area, the pattern is stable, alternating between two design rows - the unshaded area shown on Row #1 (repeated on 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, and 29) and the unshaded area shown on Row #2 (repeated on 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, and 31). Obviously all of our edits will have to take place within the blue shaded area. Even with those edits, the heavy reliance on only two pattern rows means this will be an easy pattern to memorize once we've noodled out the missing bits.

I began experimenting, although I fizzled out along the way, having lost enthusiasm for using this particular trim. But I did produce a workable solution. It relied heavily on the original chart, modifying some of the decreases on the growing rows and adding some on the shrinking rows:

As you can see, while my yarn choice for this swatch isn't optimal (something lighter would conform better and shape itself more fluidly up and over the triangle's point, it did work. It also looks pretty close to the original. But not spot on (more on that below).

I tried mightily to make the mods on the off-side rows piece work. In theory it sounded feasible. It would have worked, had there not been the flower-like quad eyelet structure in the point of the base triangle. Adding/subtracting stitches at the right edge (the straight edge) perturbed the placement of the eyelets and lost the symmetry of the feature. Putting those additions/decreases elsewhere by adding/subtracting stitches along the pointed edge of the base triangle produced a clunkier, more clumsy finished product than did working them in on the right-side row.

I have to admit, I didn't bother with the increases as a decorative element step. To do that I'd have had to widen the pattern as a whole, and introduce a YO after the slipped stitch on each odd numbered row. On rows 19-31 I'd have had to follow that YO with a double decrease (removing one stitch to compensate for adding the YO, plus the one stitch needed to shrink the base triangle . Contemplating the result of the second scenario above made me think that this arrangement would also run afoul of that quad eyelet flower. Between that and realizing that this pattern wouldn't be a good compliment for the design of my scarf's body - I ran out of enthusiasm to keep fiddling with it.

Oh. The final straw? Examining the pattern chart, the engraving of the pattern and my knit sample, and realizing that the chart as shown (and that I knit - more or less) wasn't the same as the engraving. That clearly shows four courses of eyelets, not three, plus two rows of crocheted picots. The picots I can forgive, especially since I can noodle out just enough of the blackletter-style German text to determine that instructions for it were included in the prose. Here's the chart for my successful result, plus a posited modification to produce the four-course pattern shown in the book's original engraving. I haven't actually knit up the lower chart yet, but it should work.

I've run into these problems several times in these older pattern collections - both the lack of correspondence between chart and illustration of the final product; and basic charting that doesn't produce the desired result. I've found it's always a good idea to proof the rows in a pattern - especially one from a historical source - before sitting down to knit, and if knitting from an unproven vintage source, to always swatch up a repeat or two before committing oneself to a full project in any given stitch pattern.

Oh. What did I end up using on my doodle scarf? More on that another day.

*Extreme Knitting - A mythical book I long for instead of what's on the shelves now. A compendium of highly challenging patterns in lace, colorwork, garment shaping and tailoring, tiny gauges, historical recreation/redaction - whatever, so long as each project is as magnificent and as timeless to wear as it was an inspiration and learning experience to knit. I hereby reserve this title, but will surrender it to any author who can prove his/her work meets these conditions.

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First some administrivia. This site has been under massive attack by comment and trackback spammers. As a result, we've totally disabled the trackback feature, and limited comments to the most current three months of entries. We have also instituted a protected comment system to prevent automated spammers. But since the crowd that visits here doesn't appear to be particularly chatty, that shouldn't be a problem. We've also updated the software that runs the infrastructure of the blog. Whenever a set of changes of this magnitude is undertaken, it's going to take a few days before the bugs are ironed out. Apologies if you tried to consult these pages and received error messages. We're working on the remaining nits as fast as we can. Special thanks to The Resident Male - website plumber extraordinaire for the hours he's put in wrestling with these issues.

In the mean time, knitting here continues. Friend Dena was amazingly generous, giving me more of the gray/brown laceweight (also lots of other goodies destined for some more over the top lace projects). Ten thousand thanks! Armed with more yarn, I've been able to work more on the big shawl. I'm rounding the second corner and on the back stretch. No pix today though. It looks much as it did last week - a frothy gray/brown object too unblocked to see well.

It turns out that this blog serves a major purpose that I didn't really appreciate. I am not good at cataloging what exactly I do as I fudge my way through a project. I was careful to note the pattern and mechanism I was using for the framing area of my shawl, but I hit on the edge pattern during the time I was stretched thin and didn't have time to write up entries. Therefore I didn't make a written note of where that edging pattern came from and what I did to adapt it for this piece. Since I also set the shawl aside when I ran out of yarn, I had lost my thread of continuity on it. It took me a couple of days before I located the edging that I was using and figured out what I had been up to. It's from the first volume of Duchrow reprints compiled by J. and K. Kliot:

I now present it here as much to keep track of what the heck I'm up to for myself, as for others to play with. The pattern I'm using appears on Page 35. The original stumped me a bit because I couldn't make the last three stitches work out correctly. According to the book, every row should end with a SSK, K2 - but I find that working the "uphill" side of my triangular dags, I have room for a plain K3, and on the "downhill" side as the dag narrows back, I have room for a K2tog, K3 - but need to cheat, working the first stitch on the wrong side return row as a P2tog to preserve the visual line of the narrow strip at the outer edge of my border.

The pattern page (click on image above to get a readable version) presents both the original from the book, translated into modern notation; and my adaptation.

Technorati : knitting

More on corners. Using the same principles as the knit-from-center-out framing area on my cashmere shawl, I've done a mitered corner on my baby blanket. I do envision a problem now that I've finished a credible Corner #1, but I'll deal with it when I get there.

The first step was to make sure that I had a multiple of my halved row count available as live stitches along each edge of the project (small alerts should be going off in your head right now, but back to this later). That's because using my chosen attachment method, two rows of edging are attached to each live stitch.

Edging right side row: S1, work pattern to end
Edging wrong side row: Work pattern to penultimate stitch, SSK last stitch together with a live stitch of the body.

I can modify this scheme by doing an occasional SSSK on that wrong side row, in which one edging stitch is knit together with two live stitches from the body. This can be periodic and eat a specific number of stitches over a given number of repeats (eating one on every Edging Row 1, or every third row of the edging, for example); or it can be ad-hoc - performed when the thing looks like it's getting too ruffly. Being a precise person, I prefer the former, but I'm not above sneaking one in using the latter should it be necessary. You've probably already figured out that working an edging onto a top or bottom of live knit stitches (or stitches rescued after unzipping a provisional cast on) will require a different rate of attachment than would knitting them onto stitches picked up off a side edge formed when the body was knit, via a standard slip stitch edge.

The second step was to identify a clear diagonal on the existing pattern, and use that as an alignment point on which to build my mitered corner. In this case, the edge of the eyelet diamonds makes a good divider.

So having stated the obvious, I violate it all. To create the live stitches all the way around my perimeter, I picked up, putting all the new stitches on a large circ. I started at the end of a knit-side row of stockinette, placed a marker and picked up a stitch in every slip stitch selvage on my left side edge. Then - not having done a provisional cast-on because I was on vacation and was lazy - I placed a marker and picked up the same number of stitches as I had stockinette stitches across the bottom of my half-hitch cast-on row. Then it was a march back to the origin point, placing a marker then picking up stitches along the remaining selvage.

It so happened that my picked up stitch count on each side is pretty close to a multiple of my edging row count-halved. So I started knitting my edging a couple of stitches in from my corner, commencing with good old Edging Row #1. (Hearing that ding-ding alert again? You should be.)

All is well and good (sort of). I've now marched around three of my four corners, and am in the home stretch, working my last straight side. Then it's on to the final corner and graft.

Now. Why all those alerts?

Because my corner as graphed works best when I commence it on the tallest row of my point - not on Row #1, which is the shortest row. I didn't figure that out until I was well along. Not wanting to rip it all back a THIRD time, I'm going to see if I can somehow cheat on Corner #4.

Here's a graph for my modified edging and corner, with attachment instructions (done to the best of my ability).

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The shawl continues to grow. My center is very busy. I thought that the final piece would look nice if I used a complementing frame of a more solid appearance. After paging through lots of lacy knitting books and pattern treasuries and finding nothing that sang to me for this purpose, I decided that I needed to make up my own design for the framing phase of my gray-brown shawl (curiously gray in natural light, and tobacco under artificial light).

I came up with this (click on it to see it full size):

[LATE BREAKING NEWS: THE DIAGRAM ABOVE WAS CORRECTED ON 28 JUNE 2007]

I've taken the center diamonds that fill the interstices in the basketweave and framed them with an interlace two "lace bars" deep (the basketweave sports lace bar elements that are four deep. I've got the thing charted out alternating solid centers with the diamond centers, but I am not sure if I'll keep that or fill all of the centers with diamonds. Also, no I didn't make a mistake. I deliberately cut off the pointy tips of the outermost lace bar unit. I charted it out both ways, but preferred the snipped tips. I think that one tiny detail adds to the horizontal focus of the piece.

A real challenge in doing this was to come up with something that would work well both with my established stitch count (upped one to 52 per repeat to aid symmetry, with the required stitches to make the repeat count and corner picked up on one plain knit row just before commencing), and that would play nicely with a mitered corner. To do that, natural YO diagonals had to figure somewhere in the pattern, where they were (mostly) unaccompanied by a corresponding decrease. If they were coupled with a decrease, my stitch count for that round would not increase the required 8 per round needed to keep the piece flat. I've marked those lines in blue and green on the chart above.

By placing my mitered corners at the indicated points I minimize the need for fudging counts - almost all of the green and blue squares bear a YO anyway (those that don't I'll work as one on the corner-most repeat). There are a few rows that might pose problems. - 27, 31, and 35, also 61 and 55. On each of these a blue or green YO needed to form the mitered corner is paired with an immediately adjacent decrease on the "will be worked" side of the diagonal establishing the miter. I'm not quite sure what to do about them, and will experiment when I get that far. Right now I suspect that I'll need to do a double YO at that those spots in order to maintain stitch count.

So I will continue knitting along, working my framing chart until its completion. After that I might work another row of double YO beading to finish off the section. And then comes choosing (or devising) a suitable edging.

If anyone out there has done this - designing an original lacy knitting mitered corner on the fly - and is now experiencing a forehead-thumping moment because I've missed something obvious, please let me know. Your input would be most appreciated!

Technorati : knitting

Incremental progress on two fronts here at String. First, demolition is now complete. Evil Upstairs Bathroom having been stripped to the studs now finds itself at the very beginnings of build-out. The new larger shower stall has been roughed in, and the electrical work has commenced.

You can see the back side of the lath and plaster hallway walls on the outside of the old wall studs. 1912 was deep in the pre-drywall and wallboard era.

And on the lace shawl, I'm over the half-way mark in constructing the center square. I've got only one or two repeats left before my proportions are correct.

I've also tinkered a bit with the base pattern, translating it to modern notation and changing the directionality of some of the decreases to sharpen the lines. Since I have changed it somewhat and recharted it, I present the result. Click on the thumbnail below to load a full-size image

The original lacy knitting pattern from The Knitted Lace Patterns of Christine Duchrow, Vol. 1 was presented as part of two complex garment designs - a blouse and a baby bonnet. There are a couple of complementary simple band patterns for cuffs and trim on those projects. Except for the introduction (which provides a helpful translation key for the symbols and some historical German knitting terms), the entire book is in the original German. From what little knitting German I've picked up I can tell that even the written parts aren't quite modern German knitting prose. Like English knitting instruction writing, the conventions in German have changed over time. While I can work from the chart to make my own whatever, it would be an extreme challenge to knit up the blouse as described.

As the editors of this book report, Duchrow was among the first to try to present knitting instructions in graphical rather than prose format. Her graphs are idiosyncratic by modern standards and use letters and symbols rather than visual representations to represent the various stitches, but with a bit of practice her graphs are not difficult to knit from. Even though I can't read a word of the accompanying text in Vol. I, I've ordered a couple more books in the same Duchrow reprint series. If you're a lace and lacy knitting fiend, you'll probably have as much fun with Duchrow patterns as I am.

I feel confident I can share the design because I have redacted it into modern symbols, included corrections, and made changes in the pattern as presented. While my graph is recognizable as a variant of the historical one, there are subtle differences. For example, the original graph for this pattern treats all double decreases identically, rather than using directional variants to reinforce the framing diagonals. It also didn't continue the pattern into the edge areas as uniformly. It also didn't show the even numbered row. But for all of that, the pattern works up quite nicely even in the original presentation. I share my redaction/correction as tribute to the original author and the editors of this work, to help other knitters bridge from modern instructions to historical ones, and to encourage others to seek out these patterns and knit them without fear.

Interesting conjecture - from the style of the blouse, it would not be a stretch to say that it was current around the time my house was built. For all I know, the original owner may have sat in the library 95 years ago, knitting the same lace patterns I am working from today.

Technorati : bathroom renovation, knitting

I've played around some with methods of producing and applying the edge finish to the khaki vest. First I tried the separately knit/sewn on band method, using a couple of different approaches to the seaming (fold band longitudinally, sew the band up, then apply it; sew on both sides in one pass; sew on the display side, then do a separate seam to affix the facing side). Of all of them, the last method worked best, but it was the most effort intensive of them all.

So I looked further. Plain I-Cord (knit on or applied) was too narrow to stabilize the edge, and two courses of it would have been too bulky. I didn't like the way that picking up along the edge then knitting out looked - especially along the curve of the armhole.

Even more experiments ensued. Finally I landed on knitting-on a strip parallel to the edge, then going back and seaming down the free side on the inside of the piece. Doing that I could produce an edge of any desired width, go around curves and even plan on mitering the vest point corner. Here's a swatch with a mitered corner. Note that I haven't sewn down the facing on the inside yet, but natural stockinette curl is keeping it nice and neat. (For some, the inside seaming might be optional, but I plan on doing it on my finished piece).

To miter the corner of this 8-stitch strip, I used short rows. Here's how I did it:

Applied 8-stitch Strip Facing with Mitered Corner

Start with the public side of the work facing you, holding it with the bulk of the piece on the left, so that you're working up the right side of the thing (upside down from the picture above). Using straight needles, cast on 9 stitches, then pick up one stitch in the edge of the piece being finished. While the strip is 9 stitches wide, one is consumed during joining, so the part that protrudes is really only 8 stitches wide.

Row 1 (wrong side): P8, k1.
Row 2: S1, k6, ssk, pick up one stitch in edge of swatch
Row 3: S1, p7, k1

Repeat Rows 2 and 3 until you reach the corner, having just completed an odd number (wrong side row)

Row 4: S1, k6, wrap and turn.
Row 5: Slip the wrapped stitch, p6, wrap and turn
Row 6: Ignoring any previously wrapped stitches, S1, k5, wrap and turn
Row 7: Ignoring any previously wrapped stitches, Slip the wrapped stitch, p4, wrap and turn
Row 8: Ignoring any previously wrapped stitches, S1, k3, wrap and turn
Row 9: Ignoring any previously wrapped stitches, S1, p2, wrap and turn
Row 10: Ignoring any previously wrapped stitches, S1, k2, knit the next stitch along with the loop around its base, turn
Row 11: Ignoring any previously wrapped stitches, S the stitch you just knit, p2, purl the next stitch along with the loop around its base, turn
Row 12: Ignoring any previously wrapped stitches, S1, k3, knit the next stitch along with the loop around its base, turn
Row 13: Ignoring any previously wrapped stitches, Slip the stitch you just knit, p4, purl the next stitch along with the loop around its base, turn
Row 14: Ignoring any previously wrapped stitches, S1, k5, knit the next stitch along with the loop around its base, turn
Row 15: Ignoring any previously wrapped stitches, Slip the stitch you just knit, p6, purl the next stitch along with the loop around its base, turn

The corner is complete, return to repeating Rows 2 and 3. Optional finish - seam down the inside edge of this facing.

I've stated applying this same edging to the armholes of my vest (having previously seamed the shoulders).

I plan to do the bottom edge next, incorporating the mitered corner on the vest points. But I haven't played with the buttonhole band treatments yet. Sadly, I have misplaced my copy of InkKNitters. It's here. Somewhere... Weekend plans include tossing my knitting library to find it.

Oh. Unless a monsoon is upon us, weekend plans also include attending the annual Gore Place Sheepshearing Festival in Waltham, Massachusetts. Not a big festival as fiber fairs go, but very local and lots of fun. Look for me with both Elder and Smaller Daughter in tow.

Technorati : knitting

My mis-matched mittens are done. Today I present pix plus a write-up and more reliable graphs. I changed the placement of the decreases on the graph. They're now shown along the side strips rather than on the triangle that forms the mitten top. This eliminates any confusion caused by the double // notation inherited from the original inspiring mitten blank. I've also fixed the pattern alignment on them so that they integrate better with their palms and graphed my thumbs out to be a stitch wider than the hole provided for it in the mitten body. I found that I needed to pick up a stitch at the left and right corners of the slit formed when the provisional stitches were removed. If I didn't do that, I ended up with a hole at either side of the base of my thumb.

First, proof that the mittens are done, courtesy of overly dramatic Smaller Daughter (code name Sarah Heartburn).

She does have very large hands and feet for an 8-year old, a sign that she'll probably inherit my family's height (at 5'8" I'm the shortest female in my immediate family). But the mittens are a bit large on her. I'd call them kids' extra-large, or teen/small woman size.

Dragonfly/Pomegranate and Knot Mittens
a knitting pattern,
(c) 2007, Kim Brody Salazar, http://www.wiseneedle.com

Materials:
Approximately 1.5 ounces total of lofty Shetland style sport weight yarn, with a native stockinette gauge of about 6 stitches per inch. (This will be knit down to a much tighter gauge to make a warmer mitten). Four colors were used:

• Color A: About 50% of the total - Navy blue
• Color B: About 35% of the total - Light green
• Color C: About 10% of the total - Cranberry
• Color D: About 5% of the total - Light blue.

Size 3.25mm double pointed needles (Two circs or one-circ "magic loop" methods can be substituted). DPNs highly recommended for the thumb.

Scrap of contrasting color yarn or string for thumb "place holder"

Gauge:
8 stitches = 1 inch

Finished measurements:
Mittens measure approximately 4" across the palm and 9" from tip to cuff

Instructions:

Using the predominant color and a tubular cast-on, cast on 64 stitches. Work in two-color K1 P1 corrugated ribbing for 2 inches, using Color A for the purl columns and Color C for the knit stitches. Using Color A, knit one row and then purl one row. Using Color D, knit four rows. Using Color A, knit one row and then purl one row.

Using the chart of your choice (below) for stranded knitting, work as shown. The creative will note that given four different and interchangeable mitten sides, any combo thereof would make perfectly suitable mittens - all four as presented needn't be used. Regardless of the mitten graph chosen, introduce a small bit of waste yarn or string for the stitches indicated in red. Make sure that you mirror that placement for your left and right mittens, as shown in my charts. Alert: On the pomegranate and knot mitten chart, I call for decreases done in Color A. I've introduced a separate symbol for those decreases. It's noted on the chart. End off the mitten at the top by grafting together the last 8 stitches.

Thumb:
Returning to the waste yarn introduced for the thumb, carefully remove it, slipping the live stitches above and below the newly formed slit onto DPNs. Using a third DPN start at the side of the thumb to the right of the newly created hole. Looking at the thumb chart for the visible side of the thumb (the one with the pattern that matches the palm), pick up one stitch in the right side of the newly created thumb slit. Do this in the color indicated for the first stitch of the thumb chart. Note that the thumb pattern should seamlessly integrate with the palm pattern, although each of these mittens does that in a different way. Work across row 1 of the visible side thumb chart. Switch to the inside-the-thumb chart (the one with single stitch checks), again starting with the first charted stitch, pick up one stitch in the side of the thumb slit prior to working across the rest of the thumb chart. Follow chart as shown, grafting the final stitches at the tip of the thumb. Darn in all ends.

Technorati : knitting

I have absolutely no idea if the pattern I just doodled up (shown below) is going to work.

I made some blind and totally unswatched assumptions about gauge, took inspiration (but not stitch counts) from the Hello Yarn generic Norwegian Mitten template, and ran with it. I've used my dragonfly pattern posted here before, plus idle chicken scratches.

I suppose the next step is to see if I can get about 7.5 spi, figure out which colors I want to use, and try to knit this totally untested pattern.

Heck. Risk can be fun if taken in small doses.

UPDATE: Please don't try knitting from this graph yet. The JPG filter appears to have cut off a column of stitches (there are 64, not 63 on the cast-on row). I'll repost a final, corrected graph when I'm further into the project. For the time being, I can report that gauge is working out o.k. for the corrugated two-tone ribbing (two inches, done before row 1 of the chart), using my lofty ancient Britania Shetland on 2.5mm needles. Dense pack, but good for a nice, wind-proof and cushy mitten.

Note that the two-tone ribbing curls up a bit. That's normal. Corrugated ribbing is not as curl-proof as regular K1, P1 ribbing.

Technorati : knitting

My ultra quick 1941 vest project is finished. That's 7 days from cast-on to finishing off the final end. Considering I only knit an hour or two a day, that's lightning quick. Although The Resident Male declines to model, the evidence is here:

The fit is a bit different from most contemporary patterns. For one, the shoulders are wide and shaped, and the armholes aren't gappy. My tiny cut-out at the back of the neck rides well with a golf shirt's collar, and the length is just what he wanted. The fabric is soft and lofty. Since I rarely knit for him and the few times I have the results haven't been optimal (mostly too big or too warm), I'm delighted to have produced a winner.

On the yarn - I think Cascade 220 is a yarn that's overlooked in the mad scramble to Merinos. Yes, it's not a Merino, and doesn't have that silky hand. But it's not an itchy or stiff yarn, and knits up quite nicely. The number of ends to finish off are minimized because of this yarn's superior ability to spit-splice, and the 220 yard skeins. In terms of care, it's quite pill-resistant. I've made several things from it, and have never found any flaws in it. Not so much as a knot. So pause a bit in your haste to knit this stuff up only if fulling/felting is your goal. Try some out for a non-shrunk garment. I think you'll be pleased with the result.

As promised, here's a modern pattern for the thing in Size 46. To make life simpler for us all, I've used Sweater Wizard to construct it.

Man's 1941 Style Vest in Garter Stitch, a Redaction from Minerva #46
(c) Kim Brody Salazar, http://www.wiseneedle.com

Needles: 7, plus size 6 circs or DPNs for finishing armholes and neck ribbing. One stitch marker.
Gauge:4.5 sts10 rws per 1" Estimated Ydg: 1212 yards standard worsted weight yarn with a native stockinette gauge of 5 stitches = 1 inch.

Back

With rib needle, cast on 102 sts. Estab rib pat on Row 1: *K2 , P2. Repeat from *. End K2 . Work 29 rws. On row 30, increase as below. [2.75"].

Rib-to-Body Inc Row
6 incs total done this way: Work 14 [inc 1 in next st, work 13, inc 1 in next st, work 14] 2x. [inc 1 in next st, work 14] 2x. (108 sts) With body needle, work in pat st until piece meas 14.5"[row 118].

Armhole Shaping
Bind off 6 sts at beg of next 2 rws. Dec 1 st each side, every other row 5x. Cont in pat st until piece meas 25.5" from start [row 228].

Shape Shoulders and Back Neck
Bind off 7 sts beg of next row. At beg of next row, bind off 7 sts, work 14 sts, attach a second ball of yarn and bind off 42 back neck sts. Complete row. At beg of next row, bind off 7 sts and dec 1 st at each neck edge.Bind off 7 sts beg of next row. Bind off 7 sts beg of next 2 rws. End off.

Front

Work as for back, including all shaping,and, at the same time when piece meas 16.1" [row 134]

Begin Neck Shaping
Work to center, attach another ball of yarn and complete row.Turn. Work both sides at once. Dec 1 st at each neck edge every 2nd rw 3x, then every 4th rw 19x. Cont in pat st until piece meas 25.5" from start [row 228].

Shape Shoulders
Work shoulder shaping (at shoulder edge) to correspond with back.

Armhole Edging
Seam sides. Seam shoulders. With smaller size ndle, pick up 108 sts around armhole edge. Work in K2, P2 ribbing for five rows. Bind off loosely.

Neck Finishing
With smaller circular or dp needles and RS facing, pick up 48 sts from back neck, pick up 60 sts from left neck edge, place center marker, pick up 60 sts from right neck edge, place end of round marker. (168 sts).

Round 1, 3 and 5 - Work first round in K2, P2 rib until two stitch before the center marker. K2tog, slide marker to right hand needle. SSK, continue in K2, P2 ribbing taking care to match the sequence immediately after the centermost decreases to the sequence immediately before them.

Round 2 and 4 - Work in established pattern.

Bind off. Darn in all ends.

Technorati : knitting

Because they are in irreplaceable source of knowledge.

I swatched out several yarns that I had here in stash, trying out possibilities for my 1941 vest. Everything ranging from some navy/maroon ragg style Bartlett worsted (circa 1998) to a recent find from Webs - a tweedy garnet. The Bartlett is really an Aran or light bulky. I achieved gauge, but the sample stood up like cardboard. The Webs 2/4 Highland Tweed purports to be Aran to worsted in gauge (4.5 to 5 spi) but it knit up like a DK. Again I achieved gauge, but the sample looked meshy and sparse. I suspect that it would have bloomed a bit after I washed it, but in an added complication, TRM mentioned that he liked the color but hated the tweedy flecks. So it was off to my local yarn shop on a fishing expedition.

I went to Wild & Woolly in Lexington, MA - my knitting home-away-from-home. Now Jackie the owner is a knitter with decades more knitting experience than I have. She gave me an important bit of advice. When looking over patterns in these older booklets, don't go by the gauge any yardage deductions based on just one project. Look at all the projects in the book that call for the same yarn. You'll probably notice a discrepancy among them. So we did. A couple of the other patterns look closer to true worsted gauge than the light worsted/DK thoughts I had when I walked into the shop. To top it off she also remembers the Minerva (and later Columbia-Minerva) yarn specified. She steered me to Cascade 220 - which is slightly denser and less lofty than the Minerva but of similar gauge. The more airy nature of the Minerva is what threw me off, providing the extra yardage and making the stuff seem like a DK . So I bought some Cascade in a regal heathered burgundy and took it home.

I swatched it up and it was perfect. Spot on for gauge, with a soft hand and drape. So offering up thanks for the entire Wild & Woolly family I set to work on my vest project.

I measured the target recipient, plus one of his favorite store-bought vests that fits well. Then we sat down together and looked at the original pattern, pointing out fit and finish items that made it especially appealing, and other things that we might want to forgo. For example, TRM likes the depth of the V-neck, and the proportions of the waist and armhole/neckline ribbing, but is less enamored of the short length, tailored at the time to compliment pants worn with the higher, more formal waistline of the 1940s.

Then I looked at the pattern. I reproduce it here in its entirety, under fair use because I am using it to illustrate how to go about both reading an unusually formatted historical pattern, and how to go about redacting it for modern use.

You'll notice that the write-up is much shorter than a modern pattern. There's only one size given, plus a schematic with some notations on it and cursory working notes.

This pattern if translated straight would rely heavily on the schematic. The boxes represent a 1-inch square grid. Instructions on how to interpret notes like B-8 an D-1-7 are elsewhere in the pattern leaflet. Here's what I start with - my interpretation of the original directions, plus a bit of editorializing.

"Eckhart" - Man's 1941 Garter Stitch Vest from Minerva Hand Knits for Men in the Service, Vol. 62, size 30

Gauge in garter stitch: 4.5 st = 1 inch, 10 rows (5 garter ridges) = 1 inch

Back: Cast on 88 stitches. Work 3" in K2,P2 rib. Then switch to garter stitch. Work even until piece measures 13 inches from bottom edge. Bind off 8 at the beginning of the next two rows. Then decrease one stitch at the right and left edge of the work every four rows. Do this edge reduction seven times total. At the end of the armhole decreases you will have 58 stitches. Work these 58 stitches even in garter stitch until the piece measures 11 inches from the under-arm bind off row and you end ready to work a right side row. Form shoulders by binding off four stitches at the beginning of the next four rows, then bind off three stitches at the beginning of the next six rows. Bind off remaining 24 stitches to form center back neck.

Front: Work as for back EXCEPT place a marker between stitch #44 and 45. On a right-side row when work measures approximately 15.5 inches from the bottom edge, knit to two stitches before the marker, K2tog. Then attaching a second ball of yarn, and starting with a SSK, work the rest of the row. Note that this happens BEFORE you finish making the underarm decreases, so watch for it.

You now have each side of the top front on either side of the V opening being completed from its own ball of yarn. From this point on you'll be making paired decreases on either side of the opening on some right side rows, using a K2tog when indicated on the side that ends at the center, and a SSK on the side that begins at the center. Work three of these decrease pairs spaced approximately 1/2 inch apart (you'll probably be doing the decreases every 4 rows). Then work seven of these decrease pairs spaced 1 inch apart (probably every 10th row). You will finish these neckline-defining decreases at about the same point where you need to commence the shoulder decreases. Finish the shoulders as directed for the back.

Finishing: Seam shoulders together. Starting at a shoulder seam, pick up 132 stitches around the neckline, taking care to space them evenly, and work in K2, P2 ribbing. Count off the stitches to make sure that the center two that will be in the point of the V end up as a K2 pair, and place a marker between them. Work the mitered join at the center front point of the V-neck by knitting the last two stitches just before the marker, and working a SSK immediately after the marker - do this EVERY OTHER row until the ribbing measures 3/4 of an inch deep. Bind off. Sew side seams. Pick up 144 stitches around each armhole and work even in K2, P2 rib until ribbing measures 3/4 of an inch deep. Bind off and finish ends. If you wish, reinforce shoulder area with a strip of seam binding, sewn by hand to the inside of the sweater to cover the shoulder seams.

O.K. Clear as mud? Now for the kicker. I need to work a size 46, slightly longer, with a bit of a center back neck scoop out (he doesn't like the straight across the back of the neck bind-off). Plus I want to tinker with the depth of the V. How I do that alchemy is next.

Technorati : knitting

My forager's hat is finished - a nice big modified stocking cap with a blunt end and a double-thick self-lined brim (no ribbing). The only thing left to do is to find out if my re-enactor pal wants the optional big honking tassel at the top or not. Here you see it modeled by Smaller Daughter. This is really an adult size hat. It's not stretched at all on her head.

I used a very dense deep teal hand-spun yarn 100% wool yarn. I purchased it from an outside vendor at a local spring farm festival held at Drumlin Farm in Concord, MA. This yarn had no name, and the spinner (selling her own products) didn't include a card with the sale. The gold is a fragment of another single of similar weight. I know that the gold is Merino, but I don't know the fleece type of the teal, but it's scratchier than the gold (but not too much so to limit wearing).

My yarn has quite a bit of slubbing, and looks like the color was produced by aggressively combing together black and teal dyed fibers prior to spinning (some of the slubs are clearly one or the other color, others are blended). It's not bad, but it's not uniformly good, either. The staple is short and the twist is uneven. As a result it breaks easily. The good news is that it also splices easily. In terms of weight, it counts out to 15-16 wraps per inch, which lands it in between fingering and sport in weight.

You could use a lofty sport, knit down to gauge, or a very dense fingering - something thicker than a standard sock yarn though. I think the Regia and Socka style European sock yarns would be too thin for this. My hat weighs in at about 90 grams, which is about right as I used all of one 50g skein plus a bit more than half of a second. I haven't made a tassel yet so I can't estimate how much more yarn would be needed for one.

If you are making a Voyageur's hat - they were most often deep red. Liberty caps were most often red or blue. Sometimes liberty caps had patriotic mottoes knit into the brim area. "Don't Tread on Me" would work. An aside - Older Daughter tells me that people wanting to cosplay Link from Legend of Zelda would also want one of these hats, but in green and with a bit more of a pointed rather than rounded end.

This patten is a transcription of my working notes. I haven't test-knit a second item from them, so mistakes are certainly possible.

Voyageur's Hat/Liberty Cap In the Style of the Mid-1700s

Materials:

• Roughly 90 grams of a heavy fingering/light sport weight yarn, with a recommended label gauge of 6.5-7 stitches per inch (this does not include any yarn for a tassel)
• Waste string for provisional cast-on
• Double pointed or circular needles - US#0 (2mm)
• Extra circular or double pointed needle to hold stitches while fusing the brim US #0 (2mm) or smaller
• Tapestry needle for ending off
• Five stitch markers
• Optional: A graph of a motto or design that is no more than 30 rows tall
• Optional: A 4-6 inch long tassel made from the same yarn as the hat, and a small holed button (not a shank button) to sew it onto on the hat's inside as a reinforcement.

Gauge and Dimensions:

• Taken over stockinette on US #0 (2mm) needles - 6.75 stitches and 9.5 rows per inch
• Finished hat will fit most adults. It's 21 inches across the bottom opening (stretching to fit easily on a 23 inch head). It measures roughly 17.25 inches from brim edge to top.

Using a provisional cast-on, cast on 130 stitches. Distribute on DPNs or if you're using the two-circ method - onto two circular needles. Knit 32 rounds, then purl two rounds to create a fold line. If you are inserting a pattern follow the optional directions below. If not, skip to the no design instructions.

If inserting an optional graphed colorwork design. Your graph can be worked in stranding or intarsia, but must be no more than 30 rows tall. For best proportions and an authentic look, I suggest single color (plus background) patterns of no more than 20 rows in height. My X is 16 rows tall). In terms of horizontal placement, the hat's brim finish ensures that there is no visible jag where the cast-on round begins, and there is no front or back, so don't agonize about centering the pattern in any one particular spot. Subtract your graph's row count from 32, then divide the result by two. Knit that many rounds before starting your graph. Knit the remainder after the graph is complete. To prepare for the next step, look at your colorwork area. Take a moment to tug any extra loose ends so that the appearance on the front is as neat as possible. If any are particularly unruly, thread them onto a tapestry needle and take a little sewing stitch to secure them. So long as you flick the loose ends right and left so that there is no giant lump of strands in any one spot, you don't need to take the time to end them all off neatly.

If not working an optional graphed colorwork design. Knit 32 rounds.

All knitters. At this point you are ready to fuse the brim. The knitting done before the fold welt will become a self facing, totally encapsulating any loose ends resulting from the optional colorwork. Unzip or unpick your provisional cast-on, threading those stitches onto spare DPNs or a circular needle.

Hold the work folded at the purl welt with the purl sides inside. Then knit around one row, knitting each stitch from your active needles along with its complement on the needle holding the now awakened stitches from the provisional cast on. At the end of this row you will have the same 130 stitches left on your active needles, and the brim will be completely fused to the hat body with all ends neatly out of sight.

Continue knitting in stockinette (all knits) until your hat measures 8 inches when measured from the bottom of the purl welts at the brim's opening. On the last round before you begin the decreases, place a stitch marker every 26 stitches

Decrease rounds:

Round 1: (Knit 24, K2tog)5x - 125 stitches remain (You will be knitting to two stitches before the each stitch marker, then working your K2tog)
Knit 10 rounds
Round 12: (Knit 23, K2tog)5x - 120 stitches remain
Knit 10 rounds
Round 23: (Knit 22, K2tog)5x - 115 stitches remain
Knit 10 rounds
Round 34: (Knit 21, K2tog)5x - 110 stitches remain
Knit 10 rounds
Round 45: (Knit 20, K2tog)5x - 115 stitches remain
Knit 5 rounds
Round 51: (Knit 19, K2tog)5x - 110 stitches remain
Knit 5 rounds
Round 57: (Knit 18, K2tog)5x - 105 stitches remain
Knit 5 rounds
Round 63: (Knit 17, K2tog)5x - 100 stitches remain
Knit 5 rounds
Round 69: (Knit 16, K2tog)5x - 95 stitches remain
Knit 5 rounds
Round 75: (Knit 15, K2tog)5x - 90 stitches remain
Knit 5 rounds
Round 81: (Knit 14, K2tog)5x - 85 stitches remain
Knit 5 rounds
Round 87: (Knit 13, K2tog)5x - 80 stitches remain
Knit 5 rounds
Round 93: (Knit 12, K2tog)5x - 75 stitches remain
Knit 5 rounds
Round 99: (Knit 11, K2tog)5x - 70 stitches remain
Knit 5 rounds
Round 105: (Knit 10, K2tog)5x -65 stitches remain
Knit 5 rounds
Round 111: (Knit 9, K2tog)5x - 60 stitches remain
Knit 5 rounds
Round 117: (Knit 8, K2tog)5x - 55 stitches remain
Knit 2 rounds
Round 110: (Knit 7, K2tog)5x - 50 stitches remain
Knit 2 rounds
Round 113: (K6, K2tog)5x - 45 stitches remain
Knit 2 rounds
Round 116: (K5, K2tog)5x - 40 stitches remain
Knit 2 rounds:
Round 119: (K4, K2tog)5x - 35 stitches remain
Knit 1 round

The rounded point:

Continue working (K1, K2tog) until fewer than 10 stitches remain. Break the yarn leaving a 6 inch tail. Thread tail onto tapestry needle, and use the tapestry needle to gather up all remaining stitches draw-string style, pulling them together and securely ending off on the inside of the hat. Affix any optional tassel to this center point, sewing it on through a small button placed on the hat's inside. This button acts as a reinforcement and decreases the chance of the tassel pulling out or distorting the end to which it is sewn.

Technorati : knitting

I met my major deadline today, and am beginning to decompress. The best way to do that is to think of something completely different, so I've begun to contemplate patterns in general, with some idle thought to my Spanish hat. So I began playing with motifs I have lying around. Like this one

I don't think this particular one is great for the hat, but I have an odd fondness for it, plain as it is. As the source annotation states, it's one of the patterns I included in The New Carolingian Modelbook. While it looks like it would be at home as a border on the wall of a 1950s era tiled bathroom, it does in fact date back to 1546 by specific annotation. It may well have appeared elsewhere, although most of the da Sera patterns are pretty unique to his books. (If you think pattern piracy is rife these days, you'll not be surprised by 16th century publishing ethics).

This particular pattern would work as nicely for stranding or for knit/purl textures as it does in cross stitch or other forms of counted thread embroidery. In fact it would have a number of advantages if done in knit/purl:

• Complete reversibility
• Low curl factor - roughly equivalent amounts of knit and purl
• Deep texturing - the knit/purl sections would pull in a bit like ribbing unless strongly blocked
• Ease of memorization - purl rows mimic the lay of the knit rows below them, and there are only two different row patternings, alternating blocks of k2, p2, and alternating blocks of k6, p6

So I put it here in part to make up for the consternation I caused with yesterday's subject line.

Technorati : embroidery, knit

[Repost of material originally appearing on 3 August 2006]

First, here's a picture showing one finished meta-unit, plus one that's mid-assembly. You can see the swirl hex in the center, plus where the square and triangle units fit.



In the layout I'm using, these meta-units fit together with plain triangles inserted at the point where three meta-units meet.



I suppose I could have made just one big triangle for those spots instead of four smaller ones. That design variant will have to wait for a future blanket. In the next photo you can see how the concept above actually works:



Finally, here are some other arrangements for the same basic units. The swift will note that the one in the upper right is in fact the layout I am using:



In addition to these, the squares and triangles can also be used by themselves, or in combo. LATE UPDATE: The two layouts on the right are in fact different. While both employ entire meta-units, with plain triangles where they meet, the top one butts the meta-units up against each other by uniting the edges of the squares, the other unites the edges of the triangles. The differences are subtle, but the lines of the piece do look different if the lower right hand arrangement is made.

In terms of technique used and hints for seaming - the squares fit stitch for stitch along the edge of the hex. Due to decrease ratios, the triangles are in fact just a bit wide at the base. To eat up that extra width, I play with ease, plus I sew them in using mattress stitch. I take a slightly bigger "bite" out of the triangles' sides than I do out of the edges of the squares to which I am sewing them. So far it has worked out well enough. Other spots where cast-on/bind-off edges meet are sewn together with whip stitch, picking up the innermost edges of the chains formed by the cast-on or bind off (or if no chain was formed, the equivalent edgemost stitch).

I do note that I've gone back and forth several times between working the hex, then sewing on the squares, or working the hex, then working the squares directly onto it's live stitches. I had forgotten I had done this as I began this summer's production, but looking at my finished blanket, I'm hard pressed to identfy the abberant sewn-on squares. I'll go back to the knit-on method on the next meta-unit. In the mean time, I'll just sit here in the heat and think about knitting, because at over 100-deg F indoors, it's too hot to actually do anything more than sit in one spot and pant like a dog.

Now. Has anyone else tried the hex yet?

Technorati : knitting

[Repost of material originally appearing on 2 August 2006]

As promised, here is the third unit needed to build my North Truro Counterpane. I won't say the last, because I still intend on squaring out the sides and adding coordinated strip-knit coordinated trim. That will require some half-hexes, half-squares and the trim itself. But I'm not there yet.

Like the square, the triangle is knit flat and is quite straightforward. In addition to the patterned piece graphed below, I also make some plain triangles to fit in between the larger meta-motifs. In essence they are the triangle graph below, but without any patterning. To make them I cast on 31, then work entirely in stockinette, employing only the shaping directions shown at the ends of the right-side rows.



[Click on pix above for larger rendition]

I think that I might have done the patterned triangle a bit differently if I were to assay it again now. I might have eliminated the YOs and companion decreases down the center on rows 1-11. Or maybe not. I'd have to play with it to see if I liked the meta-unit (and how multiple metas fit together) after assembly without those radial spikes.

Tomorrow I'll discuss again how these go together, and present some alternate arrangements.

Technorati : knitting

[Repost of material originally appearing on 1 August 2006]

As promised, here is the square I use to build my North Truro Counterpane - the first of the companion units needed to build the thing along with yesterday's hexes.

I could see someone making a blanket of only the squares, or only the triangles (tomorrow's post), but I did design them to fit visually with the swirl counterpane to make up the larger star meta-motif. I like the contrast between the patterned, almost embossed central swirls and plain stockinette. The lines of the square extend and frame the swirl's motion, spreading the design out beyond the borders of the hex itself.

The square is knit flat, back and forth on straights. I use two of my longer DPNs for all the smaller units. Since these are quick and almost never languish on the needles, don't bother finding a pair of traditional straights with end buttons.


[Click on pix above for larger rendition]

Now, why did I go to all this trouble? For the classic reason. Why not?

I'm not a big fan of pieced quilting. I think it can be visually quite lovely, and value it as a medium for artistic expression, but I don't enjoy manipulating all those little patches of cloth myself. I am however fascinated by simple geometry. Things like tessellations tickle my fancy. I can't pass by a bit of interesting mosaic or brickwork without pausing to appreciate regular polyhedral tiling. Traditional Islamic non-figural ornamentation is a source of wonder to me. When I stumbled across Phillips Knitting Counterpanes I skidded to a halt and hung on every page.

Since then I've kept my eye open for more pieced counterpane style patterns of all levels of complexity. But I notice that very few are built on layouts beyond all squares, triangles, or hexes; or (at the most) on octagons plus small squares. I wanted to play with some of the more unusual layouts - to see if I could bend knitting around them. There are lots of ways to tile an area with simple regular polygons, and simple regular polygons are easy to knit. Why not mix squares and triangles? Or hexes, squares and triangles? Or (be still, my heart), dodecagons, hexes, and squares? North Truro is my first attempt.

I wonder what trouble i could get into if I departed the single plane, and ventured into the 3D world of polyhedra? Hmmm....

Technorati : knitting

[Repost of material originally appearing on 31 July 2006]

O.K. Apparently I'm not the only crazed loon out there that's interested in knitting something with ten thousand ends. So in response to requests, I share my North Truro Counterpane.

Please note that as a pattern, this is still in Beta stage. I have no yarn quantities, gauge estimates, or recommended needle sizes. There also may still be an error lurking in the upper right double moss area on rounds 35-43, after the centered leaf motif. I think I've corrected it on this version, but since I mostly work my motifs on autopilot at this point, I can't swear that I've payed close enough attention to test-knitting this particular edition of my graph. If you run into oddness, remember that the double moss area on each side of the center leaf should mirror. If it looks like you're developing a rib on row 37 or 39, invert the knits and purls after the center leaf and all will be well.

In terms of materials, I can say that I'm using a insanely inexpensive unnamed coned cotton flake yarn found in the back room at Webs. It's soft, with some open and relaxed sections, rather than a tightly spun mercerized cotton. In terms of weight it's probably closest to fingering, with occasional puffy bits making it hard to describe. I'm getting 16-17 wraps per inch.

For needles, I'm using 3mms. NOT US #2s, which tend to be 2.75 mm, but true European 3mm needles. I've got a mix of 10-inch and 8-inch long steel DPNs of that size, and am working my hexes on four, moving to seven when the number of stitches on the needles makes that more comfortable (one needle per side, plus one to knit with). Now not everyone is as DPN happy as I am, so if you prefer using one or two circs, try starting out with a set of 4 DPNs, (two hex sides per needle), and using them until the piece is large enough to make the transition practical - probably around round 23 or so.

Please remember to note the one-stitch transition on round 35. I shunt the beginning of the row one stitch to the left on that round. You should knit the first stitch of Round 35 onto the last needle of Round 34, then work around, doing that terminal K2tog on the last stitch of each repeat and the first stitch of the next one. If you're using circs and markers, move the marker to after that K2tog. The final repeat of Round 35 will work out even - the last K2tog will combine the previous final stitch of that repeat plus that stitch you knitted and transferred at the beginning of the row.


[Click on pix above for larger rendition]

I will post the graphs for the companion square and the triangles tomorrow. The hex can be used alone or in combo with the other units. In fact, the geometry of the thing allows several possible assembly layouts I'll write more about that later in the week.

Finally, there's one more reason why this is just in Beta. I haven't finished the total counterpane design yet. It is my intent to (eventually) draft out companion half hexes and half-squares, to finish the piece off as a rectangle, then trim the whole caboodle with a custom-designed edging that complements the design elements of the motifs.

Needless to say, I'm not there yet.

Technorati : knitting

As you can tell from my absence from these pages, life again overtakes my leisure pursuits.  Still, even though I haven't had much time to write, I have been able to fit little scraps of knitting into my not-so-copious free time.

First, I knit a pair of replacement socks for Friend Alexx.  They're replacements because I had made a pair for him over the holidays that failed to fit.  Since my socks come with an unlimited warranty, I was honor bound to replace them.  Friend Alexx requested a pair of heavy hiking/slipper socks - preferably purple variegated.  It took a bit of searching to find a purple mix in DK weight washable wool that didn't trail off into prissy pink or boudoir lilac.  But I did.  Cleckheaton Tapestry 8 Ply, in Color #4.  The pair is now done and waiting for me to darn in the ends and send them to the recipient.  No pix - they're pretty standard stockinette in screaming purple, but they're dense and cushy. 

In a coincidence, I stumbled across a briefcase I had been using three years ago.  In it I found a pair of socks I had started for Alexx's wife, Friend Kestrell.  At that point, Kes was learning to knit and wanted to make socks.  So I decided to make a pattern just for her.  This presented a couple of challeges because Kes is blind.  I wanted to use a simple knit/purl brocade that made a deeply embossed texture, and that would be relatively easy for a new sock knitter to memorize.  Having worked with Friend Rosie (another non-sighted knitter) I also wanted to make a pattern in which one could use feel to determine one's location.

My best intentions at that time led me to finish out one sock, and make my way through the heel of the second.  Then for whatever reason something happened and I stopped working on the project.  Around that time my job world changed, and the briefcase holding the socks was "retired." The socks were forgotten in the ensuing turmoil. 

In any case when the pair resurfaced,  I had a finished sock but no pattern written down.  I know I had drafted out the textured brocade, but I couldn't find it on my archives.  Another friend came to the rescue.  My stitchpal Kathryn saves everyhing.  I had shared the original chart with her way back when, and she was kind enough to send me a copy.

But there was a complication.  The chart I sent Kathryn was for a 14-stitch repeat.  My done-sock was worked on 72 stitches - an 18-stitch repeat.  Yes, I had the finished sock, but it can be surprisingly difficult to graph up a piece from as-knitted, especially when the knitted object is done at tiny gauges with a variegated yarn.  But between the sock and the logic of the pattern I was able to noodle it out and continue.  I present both the 14 stitch and 18 stitch repeat.  The 14 fits neatly on any sock worked on 56 stitches.  If you are partial to working with a set of five rather than four needles, you will find that one full repeat will fit on each needle, and each needle will be worked in the same way.  Also, being top-down symmetrical, this pattern wil look pretty much the same for toe up and cuff down socks.

Here's a set of quick and dirty charts.  Yes, I know that Kes and Rosie would have problems reading a *.jpg chart.  See below for full prose instructions.


Kes' Brocade - 14 stitch version, transcribed for knitting in the round only

Row 1: (Right Side) P2, K3, (P1, K1)3 times, K2, P1
Row 2: (Wrong Side) P3, K3, P1, K1, P1, K3, P2
Row 3: K1, P3, K3, P1, K3, P3
Row 4: K2, P3, K5, P3, K1
Row 5: K3, P3, K3, P3, K2
Row 6: P1, K3, P3, K1, P3, K3
Row 7: K1, P1, K3, P5, K3, P1
Row 8: (P1, K1)2 times, K2, P3, K3, P1, K1
Row 9: K1, P1, K3, P5, K3, P1
Row 10: P1, K3, P3, K1, P3, K3
Row 11: K3, P3, K3, P3, K2
Row 12: K2, P3, K5, P3, K1
Row 13: K1, P3, K3, P1, K3, P3
Row 14: P3, K3, P1, K1, P1, K3, P2

Kes' Brocade - 18 stitch version, transcribed for knitting in the round only

Row 1: (Right Side) K3, P4, (K1, P1)2x, K3, P3, K1
Row 2: (Wrong Side) K1, P3, K4, P1, K4, P3, K2
Row 3: K2, P3, K7, P3, K3
Row 4: K3, P3, K5, P3, K4
Row 5: K4, P3, K3, P3, K4, P1
Row 6: P1, K4, P3, K1, P3, K4, P1, K1
Row 7: K1, P1, K4, P5, K4, P1, K1, P1
Row 8: P1, K4, P3, K1, P3, K4, P1, K1
Row 9: K4, P3, K3, P3, K4, P1
Row 10: K3, P3, K5, P3, K4
Row 11: K2, P3, K7, P3, K3
Row 12: K1, P3, K4, P1, K4, P3, K2
Row 13: P3, K4, P1, K1, P1, K4, P3, K1
Row 14: P2, K4, (P1, K1) 3 times, K3, P3

The astute will notice that the thing is symmetrical on two axes.  The 14 stitch repeat mirrors around central stitch #8, and row #7.  The 18 stitch repeat mirrors around stitch #9 and row #7.

And for good measure here's a close-up showing the final texture.  Or as good a photo as I could manage given my limited photography skills, the dark color and speckled nature of the yarn I used.  Which yarn is it?  I believe it's Ancient Fortissima from the pre-merger days.  The 100g ball (now long since separated from the ball band) is sort of ragg-style tweedy, with haphazard stripes being produced when one or more of the constituent plies shades off to a new tone.  In real life it's more deep burgundy/blood red than it is magenta/blue.  The striping effect though isn't uniform.  Sock #1 has a far more demonstrative striping pattern than does on-the-needles sock #2.



I'm about half-way through the brocaded cuff of sock #2 right now (not shown).  As soon as I'm done, I'll pack up both pairs along with the finished pattern and send them to my friends.

Apparently there are lots of German-speaking knitters out there who would love to have my Kombu scarf pattern in German.  Or so the very gracious Kerstin Michler tells me.  So many in fact that she translated the thing, and asked my permission to post it.  I said I'd put it up on wiseNeedle, but some major overhauls on that site have made the appearance of Kerstin's hard work woefully late. 

I apologize, and for the time being, post the thing here charts and all as one big Acrobat *.pdf.  We will get it up on wiseNeedle as part of the new look/feel/functionality improvement set.  In the mean time, please enjoy and join me in expressing gratitude to Kerstin.

Here's the last item in the chart series. Thank you for all the kind words. I'm delighted that people are finding this useful.

I have gotten some questions about why I am not using the standard Japanese symbol set. That set is quite broad compared to most of the sets in Western books. My answer is that it's relatively unknown in the US and Europe. Perhaps I'll add a symbol glossary that equates its symbols to notations used by other more commonly available sources. That's a big project though, and might be better suited for wiseNeedle than for this blog.

Barbara Walker's Starlight Lace, Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, p.288

I will use this last Walker pattern to show some more complications to charting life. This time, the pattern's stitch count varies in a couple of rows, plus there is a large number of edge stitches. My method is to graph out everything verbatim row to row, then (if needed) introduce no-stitch boxes for clarity. Again, all quotations from Walker are in bold. Here goes...

Multiple of 6 st plus 5
Row 1 (wrong side): and all other wrong-side rows - Purl.
Row 2: K2 *yo, ssk, k1, yo, ssk, k1-b; rep from *; end yo, ssk, k1.

The repeat is only 6 stitches, but I think I'll chart out three repeats plus edge stitches. That should give me enough room to see the play of the edge stitches, and the staggered effect of the offset design itself. Row 1 is plain old purl, but it's a wrong side row, so it graphs out as shown below, with the "1" on the left hand edge rather than the right hand edge. Remember, I'm just graphing verbatim at this point. I'm making no effort to read ahead. I just want to get the stitches down on my chart.


We've got 23 stitches [(6x3) + 5]. Note that the k1-b (knit one stitch through the back of the loop to twist it) has its own symbol. All wrong side rows in this pattern are plain - worked as purls if the thing is knit flat, and as knits if it's worked in the round.

Digression: Most modern texture patterns alternate rows with something happening on them (cable crossings, decreases, increases, etc.) with plain rows, and many pattern authors don't bother graphing the alternate rows if they're all plain. This can cause a bit of confusion. I got tripped up recently by Hazel Carter's Spider Queen shawl. It's a masterful bit of charting, but the first chart is stripped of those plain wrong-side rows. The later charts include them. I wasn't paying attention, and didn't notice that the numbering on that first chart labeled every row, but counted by twos. I ended up having to rip back a bit when I noticed that my piece didn't looklike the project photo. So be warned. Look at the numbering. If it begins with "1" on the left, and you're knitting flat you start off with a wrong-side row. If the "1" is on the right and you're knitting flat, you start off with a right-side row. If every other number is missing, you've got a pattern with the plain rows left out. Look elsewhere in the write-up to find out if those plain rows are to be knit or purled.

I'll skip writing up the plain rows, but I will include them in my growing graph:

Row 4: K3, *k2tog, yo, k1-b, yo, ssk, k1-b, rep from *; end k2


Again, no problems here. Everything graphs out nicely and stitch count is constant. There are equal numbers of stitches increased (the yos) and stitches decreased (the ssks and k2togs).

Sometimes if I'm having problems with a repeat, even if it's charted, I'll grab a piece of graph paper and draw out my stitches. Sometimes I catch an error in my knitting using my pencil that went totally unnoticed on my needles.

Row 6: k2, k2tog * yo, sl2-k1-p2sso, yo, sl1-k2tog-psso; rep from * end yo, sl2-k1-p2sso, yo ssk, k2.

This is where that "off to hell in a handbasket" feeling begins to creep in. We've got double decreases, both with the rightmost leg on top (sl1-k2tog-psso), and with the centermost stitch on top (sl2-k1-p2sso). We've also got a number of yarn overs, and just for fun - a couple of plain old decreases, and an unknown number of times to do the ** repeat between the k2, k2tog opening unit, and the end yo, sl2-k1-p2sso, yo, ssk, k2 closing unit.

To figure this out, we need to remember that we've got 23 base stitches on the previous row. That's 23 stitches to play with. All of the plain knits plus the stitches in the decreases on Row 6 must add up to 23. Let's look at the math:

• One ** repeat on this row adds up to six stitches (the two double decreases).
• The pre-** opening row unit is four stitches (k2 plus one k2tog)
• The after-** closing row unit is seven stitches (one double decrease plus one ssk and k2)

If you add up our fixed numbers (the pre- and post-** stitches) you get 11 stitches. The previous row contained 23, and we subtract those 11 from the total. We get 12, which (serendipity) is a multiple of our ** unit. We graph out the pre-* stitches (shown in blue) plus two repeats of the ** unit, followed by the post-** unit (also shown in blue.


We're out of that handbasket, even though our graph is showing a very short row. Not to worry. Going through and counting stitches confirms that we've got the correct number here. We'll worry about neatening everything up and inserting those no-stitch boxes after we get all the rows charted. So let's move on.

Row 8: K3, *k1-b, yo, k1, yo, k1-b, k1; rep from*, end k2.
This row is also problematic. How many times to repeat the stuff between the **s? Again , stitch count comes to our rescue. Evil Row 6 brought the stitch count down to 17. Row 7 (worked plain) preserved that count. Now on Row 8, there are increases, and "as-is" stitches but no decreases. There should be 17 stitches on this row EXCLUSIVE of the YOs. Again we do the math. We start with 17 stitches, then account for the three before the *, and the 2 after - that's 12 stitches left. NOT counting YOs, each between the ** repeat contains 4 stitches. We need to graph out three iterations of the stuff between the **s. Happily once we graph in these instructions (including the 6 YOs) that restores us to the original stitch count of 23.



Remember, we're not worrying about lining stitches up right now, our only concern is getting the correct number of them on the chart. We'll think about how to represent those low-count rows 6 and 7 later.

Row 10: K2, *yo, ssk, k1-b, yo, ssk,k1; rep from * end yo, ssk, k1
We're back to a stable stitch count, with the same number of increases and decreases per row. Graphing it up is easy. I notice something here though:



See those two blue units? They're identical. It looks like this pattern is formed by an exact duplicate of rows 1-6, offset by three stitches (one half of the repeat). While you can see it (sort of) in the prose directions, the duplication leaps out in the charted ones. I find this sort of half-drop duplication and charting makes the pattern really easy to memorize. More on this later, after we've charted some more rows.

Row 12: *K2tog, yo, k1-b, yo, ssk, k1-b; rep from *, end k2 tog, yo, k1-b, yo, ssk.
Again this looks veeerrrryyyy familiar! I've highlighted the repeat (in fact I just cut and pasted those boxes).



Row 14: K1, *yo, sl2-k1-p2sso, yo, sl1-k2tog-psso; rep from *, end yo, sl2-k1-p2sso, yo, k1.
Remember Evil Row 6, with all those double decreases? It's back! Offset three stitches, but otherwise the same. We start with 23 stitches on the previous row, then subtract the 1 before the **, and the 4 after the **, leaving 18 stitches - so we do the 6-stitch bit between the **s three times.



Row 16: K1, k1-b, *k1, yo, k1-b, k1, k1-b, yo; rep from * end k1, k1-b, k1.
Just like row 8, offset again by three stitches. Again we've got 17 stitches on the previous row to account for. Not counting the YOs, we've got 2 stitches before and 3 stitches after the ** accounted for, leaving 12 - so we do the 4-stitch ** unit three times. One you add in the YOs, we're back up to to the 23 stitches of our original count.



Now to add the finishing touches. It looks like each of the decrease units on Rows 6 and 14 visually caps off the clusters of decreases on the rows below. So I'll spread them out across the row, adding in my no-stitch boxes as best I can to maximize the read of the pattern compared to the photo of the worked swatch.

I'll also add in my stitch key, header and footer info at this point. Remember that there are NO increases or decreases on alternate rows. Therefore I don't need to include that second column of "if it's a right-side/wrong-side row" instructions that I had to include in yesterday's write-up.

One final note, there is one small bit of strangeness here. Because of the way that the repeat works out, and the way that edge stitches are handled, the last decrease on Row 6 is handled differently if it is the final stitch of an "inside repeat" or if it is the final stitch of the last repeat on the row. Since this isn't easy to graph, I've added a special note about it, and made it blue on the chart.



The memorization thing?? This pattern looks complicated at first glance. Especially if you just look at the prose directions. However it's not that tough. There are only four substantive rows - 2, 4, 6, and 8. The entire pattern repeat is only six stitches wide. Everything else is a repeat, either straight on the same row, or (in the case of rows 10-16) offset by three stitches (one half the width of the repeat). ? I can't remember the prose directions verbatim, but I can and do memorize the pattern in its visual representation. Not everyone can memorize a nonverbal visual representation (and it's no shame not to have that bit of wiring) but many people can, and have surprised themselves by being able to do so after becoming comfortable with charts.

This concludes my mini-series on graphing - how to read them, how to build them, and how to solve common problems translating prose directions to charts. Please feel free to post additional questions about graphing and reinterpreting prose instructions as charts, but please know I will not be offering a graphing service here. My goal is to show others how to do it for themselves, not do it for them.

One last tech note - the visual presentation of the charts changes mid-way through this note because I experienced a massive computer failure. I ended up finishing this post on a different machine using a different version of MS Visio. The later version has a slightly different GIF translator than the earlier version I normally use. So it's not your monitor - it's me. Apologies for the visual confusion.

So far the nominations for stitches to use as object lessons have been rather sparse. I've gotten suggestions to do:

• Porcupine Stitch from B. Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, p. 282
• Drooping Elm Leaves from B. Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns, p. 217

I've also gotten notes from people who said that given the hints posted over the past week they've been able to graph up

• Mermaid Mesh from Walker's Second Treasury, p. 267
• Madeira Cascade from Walker's A Treasury, p. 222

As the big boss at work would say, "Good on 'ya!"

These two patterns are not quite straightforward. Cascade has five stitches above and beyond the repeat that need to be apportioned into edge stitches. It does however have a very strong central spine - a double decrease that lines up on all right-side rows. Mesh is a bit harder in that it has both lots of edge stitches, plus a massive number of decreases and increases that use natural slant of the decreases to visually wander left and right. Certainly not a pattern for the faint-hearted to graph!

For the object lesson I'll do Porcupine and Walker's Starlight Lace (Second Treasury, p 288). Drooping Elm is interesting, but doesn't pose some of the conundrums that these two do. I'll start today with Porcupine. Starlight will appear later in the week.

Porcupine Stitch from B. Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, p. 282

Porcupine has some interesting features. It's a 9 row repeat, in which only three rows are substantive. BUT those three rows are each repeated at least twice, and the same instructions are repeated on both the right and wrong side rows of the piece. There are also four stitches requested over the 12 stitch repeat count that will have to be accounted for in edge stitches, but they seem to always stay outside the ** repeat marks, so keeping track of them shouldn't be a problem.

Walker notes that this texture design is of Victorian origin. It does have a major feature that was much more common in early instructions than in later ones. Porcupine includes patterning on both right side and wrong side rows. You don't see this often as most modern? patterns confine increases, decreases or other shaping elements to right-side rows only. Flipping the instructions for decreases is far more confusing than just translating knits to purls and vice versa.

My write-up will intersperse the as Walker gives them with how that row ends up being graphed. The Walker quotations will be in bold.

Multiple of 12 stitches plus 4
Row 1: K2, *Yo, K2tog; rep from * to last 2 sts, end k2
Looking at the pattern, I suspect it will be a good idea to graph out two repeats of the pattern, that's 24+4 = 28 stitches across my chart. We start with a right-side row:


Row 2 and 4: K2, purl to last 2 st, end k2
Very easy. Remember this is a wrong side row, and that mental inversion thing should be invoked to "flip" knits to purls and vice versa.

Row 3: Knit
Because Row 4 is the same as Row 2, I'll graph up both 3 and 4 here.


Row 5 and 8: K2, *sl1-k2tog-psso, k4, yo, k1, yo, k4, re from *, end k2
Now it begins to get interesting. Still, stitch counts are maintained. How can I tell this? By looking at the part between the **s. It includes a double decrease that finishes with the rightmost stitch on top, plus two yos to compensate for the two stitches eaten by the double decrease. Warning though. It's not all that hard to visualize row 5, it's a right-side (odd numbered) row, but I can sense some hyperventilation among those who have noticed that this same sequence is repeated on a wrong-side (even numbered) row. We'll deal with that bit of chaos when we get there.

Row 6, 7 and 9: K2* p3tog, p4, yo, p1, yo, p4, rep from * end k2
We have now hit the twilight zone row - the one that will cause many people to give up graphing. But it's not impossible. Remember that mental flip thing? Flex your brain because we're now going to do some gymnastics.

On Row 6, we've been told to do a p3tog on a wrong side row. Now, a p3tog on a wrong side row, if viewed from the right side of the work is a dead ringer for a k3tog. How do I know this? The Sainted Barbara tells me so in the glossary of chart symbols in her Charted Knitting Designs (aka Walker III), and A Fourth Treasury of Knitting Patterns (aka Walker IV). Also I experimented. I'll use my symbol for k3tog, BUT I'll remember to build a double column glossary to accompany this pattern that describes what should be done when this symbol is encountered on both right-side and wrong-side rows.


Now on Row 7, we're told to do the same thing as on Row 6. But we're on a right-side row. A p3tog on a right side row is a p3tog on a right side row. I don't have a symbol in my set for a p3tog, so I'll have to make one up. Visually, in a P3tog done on an odd numbered row, the right hand most stitch of the three worked together ends up on top. I'll make a hybrid symbol that sort of reminds me that three stitches are being worked together, the right hand most one will end up on top, and that it's a purl. If it turns out that I like this symbol, I'll add it to my permanent stencil collection in Visio:


Row 5 and 8: K2, *sl1-k2tog-psso, k4, yo, k1, yo, k4, re from *, end k2
Row 8 is a repeat of Row 5, but it's done on a wrong-side as opposed to right-side row. Again referring to the Sainted Barbara, we see that a s1-k2tog-psso done on the right side has as its wrong-side counterpart the delightfully awkward p3tog through the back of the loop. Again - remember we don't actually have to DO a p3tog through the back of the loop here unless we are doing this pattern in the round, but the symbol we use on the chart is the same one that would be used for one of those awkward puppies worked on the right side. I don't happen to have a standard symbol for p3tog through the back of the loop, so I'll invent one.

Row 6, 7 and 9: K2* p3tog, p4, yo, p1, yo, p4, rep from * end k2
Row 9 is a duplicate of Row 7. We've already graphed that. So we now have the nine rows of our repeat. It's also become clear that stitch counts are rock-stable row to row, and that the four extra stitches here are just garter stitch selvedges there for convenience, and aren't required to eke out partial repeats of the pattern. I'll mark the four extras off in blue.

But we're not quite done even though all nine rows are graphed out.

We've got a repeat made up of an odd number of rows. That means that Row 1 repeats on Row 10. In fact, although rows 10-18 are the same as Rows 1-9, each one graphs up as its opposite-side sibling. (I can sense I've lost quite a few of you, so I'll show rows 10-13:

Row 10 duplicates the action of Row 1, but does it on a wrong-side row. Therefore, the stitches that graph up as K2togs in Row 1 use a different symbol in Row 11. Likewise the knits/purls of rows 11-13 show as their opposite.

Row 14 duplicates Row 5, but as a wrong-side row. We've already graphed that bit of twisted thinking on Row 8, so adding it isn't a problem. Row 15 replicates Row 6, again we already did that flip on Row 9, so a simple cut and paste takes care if it, too.

Row 16 duplicates Row 7, which has its wrong-side counterpart originally on Row 6. Row 17 is another Row 8 in its right-side expression (Row 5). Row 18 is another Row 9 flipped for the wrong side (Row 6). If you place all of them on the chart, add the stitch key, grids, titles, and attributions you end up with this:



Now this may seem a long way to go for a short drink of water compared to Walker's original write-up. In this case, the prose description is only five lines long, but the chart takes up half a page. There's no bonus for brevity awarded for the charted format. But there is one major advantage to having this described in a graph. This chart is equally useful to people knitting in the flat and people knitting in the round, because all the right/wrong side transformations have been done.

People knitting in the round experience every row as a right-side row. To knit this reversible pattern entirely in the round, they'd cast on an even number of the stitch multiple (without the four blue extra stitches) then they'd follow every row starting at the right hand edge of the graph, and using the key symbols as interpreted in the "On Right-Side Rows" column. People knitting in the flat would follow the chart in the manner I described before, starting the odd numbered rows at the right edge, and the even numbered rows at the left, alternately using the appropriate columns from the accompanying symbol key.

Have fun with this one. Try out Porcupine Stitch in a swatch. You'll find the lacy effect is magnified if a larger needle than one would usually use for a given yarn is used. Lacy or dense, the result will be rather puffy. Given the appropriate yarn it would make nice two-sided scarves, shawls, or blankets. Stay tuned for more adventures in charting!

I've finished my Snake Scarf. It's about 58" long, which works. I've used all but about four yards of my fancy yarn. The jury is still out on the edging thing. Perhaps something very narrow in black just to give it a contained, outlined look. Perhaps not. Lots depends on whether I have time to hit my LYS, as there's nothing suitable in stash. Or I may just leave it as it is.

I played a long time with the final section, trying out several ways to do it that preserve the look of the ribbed sections that went before, because the usual way of ending off an Entrelac section lost the directionality of the ribbing. My corners don't exactly match, but that's because the entire piece has a definite beginning and end. If you were to work this idea like a seaman's scarf, with a center third of plain ribbing, and both ends worked out from that ribbing, they would match exactly. Perhaps that's the next step, provided I find a suitable yarn in a color set I like.

I make no claim as to inventing this concept. Entrelac is pretty standard. I've seen recipes for it going back to instructions for sock tops printed in the 1890s or so. Nor is doing it in a narrow strip unique. Quick searches on the Web will surface lots of other people's experiments with directional knitting and narrow scarves. And I certainly can't lay any claims to ribbing, or to using long repeat multicolor yarns in a narrow scarf. However, I can claim the serendipty that happened when I played with all of these concepts together. The trumpet like manner in which the ribbing spreads and curves is (to me at least) both amusing and graceful, and presents a different effect than working this idea in garter or stockinette stitch. I did work out the ribbed treatment for the final end, and have provided my own graph for it.

As far as using this with other yarns since the Kureopatora is now long gone - I suspect that Noro Silk Garden or Kureyon would work nicely, as would some of the Daikeito yarns that are beginning to show up here in the US. (I haven't seen the latter in person, but I've read reports of them on the Web.) What you want is a yarn in which each individual color lasts for about a yard (or more) before shading into the next one. The glorious hand-painted yarns that are hank-dyed in skeins that are about a yard around would NOT produce this wide stripe effect. They'd be lovely, but the color sections would not be long enough to make dramatic stripes like Kureopatora's.

Just to annoy the natural-fiber-only crowd, I do observe that the yarn for this project needn't be a top-drawer luxury product. There are some very inexpensive acrylics that have exceptionally long color repeats. I'm not fond of working with them in general, but if you're thinking of knitting a rugged scarf for a little kid, those yarns might be worth considering.

Enjoy!

---

KUREOPATORA'S SNAKE - A KNITTING PATTERN



Materials

• US #6 needles
• Gauge for this project, taken over 1x1 ribbing, at the midpoint of a section where it isn't particularly stretched out: approximately 6 stitches (3 ribs) per inch
• 30 stitches at widest point
  
• Width of scarf: about 4.25 inches. Length of scarf: about 58 inches.
  
• Anticipated yarn consumption for this size: About 250 yards of a multicolor worsted weight yarn that normally knits in stockinette at 5 stitches per inch.
  

As for working method, this scarf is done in a pretty standard Entrelac edge column technique - think Entrelac project reduced to just the right and left most columns, without the basket weave effect sections between.

Row 1: Cast on 1 stitch, knit in the front, then purl in the back of this stitch [2 stitches on needle]
Row 2: Knit in the front, then purl in the back of the first stitch, K1 [3 st on needle]
Row 3: Purl in the front, then knit in the back of the first stitch, P1, K1 [4 stitches on needle]
Row 4: Purl in the front, then knit in the back of the first stitch, P1, K1, P1 [5 stitches on needle]
Row 5: Knit in the front, then purl in the back of the first stitch, finish row in established K1, P1 ribbing [6 st on needle]
Row 6: Knit in the front, then purl in the back of the first stitch, finish row in established K1, P1 ribbing [7 st on needle]
Row 7: Purl in the front, then knit in the back of the first stitch, finish row in established P1, K1 ribbing [8 st on needle]
Row 8: Purl in the front, then knit in the back of the first stitch, finish row in established P1, K1 ribbing [9 st on needle]

Continue rows 5-8, adding one stitch in each row but doing it to maintain the K1, P1 rib pattern. Keep doing this until you have 30 stitches on your needle.

Entrelac body section:

Row 1: Knit in the front, then purl in the back of the first stitch, SSK. Turn work over so the next row heads back in the other direction. Note that this first row is only 3 stitches long.
Row 2 and all subsequent even numbered rows: Work P1, K1 ribbing as established.
Row 3: Purl in the front, then knit in the back of the first stitch, P1, SSK. Note that from now on this row-ending SSK will be composed of one stitch worked on the previous row, plus one stitch from the dormant stitches on the left hand needle. Turn work over so the next row heads back in the other direction. You now have 4 stitches in the row.
Row 5: Knit in the front, then purl in the back of the first stitch, K1, P1, SSK. Turn work. You now have 5 stitches in the row.
Row 7: Purl in the front, then knit in the back of the first stitch, P1, K1, P1, SSK. Turn work. You will now have 6 stitches in the row.

Continue to work in the manner of rows 5-8, adding one stitch at the edge of each right-side row in the established rib pattern until you have incorporated all of the dormant stitches on the left hand needle. You will again have 30 stitches on the needle. At this point your segment is done. To do the next one, flip the work over (the and begin again from Row 1 of the Entrelac section). Continue adding entire trumpet shaped sections until your scarf is of sufficient length. (Mine maxed out at about 58").

Final section:

Rows 1-25 - work as for a standard Entrelac section. At the completion of Row 25 you should have fifteen active stitches on your right hand needle. The left hand needle should hold the other fifteen stitches. Work Row 26 as usual (marked in blue on accompanying chart).

Row 27 and all subsequent odd numbered rows: SSK, work in established ribbing, ending row with SSK and turn in the same manner as in the Entrelac section.
Rows 28 and all subsequent even numbered rows: Work P1, K1 ribbing as established.

Continue in this manner until you have completed Row 50, and three stitches remain on your needle.
Row 51: Slip, slip, slip, knit all three stitches together through the back of the loop (this is a three-stitch variant of the standard two stitch SSK decrease).

Darn in all ends.

After the overland slog on the Mystery Project, I felt the need for some instant gratification. I did a couple of pairs of booties (already distributed to the deserving, and not available for photographs). Then I took that beautiful hand-dyed sock yarn I mentioned the other day and started in on another pair of halfie mittens. I started (more or less) with the Fingerless Whatever pattern written up here earlier, but went free-form pretty early on.



To start, I'm using a traveling twisted stitch instead of ribbing. It goes all the way around the cuff portion, but when the thing gets to the heel of the hand, the palm side switches to plain stockinette.



After the heel of the hand transition, the twisted traveling stitch pattern drops a half-repeat at each cable crossing, and ends up forming a slave bracelet sort of triangle on the back of the hand. The thumb gusset is worked in the plain stockinette part, and is exactly the same as the one on Fingerless Whatevers. The hand and thumb bit end off with a bit of plain old K2, P2 rib.

Yes, the patterning would be shown to greater advantage were I not using hand-dyed yarn. But I like the seaweed-like effect of the mottled greens and blues, and the way the colors play with the highly embossed texture vs. the flat stockinette part. I'm pleased with my minor diversion, and as this yarn was a gift, thank yous are in order. (Plus I'm sure the giver would be curious to see what her offspring ended up becoming.)

Another postscript

Strange intersections of my professional employment and personal avocation keep cropping up elsewhere. I will soon be forced to knit my own robot.

Here's the final graph and directions for my edging to complement the Paisley Shawl from Interweave Knits, Spring 2005 edition. I haven't worked out how to do the corners yet, but I suspect I'll fudge them, working the equivalent of an extra repeat of the chart in each corner. I'll start several stitches before each corner, working more than one attachment point into one stitch of the shawl body.

Simple Edging for Paisley Shawl

Work Paisley Shawl as directed until after the final row of the paisley lace border, just before the directions for the picot edging begin . You will have 156 stitches per quarter, as described. DO NOT BREAK OFF THE YARN.

The edging will be worked back and forth flat, using a DPN of the same size as your circular needle and the left hand needle tip of that circular. Place a needle stopper or rubber band on the right hand tip of your circular needle to avoid inopportune "stitch leakage" off the bottom of your circ as you work the edging.

Using the DPN, the active yarn strand and the half-hitch cast on, cast on 8 stitches. Avoid leaving a large skip between the circ and the DPN by taking care to make the first stitch immediately adjacent to the last stitch knit normally on your circular needle.

Flip the work over and knit the 8 stitches you just cast on. Flip the work over again and begin following the chart below at Row #1.


Note that at the end of every wrong-side row you will be working an attachment point. The attachments on Rows 2, 4, 8, and 10 are done as SSKs, with the first stitch of the SSK being the last stitch of the edging, and the second being a single active stitch of the shawl's body. The attachments on Rows 6 and 12 are done by slipping the last stitch of the edging, knitting two stitches of the shawl body together, and passing the slipped stitch over the K2tog.

The result:



Each sawtooth has a quad flower on it, and the double row of eyelets at the base of the trim echoes the four double column of eyelets that follow the diagonal lines from the shawl's center to the four corners. Plus the edging is about half the width of the paisley lace band that's just inside it, so the proportions work well. This edging also knits up quite quickly. Last night I was able to do most (but not all) of Side #1. Based on yarn consumption, I should have enough to finish. Perhaps even have a little bit left over.

Enjoy!

After much noodling, doodling, and swatching, here's the result. I didn't bother taking photos of every generation of interim swatches. All that rejection is just too depressing. I'm using the tail end off the outside of my yarn ball to work my experiments. Since I need to be frugal, I've been ripping back the rejects as I go.

One important thing to note is the difference in the quad eyelet motif. I thought about it some more as I sat in traffic during yesterday morning's commute. In the shawl body, that motif is presented in plain old north-south orientation, with the rows running horizontally. The motif spans six rows and begins with a single eyelet on the first. In the edging, the repeat is presented on the bias. The motif wouldn't show in the same orientation. Plus the extra stitches added to form the repeat skew the stitch count. Therefore working the repeat as shown yesterday would not make a quad-eyelet design comparable to the one in the body. If stitch placement were adjusted, it would make a square of eyelets instead of a diamond. Unadjusted as is, it would make a snaky looking blob of eyelets.

Sure enough, by the time I was finally able to swatch tonight that all became painfully obvious. So I began playing. If you look at the body at a 45-degree angle, the eyelets appear as two stacked groups of two. If I were to work them that way perhaps when the edging was viewed in its natural orientation, the eyelets would resemble the ones in the body.

Again, sure enough it worked exactly that way. Working two right side rows with (YO, K2tog)2x produced the proper appearance. But then I had the problem of where to place that repeating unit. How close could I put it to the right hand YO columns before it lost its integrity? On which two right side rows should the unit be worked?

You guessed it. More swatching. You can see some of my spurious results here, with the last complete dag (marked with the arrow) being the one with the most optimal placement:

And here's the final graph.

Now to go back to the shawl and begin to work the thing onto the live stitches around the edge. More on that tomorrow, guaranteed!

My older daughter is new to knitting. She just began at the Boston Knit Out this past fall. So far she's done several foofy garter scarves for herself and her friends (first lesson in casting on and the knit stitch); a 42-stitch hat (using DPNs to knit in the round, decreases); and a felted bag (more reinforcement of knitting in the round, plus making a larger project, and I-cord, and picking up along an edge).

You'll notice that all of her finished items were all-knit/big yarn projects. She wanted to "graduate" from all-knit and learn purling. She also wanted to use smaller needles. So we talked it over, and she suggested doing a pair of ribbed fingerless mitts. In fingering weight yarn. On US #0s. Without a pattern.

Now, did I tell her that many adults break out in prickly heat at the thought of using DPNs, let alone size #0s? Or that a 56-stitch around wristlet can contain as many stitches as an entire big-needle sweater? Or that I've seen grown women cry when someone suggests they knit (gasp) without a pattern?

Naah. What she didn't know couldn't daunt her.

So she cast on and began knitting. And knitting. And knitting. She plugged away at her mitts every evening after homework, while we (as a family) played video games. At first, being new to purling, her stitches were loose and wobbly, with ladders in the corners between the DPNs. But practice soon took care of that:



For everyone who has ever said to me, "I tried DPNs but I couldn't manage them," or "It takes too long to learn something new," I present her learning progression. She worked the bottom one first, then the top one, both using the same yaran, stitch count and needles. You can see how her gauge, stitch accuracy and general neatness improved steadily throughout the project.




Sure, one's bigger than the other, but both are wearable, and she does wear them proudly.

Knitting takes time to learn - there's no getting out of that fact. Some people DO learn faster than others, but everyone who wants to learn IS capable of doing so. The key is practice. Unfortunately practice is a dirty word in today's instant-dissolve, short attention span world.

Not satisfied with how something is turning out? Keep at it. Do something small and inconsequential that uses the same skills. Work out the kinks and bugs on the practice piece rather than the luxe yarn you chose for your "real" project. But keep going. You CAN do it. As the Target Child says "No stinking piece of string was going to defeat me!"

Here's her pattern. (She?thinks her fingerless mitts look like the disc-shooting zapper gauntlets worn by a character in one of her favorite PS2 games).

Zapper Gauntlets

About 150 yards or so of a smooth non-itchy fingering weight sock yarn. This pair was knit in some remnants of On Line Linie 6 Supersocke 100 Cotton, but any sock yarn will do.

5 DPNs, Size US #0 (2mm)

Gauge: Approximately 9 stitches = 1 inch (2.5cm), measured over K2, P2 ribbing.

Cast on 56 stitches (14 stitches per needle). Join to continue working in the round. Knit six rows. Change to K2, P2 rib and work until piece measures approximately 4 inches long (10cm).

At the beginning of the next round, bind off 10 stitches. Continue working around wristlet. You should have one needle with 4 stitches on it, then three needles each with 14 stitches. When you get to the hole created by the bind-off, flip the work over and head back in the other direction. Work five more rows of K2, P2 rib this way - flat, ending at the right side of the growing thumb hole.

On the next row we return to knitting in the round. Start Needle #1 by casting on 10 stitches (all needles should have 14 stitches again). Continue in established K2, P2 ribbing pattern, working in the round until piece measures approximately 1 inch (2.5cm) measured from cast-on row above thumb opening. Bind off loosely in pattern, and darn in all ends.

That's it!

(More in the cast-on series next week, I promise. Looking up all those links is more work than I have time for right now mid-deadline.)

Well, I did make some progress on Rogue over the past several days. I've finally gotten past the grief of the pocket (my fault); finished the equivalent depth of the body behind the pocket, and fused the two together.



Here you see the area adjacent to the nifty pretzel-terminated side panel, showing off the contrast between that knotwork design and the Little Dragon Skin patterning.



The pocket fusing step went off without a hitch. I remembered to bind off four stitches of the body at either side of the pocket fusing row, again to leave a notch inside which the zipper will be installed. Here's a process shot, with the pocket stitches held on the pink needle, and the body on the silver circ. Because my right-side rows have so much shaping, I made sure to do the fusing on a wrong-side row - all purls in the patterned part.



Progress however has been somewhat less than it might have been because I've gotten two new needlework assignments since Thursday.

First, my mother has asked me to design a needlepoint pillow top for her that incorporates multiple Fleur de Lys motifs in wine, an off white background, and some sort of framing mechanism. She's looking to make a piece on 16-count canvas. This is pretty much a "bring me a rock" assignment (one of those in which your efforts are greeted by the response "Wrong rock. Try again.") Here's my first attempt at just a single motif:



The second was a last-minute request from Wild & Woolly in Lexington, MA to cover a class in sock making. They has a workshop scheduled for March 20th that covers cuff-down socks on two circs and one oversized circ (aka "Magic Loop"), and the original instructor has had a last-minute conflict. I'm the designated hitter for this one. Which means that because my own favored method for socks is toe-up on DPNs, I have to do a bit of brushing up before I can demo and explain those methods to others. If you've signed up for this class, please don't worry. I guarantee that in two weeks I'll be fully confident in the material to be covered.

Having finally gotten my act together what with swatching, recalculating, and general pointless noodling, I'm embarking on the highly modified Rogue. As ten thousand others have noted, it's a very completely written out pattern for a pocket front hoodie, by Girl from Auntie's Jenna. I really like the organic way she has used closed form cables to highlight the piece, and how those shaped cables narrow and widen. Killer!

In spite of the beauty of the native version, I am trying to satisfy specifications issued by a child in The Picky Years, so modifications are necessary:

• Gauge. Target child has picked out a yarn that knits at 5 spi instead of the pattern's 4.5. Math will be needed.
  
• Fiber. Nice springy wool works best and is easiest to use for cables, but the chosen yarn is 100% cotton. I've done complex cabling in cotton before. I'll cope.
• Zip front. I won't be the first to modify this and make a cardigan. The pattern's own home page provides hints on cardigan-ization. I'll be leaning on them.
• Texture for body. Kiddo is in love with the Dragon Skin all-over pattern (Walker II, p. 136). While I prefer the contrast between the smooth body and dense cables of the original, she's set on my using the design. Unfortunately, the design as presented by Walker needs 26 stitches to manifest nicely. A bit wider than is convenient for this pattern.
  

So to start. How to start?

First I bought the pattern. (Always a good thing, as "sharing copies" is a pernicious, evil, illegal but all too often seen antisocial behavior).

Knowing that the Dragon Skin pattern in the original was too wide. I began to play with it, and eventually trimmed it down somewhat. Here's the result:


The original is definitely nicer, with wider vertical elements, but the slimmed down version is quite usable and recognizable as the other's little brother. I'm still dithering whether or not to do the single stitch knit column between the make-ones as a normal or twisted knit stitch.

I swatched my yarn and established an unambiguous gauge for the stuff in my dragon skin patterns. I got a firm 5 stitches per inch total. Not the 4.5 spi the pattern specifies.

What to do?

First I looked at the size appropriate for Target Daughter in the original. Then I looked at the stitch counts of the next two larger sizes. I did the math to see if at 5 stitches per inch, they came anywhere near the circumference of the optimal original size. Serendipity! One did. I am using that size as the basis for all my stitch count estimations. I'll use that size's stitch count directions for anything relating to width, but will use the original size's directions for length. Yes, I'm sure there will be fudging along the way, especially to eke out vertical repeats so that the cables up the side finish nicely, but I don't think that those tweaks will be too difficult.

Can you take any pattern and do this? Yes and no. It's relatively easy to translate between Worsted and DK (5 and 5.5spi) and Aran and Worsted (4.5 and 5spi), but harder to make this translation for larger gauge differences. Plus patterns that rely on row gauge like colorwork, or raglan shaping present additional challenges. It's also easier to do this if you are not at either end of the range of sizes presented. If you already take the largest size in a pattern written for Aran weight yarn, and you wish to use Worsted, there aren't any sizes left with higher stitch counts for you to play with. (If you were going the other way - you were faced with a Worsted weight 5 spi pattern that was just a tad too small - you might be able to eke out an additional size or two by using Aran weight yarn at 4.5 spi instead.)

I've got my basic stitch count now, adjusted for my finer gauge. The next mod is the cardigan one. The advice worked out by others suggests adding an extra stitch to the front and back so that the total stitch count can be divided by two, creating the center front break. I'm going to add three to the front, but two to the back. My width is just a bit skimpy, and I have a feeling that I'd like an extra selvedge stitch in the center front when zipper sewing and I-cord trim time comes. I'm adding one fewer stitches to the back because my new texture design has a center stitch, and I want it run down the center of the back.

The next step is to cast on. I'll be working my Rogue back and forth rather than in the round (a loss there, I'd much prefer to work it in the round, but steeking would kill the elegance of the cables at the neckline). I note that the thing is written with a hem instead of ribbing. I like that for this cotton. Working it on smaller needles as directed should tame edge flare. Since I prefer a smooth finish inside when using a hem facing, I am using a provisional cast on - the same crocheted onto the needle one I used for Crazy Raglan. Using needles three sizes smaller than my body needles, I cast on the specified number of stitches for my chosen (larger) size, plus five more (three front, two back), and began knitting the facing.

On my first row of the facing, I decided to spot the left and right side areas in which the cable detail will happen. I did the count, figuring out which stitch will be the center sidemost stitch left and right, then counted out the required number for the first row of the cable detail chart, centered on those two stitches. I put markers in my work and left them there. While I'm not up to the post-facing bit yet, I can use the facing rows to re-count and confirm my marker placement. By the time I'm up to the first row of the main body, I should be 100% confident that those markers are in the correct places.

Next headache? Centering the Dragon Skin texture pattern repeat. On the back, I'll identify the centermost stitch. That will be stitch #11 on my chart above. I'll count back from that point, and begin my pattern panel on the appropriate stitch. On the fronts, I'll also plan out from the center, working one plain stitch, then walking backwards from Stitch #21 to figure out where I have to begin my left front; and doing one plain knit then walking forward from Stitch #1 to place the pattern on the right front. One thing to take into consideration - to maintain a stable stitch count there must be an equal number of increases and decreases per row. Because the width of the back and front panels will require that I truncate the repeats, I'll have to make sure to maintain that stitch count by fudging if that truncation cuts into an increase/decrease pair. I'm hoping that by happy coincidence, I'll be able to work the pocket openings into the verticals naturally created in the Dragon Skin texture pattern. THAT would be nifty!

Now all that remains is to plug away at the knitting part. Like with all pattern manipulations, there's no guarantee that my doing this will work out. I'm willing to wing it. By the time I get half-way up the body I'll have a good idea whether or not finishing IS a good idea. If not - I'll rip back and design something from scratch. (If you've read this far and noticed that I've screwed up my logic, please feel free to leave a comment and let me know.)

One final note - for those of you who are wondering how I can slap a copyright notice on a texture design from Walker - I am not copyrighting the pattern. She owns her prose write-up of the thing. I am asserting ownership of only my graphed representation. Have fun. Use it and other patterns shared here for your own knitting; but please do not repost or republish them without my permission.

Back from a business trip to Tucson, Arizona. No, I wasn't there for the incredibly huge Gem and Mineral Show, but wandered by one of the show's many pavilion complexes in the little bit of free time I had on Saturday.

In the knitting realm here's what I got:



These are little silver mini-earrings - the kind some people line up by the half dozen along the edge of their ears. The dinglebobs (a technical term) hanging down are small faceted semiprecious stones - mostly garnets and pale amethysts, in small silver settings. They were incredibly inexpensive. (I'm sure somewhere in India there's a whole village making these by the barrel full for next to nothing.)

While I was in Tucson, I happened to meet Dr. David Crawford, the Executive Director of the International Dark Sky Association. His group advocates for increased awareness of the problems caused by light pollution, and changes to local zoning/building regulations in favor of more efficient use of outdoor lighting. There are compelling reasons to improve outdoor lighting, including increased energy efficiency, reduced cost, and improved visibility where it is truly needed. There is also a growing body of research documenting how light affects people's health and well-being, and the negative impacts that indiscriminant lighting can have on organisms of all types. When all of the other benefits are taken into consideration, the aesthetic and scientific benefits from preserving the dark night sky almost become secondary concerns.

In any case, Dr. Crawford's impassioned (and sensible) ideas stuck with me on the over-long flight home. I turned out that the sock yarn I brought with me sort of fit the darkness and light theme, so I present Night and Day socks (still in process):



This particular yarn is Regia 4-Ply Ringel, Multi Effekt Color #5383. I've done a standard toe-up on US #00s, with 17 stitches on each needle (68 around). After the heel, I increased two stitches to a total count of 70. I did the increases where the corners of the short-rowed heel ends. Those two stitches help fill in the small hole that can form at that point. Normally I add a stitch on each side at that point anyway, then decrease it away on the next row. This time I just left them in.

The ankle pattern is a 10-stitch repeat I doodled up on the plane. I'm sure similar things exist in stitch dictionaries:


I hope that the the organization doesn't mind having something as silly as a pair of socks dedicated to it. I'll be writing up the pattern at greater length as I do Sock #2. If you decide to knit them, consider investigating (and making a donation to) Dark Skies.

Oh. The red jelly-bean looking things in the sock photo are lampwork glass ladybug beads, about to become a necklace for The Smallest Daughter. The other received earrings made from slices of a very small fossil ammonite, set in silver. My gift for myself was an unusual silver wire necklace thingy, meant to display large dinglebobs (see above). The ones I chose were rectangles of cobalt blue dichroic glass set in silver. (Dichroic glass is that iridescent stuff that looks like someone vitrified a peacock.) The Resident Male got an entire backpack full of various types of dried chili peppers - things that are hard to lay hands on here in this small corner of Massachusetts. He's much happier with something edible.

I'm still noodling on the hoodie project. Target child is waffling about her requirements. I'd rather wait until she settles into firm conviction before casting on. Some questions came in after Friday's post:

Why start with Rogue instead of designing your own from scratch?

First, I really admire this particular pattern, its proportions and the way the cables are so cleverly used. Since it fits so closely with the original set of requirements and/or mods to it would not be difficult, why not start out with it? Cardigan-ization isn't tough, nor would be knitting a smaller size to compensate for gauge differences. As for the rest - the texture pattern and saddle shoulders with a cable down the center of the arms, as Target Child looks over the photos of other people's finished Rogues, she's becoming less attached to those concepts.

You know you can use knitting design software to help.

Yup. I know that. I've got Sweater Wizard and the older Cochenille product. Hated the latter. I didn't mind the non-standard format of the directions, better suited for knitting machines than for hand knitters, but I was totally turned off by the lack of technical insight provided by customer support. The thing wasn't cheap, and I could never get it to run properly. Only one or two of the supplied templates produced any sort of output, and even they were unable to produce more than one or two of the available sizes. "Support" claimed that it was a problem unique to my set-up and there was nothing they or I could do about it aside from waiting for the next upgrade and seeing if that worked any better. Since we've got an average of six or seven working computers in this house at any one time (all with different processor/opsys/video card combos), and I tried the software on all of them and turned up exactly the same bugs, I rather doubted that one unique set-up was the problem.

Rather than throwing good money after bad, I decided not to spend close to $100 to upgrade Cochenille (with no guarantee that the new version would work any better. I switched over to Sweater Wizard. It's got far fewer design templates and isn't a full-size sloper drafting program, but what it has actually works, and is quite easy to use both during the design and knit-from phases. Which is refreshing compared to my previous experience. My only criticisms of the product have to do with personal preference and fit. I find the standard fit a bit tight for my taste, so I always add extra ease (which is verysimple to do).

My real desire though is to be able to produce the full-featured graphs of actual garment pieces, showing color or texture pattern placement like the ones in Rowan magazines. So far no knitting pattern design tools come close to that degree of integrated pattern shaping/motif placement. Yes, there are export features that allow customization of garment shapes for colorwork placement, but no total pattern maker that lets you tinker with all parameters in one interactive console. (If you gotta dream, dream big. [grin])

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

Although progress is slowly burbling along on the hoodie, there wasn't enough to keep my fingers happy over the weekend. So I started a pair of quickie socks. Standard Figure-8 toe toe-ups with short-row heels. I'm using Lana Grossa Melienweit Fantasy, on US #00s, at the (for me) relatively large gauge of 9spi (68 stitches around). Ankle pattern is an impromptu feather and fan variant:



Here's the graph for the ultra-simple six-row feather and fan variant used on the ankle. It's 17 stitches wide and six rows long. I'm working my socks on five needles (four in the sock, one to knit with). Because each needle has 17 stitches on it, this graph is worked once per needle:



More info on knitting socks of this type, including basic how-tos for both the Figure-8 toe and short-rowed heel can be found in any of the sock patterns on wiseNeedle.

I managed to land in both a snow and knitting rich area. Many of my neighbors knit. One even holds an informal knitting circle that meets once a week. I've been going when I can, and have watched the creation of a really nifty project that happened as a late-course correction on what might have been a tragedy.

Susan The Architect?has been knitting a magnificent impressionist blues/purples mohair stole to wear to a Very Important Event. She cast on plenty of stitches on?a long circ because she was going to knit it the long way (rows running end to end) rather than across the narrow dimension. It was tough to get a fix on her gauge because so many stitches were on the circ, and she had forgotten that she had done her swatch on a smaller sized needle than the one she ended up using.

She knit happily away in K5, P5 rib?until her stole was about 18 inches wide. Then she bound off and discovered that she'd made a strip 18 inches wide by 12 feet long!? Although she's on the tall side, she's not tall enough to carry off a 12-foot strip without constantly stopping to re-drape it or creating a tripping hazard for herself or those around her. Serious thought was needed, as ripping back mohair isn't a pleasant experience.

Susan decided to keep what she had made, but engineer a new use for it. I apologize for not having a model photo of the final piece, but I didn't have a camera with me. Here's a schematic, though:

?

She folded roughly one foot up on each end of the piece, then stitched the resulting flaps down at the cast on and cast off edges. She also seamed about three quarters of the way along the top of the flaps. This made nice pocket ends. Then she folded the piece in half, and seamed down the cast-on edge approximately 18 inches from the center fold. This joined the back into a hood-like shape.

She wears the piece with the hood either draped down her back, or over her hair. The two ends hang down in front - each with a handy pocket end at her fingertips, or are worn with one end flipped up over the opposite shoulder. From the center back of the neck (the base of the hood) to the bottom edge is now about 3.5 feet (12 foot total length/2 = 6; 6-1 foot for pocket = 5. 5-1.5 feet for hood = 3.5 feet), a far cry from the dangling 6 foot from the collar length of the piece when worn as a plain stole. Very wearable, and if I might say so, very flattering, too. Here are directions if you want to make Susan's Stole for yourself.

Susan's Stole

4 skeins King Cole Luxury Mohair (110 meters each, approx 440 meters or 480 yards, total)
Size US #13 (9mm) circular needle, 36 inches long.
Tapestry Needle for sewing up.

Gauge = Approximately 8 stitches = 4 inches or 10cm

Cast on 285 stitches.
Row 1:? (K5, P5), repeat, end K5.
Row 2:? (P5, K5), repeat, end P5.
Repeat rows 1 and 2 until your piece measures approximately 18 inches across, or you run out of yarn. Cast off and darn in ends.

Fold left and right edges in towards center, making end flaps approximately one foot deep. Seam up cast on and cast off row edges. Seam approximately 2/3 of the top edge of the flap to form a pocket.

Fold piece in half so that pocket ends are opposite each other. Seam about 18 inches from fold towards free ends?along cast-on edge (the opposite side from hand opening), to create a hood-like opening.

Final word:? Why 'Lemonade?'? From the old adage that begins "If life gives you lemons..."

Interesting Question

Yesterday Marcia asked about the K2P2 rib I posted about. She wants to use it on a hat where the brim is worn folded up. She'd like to have the pattern visible on the flipped up part, and wants to have the twists on the hat body and brim oriented with the same leg on top.

I haven't tried this, but I think that if this stitch were worked two-sided - with crossings on both sides, Marcia's effect would be achieved. To do this you need to make it a six-row rather than a five row pattern. Marcia was also concerned with the leg direction, but if the thing is worked two-sided this way, when flipped up the reverse will display the cable twist crossings going in the same direction as the front. (Try it by making slash marks on both sides of?a piece of paper, then folding it.)

To do it flat, I'd work:

Cast on a multiple of 4 stitches

Round 1: (K2, P2), repeat
Round 2: (K2, P2), repeat
Round 3: (Right twist using this method: [K2tog, leaving unit on left hand needle. Re-insert right hand needle tip into stitch closest to end of left hand needle. Knit this stitch. Slip entire now-twisted two-stitch unit to right hand needle], p2), repeat
Round 4: (K2, P2), repeat
Round 5: (K2, P2), repeat
Round 6: (Right twist using this method: [K2tog, leaving unit on left hand needle. Re-insert right hand needle tip into stitch closest to end of left hand needle. Knit this stitch. Slip entire now-twisted two-stitch unit to right hand needle], p2), repeat

In the round I'd work:

Round 1: (K2, P2), repeat
Round 2: (K2, P2), repeat
Round 3: (Right twist using this method: [K2tog, leaving unit on left hand needle. Re-insert right hand needle tip into stitch closest to end of left hand needle. Knit this stitch. Slip entire now-twisted two-stitch unit to right hand needle], p2), repeat
Round 4: (K2, P2), repeat
Round 5: (K2, P2), repeat
Round 6: K2, (Right purl twist using this method: [Skip the first stitch but retain it on the left needle and?purl the second one, also retaining it on the left hand needle. Then purl?together both the skipped stitch and the second stitch and move the resulting two-stitch unit?to the right hand needle], repeat

Of course another way to deal with the problem is to knit the cuff area using the pattern as described yesterday. When it was deep enough, you'd add three rows of purls to make a welt (the fold line); then reverse direction and knit the cap part, using the opposite twist stitch wherever the original called to use one. That would put the right side of the cuff showing when folded up against the hat body.

Another Interesting Question

FeliciaSix says "Wow. Eyes. Monitor. Bright. Hurt. Why did you pick that most unsubtle of color combos for the Fingerless Whatevers?"

Because it's cold, dark and dreary in the winter and I wanted to wear the opposite.

Annoying Questions

None of them are worth repeating. Some days?I wish every computer came equipped to display this error message:

You can build your own error messages, too.

On this 43rd day of the Great Monitor Dearth, and second day of post-blizzard digging out, I share these mitts:

Fingerless Whatevers

Approximately 200 yards?of sock weight yarn - roughly one 50 gram skein. This pair looks to be using half a?skein each of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock and Dale Baby Ull. (I can't guarantee that this is a spot on perfect quantity estimate as I am not yet done with the second mitt.)? This would be a good project to use up odds and ends of several self-stripers, pairing them with one solid color common to them all. Five US #1?double pointed needles?(2.5mm). May be knit using the two circ method by considering each two-needle unit = 1 circ

Gauge in stockinette:? 9 st = 1 inch

Twisted cable ribbing:

Round 1: (K2, p2), repeat
Round 2: (K2, p2), repeat
Round 3: (Right twist using this method: [K2tog, leaving unit on left hand needle. Re-insert right hand needle tip into stitch closest to end of left hand needle. Knit this stitch. Slip entire now-twisted two-stitch unit to right hand needle], p2), repeat
Round 4 and 5: Repeat Rounds 1 and 2

Wristlet/Pulse Warmer or wrist part of Whatevers:

Cast on 64 stitches and knit one round, using the method described in yesterday's post. You should have 4 dpns, each with 16 stitches (or two circs with 32 if using that method.)? Work twisted stitch ribbing for?9 repeats (45 rounds). I alternated my two color yarns, switching colors after Row 5 and stranding up rather than breaking the yarn at every stripe. Note that you can end off right here and have a perfectly nifty pair of pulse warmers, instead of continuing on to make the thumb hole and palm part of these mitts.

Left Thumb Gusset and Palm (Mitt #1 only):

Knit?9 rounds in stockinette.
10th Round: Knit all the stitches from Needle #1. Knit 12 stitches from Needle #2. Place a marker. M1, K2, M1, place another marker. Knit remaining 2 stitches on Needle #2. Knit all stitches on Needles #3 and 4.
11th Round:? Knit all stitches
12th Round:? Knit to marker. Transfer marker to right hand needle. M1, Knit to marker, M1. Transfer marker to right hand needle. K2. ?Knit all remaining stitches on Needles #3 and 4.
13th Round: Knit all stitches.

Repeat rounds 12 and 13 until there are 24 stitches between the two markers.

Knit 2 tog at the beginning of Needle #1.Knit remaining stitches on Needle #1. You should have 15 stitches on Needle #1. Knit to marker. Slip the 24 thumb stitches onto a stitch holder or piece of string. Stranding very tightly to avoid gapping, knit the remaining two stitches of Needle #2 together. You should have 14 stitches on Needle #2. K2tog, knit remaining stitches on Needle #3. You should have 15 stitches on Needle #3. Knit all stitches on Needle #4. There will now be 60 stitches total.

Knit 10 rows. On 11th row begin working rounds 1-5 of Twisted Cable Ribbing (I chose to switch back to my solid color for this). You will find this easier to work if you slip the first stitch of Needle #2 to Needle #1 and the last stitch of Needle #2 to Needle #3 just prior to commencing this round. Bind off in pattern.

Right Thumb Gusset and Palm?(Mitt #2 only):

In theory you could just make two lefts, since there are no fingers in this piece to skew the fit one way or the other. But I think it's more satisfying (and marginally better fitting) to do a mirror image. Plus it's good practice for anyone planning on graduating from fingerless whatevers to real gloves.

Knit?9 rounds in stockinette.

10th Round: Knit 2. Place a marker. M1, K2, M1, place another marker. Knit remaining 12 stitches on Needle #1. Knit all stitches on Needles #2, 3 and 4.
12th Round:? Knit all stitches
13th Round:? Knit to marker. Transfer marker to right hand needle. M1, Knit to marker, M1. Transfer marker to right hand needle. K2. ?Knit all remaining stitches on Needles #2, 3 and 4.
14th Round: Knit all stitches.

Repeat rounds 13 and 14 until there are 24 stitches between the two markers.

Knit 2 tog at the beginning of Needle #1. Slip the 24 thumb stitches onto a stitch holder or piece of string. Stranding very tightly to avoid gapping, knit the remaining 12 stitches of Needle #1. You should have 14 stitches on Needle #1. Knit 14 stitches on Needle #2, K2tog, knit You should have 15 stitches on Needle #2. Knit all stitches on Needle #3, and 4. There will now be 60 stitches total.

Knit 12 rows. On 13th row begin working rounds 1-5 of Twisted Cable Ribbing (I chose to switch back to my solid color for this). You will find this easier to work if you slip the?last stitch of Needle #1 to Needle #2 just prior to commencing this round. Bind off in pattern.

Thumb:

Evenly divide the 24 stitches of the thumb onto three DPNs. With a fourth work the following rounds of Twisted Cable Ribbing:

Round 1
Round 3
Round 5

I chose to work these in my solid color. Bind off in pattern. Darn in all ends, taking care to snick up the hole that has formed at the base of the thumb where the ribbing began.

Please note that this pattern is copyright 2005, by Kim Salazar, and may not be reproduced or distributed in any format without her permission. It is intended for?private end-consumer use only. ?Please contact the author for permission if you intend to make up this item in quantity for sale?charitable donation.

Mailbag Questions

Michelene asks how I keep half hitch cast on stitches from loosening and turning into big loops. The answer is knitting them very slowly, firmly, and carefully. They will distend somewhat, but if your second row is neat and even, the cast-on row will snick itself back into reasonable shape. The long string gap between needles will also resolve itself; and the beginning/end round gap is addressed by the trading stitches trick also described.

Important note on this - If you try to work a normal?purl on a half hitch cast on stitch, the cast on stitch will disintegrate because the motion of the purl undoes the twist that formed the stitch. That's why the first round of the sock method described two days ago is all knits. If you MUST purl, do?a twisted?purl through the back of the loop. Awkward, yes - but it shouldn't disintegrate.

On finding teeny size needles, I get most of?mine at my LYS - Wild?& Woolly, in Lexington, MA. They get them every now and again as?part of their DPN order. When I see a?set in a size I haven't got yet, I buy it. I've also found some?in yard sales and other yarn shops. ?If your local shop stocks Inox accessories they should be able to special order them for you. There are also lots of on-line sources for specialty needles. I've never dealt with either, but both Lacis and JKL Needles! both have quite extensive offerings.

Sigh. Still no monitor. Perhaps today. At least today I've got Internet connectivity. Yesterday I experienced several hours of intermittent service interruptions (that's why there was no Monday edition of String).

In the mean time, I've managed to get one of the other machines in this house to accept input from my bargain-basement digital camera. It's blurry, but you get the idea:

I finished the Crazy Raglan. Now it's lurid and not my best effort, but it's to the exact specifications of the target Small One, and she loves it. Perhaps this explains why:

She's got one of these. It's been her favorite toy since she was only a couple of months old. Her Squeaky is now much less pristine than this catalog shot, and (mercifully) no longer plays a music box rendition of "Born Free."? She?picked out the self striping yarn because she wanted a "Squeaky Sweater," and now she's got one. But I?think you have to be six to truly appreciate such things.

In terms of technical?performance and lessons learned - there were several. First, going back to mid-summer, there were all sorts of things to be experienced?managing the repeat and?width of the area being knit so as to best manipulate the striping. Second, I used?Sweater Wizard software to devise the basic raglan shape. I really like having that shortcut available to me, but I have to say that for kids sizes at least,?the templates do?run a bit small.I added both copious width/ease and length to make a custom fit on my string-bean kidlet, and it still turned out to be snug.

I'm not entirely pleased with the raglan angle. I should have made the armholes deeper. That would have changed the angles and made the sweater a bit more proportional. I also bowed to kid-preference and made a very shallow V-neck instead of a crew or deeper V, trimming it with a very narrow band of ribbing. She likes it, but I don't - again the proportions are a bit off. Finally, I did a slip stitch selvedge edge on all pieces. I've done that before on raglans and had no problems, but they were solid color raglans, sewn with yarn of the same color. The mattress stitch seaming in the space dyed yarn - especially on the raglan seams - was VERY evident. I ended up taking it out and redoing it as pierced double running stitch to tighten up those shoulder seams and make them gap less. I also selectively cut bits of the darkest green to use for my redone seams. That helped a bit, too.

One thing I did do right was to use provisional cast-ons for the body and sleeves. I also knit both back and front at the same time, and both sleeves at the same time. After I sewed the seams, I went back and picked up the bottom edge stitches at body hem and cuffs, and knit the ribbing in the round. I did the body ribbing first, and liked the contrast between the narrow one-row stripes in it, and the wider stripes in the body. When I did the cuff and neckline ribbing I used two balls of yarn starting at two different points in the color cycle to ensure that they matched the waist ribbing.

So I post an equivocal success. The target audience was pleased, but I'm not enirely so.

Why "By and For?" in the title?? Because those little hand-mitt wristlets The Small One is wearing are a knitting product entirely of her own manufacture. They're lumpen, odd little superbulky yarn paw-warmers but she's very, very proud of them. Here's the pattern. Such as it is:

Morgan's Paw Warmers

Will fit a small child, age 6-10.

Small quantity of?leftover superbulky yarn. I can't say what we used. I bought it years ago for holiday present ties. My guess is that it's 100% acrylic.

US #10.5 straight single pointed needles. Tapestry needle for sewing up.

Gauge - roughly 2 stitches = 1 inch in garter stitch.

Cast on 16 stitches. Knit in garter stitch until piece measures about 6 inches long. Bind off four stitches, and knit across remainder of row. Knit next row, casting on four stitches at the end. On the next row, (K3, K2tog), repeat across the row, ending K1. Knit three more rows on the remaining 13 stitches. Bind off. Sew side seam, taking care to leave the thumb slit open.

I can't say I'm going any faster, but I'm in the swim of things with my gift knitting. I have to admit a tinge of guilt this year. In years past, I'd done a fair bit of it far in advance, sometimes using especially mindless gift knitting (like socks or scarves) as bliss-out-on-the-beach pieces during our summer vacation. Or I've doodled up little projects between larger ones, while I was waiting for my ideas to set. By this time I've usually got a basket of goodies ready for holiday giving. Unfortunately, this year nothing got done ahead of time, and I've been forced to do something I detest - knit to deadline.

I hate knitting to deadline because in my professional life, all I do is march to deadlines. I'm a proposal manager, and I've lived my career in 30-day increments. Other people will say things like, "Dear, remember '91 - that was the year little Brunhilde was born," or "Yeah, 91. Cousin Ildefonse was in Desert Storm." I say, "Fall '91. That was that big military IT/hardware support proposal, we had an extension that got eaten up by the sheer bulk of the revised reporting schedule requirements." From this you can well deduce the heart-stopping excitement of my daily life.

Knitting has always been a blissful interlude, a no-deadline finish-it-whenever sort of pursuit. That's one of the reasons why I've shied away from pursuing commercial publication for my patterns. Squeezing my knitting life into a tight deadline sucks all the joy out of it.

So here I am. Doing frantic knitting on a couple of Hannukah presents (it's early this year, adding further complications). The Kombu scarf, four hats, and two pairs of socks are done. That leaves three scarves, two more pairs of socks, and possibly couple of kid's size earwarmer bands to go.

Today I plan on casting on for a very simple scarf done in Sandnes Lime (a mostly cotton, very soft yarn) for a friend who is wool-sensitive. I've used and reviewed the stuff before and not been wildly pleased with it, but for a scarf it should work out fine. Although most of the detail will be obscured by the textured yarn, I'll probably work it in this simple knit/purl pattern - just to give it a bit more interest:


I like this one for scarves because it adds a bit of loft and like all patterns with near equal amounts of knits and purls on each row - it lies nice and flat without curling.

Several people have written to ask for the pattern for the teeny Red Sox sock. 

It's pretty much the same as the sock patterns on wiseNeedle.  If you've done a toe-up sock with a Figure-8 no-sew toe and a short rowed heel, you've got it.  I don't want to re-write the entire thing with detailed instructions here.  For that you can go to any of the sock patterns on wiseNeedle:

http://www.wiseneedle.com/knitpatterns.asp#socks

But here's an abbreviated version.  For any how-tos or further details, refer to the comparable section of any of these other sock patterns.

Teeny Red Sox Sock
(c) 2004, Kim Brody Salazar
Permission granted to link to this pattern and make socks for personal
consumption, but not to reproduce the pattern or make socks for sale
 without the author's consent

1 card Special Blauband darning yarn, bright red
1 card Special Blauband darning yarn, white
1 set of five double pointed needles in any teeny size you have, preferably #000 or smaller

Gauge:  Pretty much unimportant, although the darning yarn looks best at 12 stitches per inch or smaller.

Using the white yarn, work a figure-8 cast on starting with two needles and four loops on each needle.  Knit the first row as usual, taking care to untwist the stitches that will be mounted wrong on one of your needles.

Toe and Foot:
Row 1: k1, M1, k1. Using another dpn, k1, M1, k1. Using a third dpn, k1, M1, K1. Using the fourth dpn - K1, M1, K1. You should now have 4 live needles in your work, each with 3 stitches on it.

Row 2: Knit all stitches.

Row 3: *k1, M1, k2. K2, M1, K1* repeat.  Each needle should now have four stitches on it.  Your toe is done.

Row 4: Switch to red and continue knitting until sock measures approximately 3/4 of an inch measured from the tip of the toe.


Heel:
Determine where the bottom of your foot will be.  With white yarn, work the following on the two needles that hold the stitches for the bottom of the foot.  Think of the two needles that hold those stitches as being one unit:
Row 1 of decrease: K7, yf, slip next stitch purlwise onto right needle. Turn work.

Row 2: Yf (wrapping the yarn around the slipped stitch that was just slipped and return it to the right hand needle - it should look like it has been lassoed by a noose), p6, slip the next stitch purlwise (keeping the yarn in front of the work). Turn work.

Row 3: Yf (wrapping the yarn around the stitch you just slipped and returning it to the right hand needle), K5, yf, slip the next stitch knitwise onto the right needle. Turn work.

Row 4: Yf (wrapping the yarn around the stitch you just slipped and returning it to the right hand needle), p4, slip the next stitch purlwise (keeping the yarn in front of the work). Turn work.

Row 5 (first increase row :) K4, knit the next stitch through the back along with the wrapped loop around its base. (I do this by picking up the loop on the point of my right hand needle, then knitting the loop and the stitch together), yf, slip next stitch knitwise onto the right needle. Turn work.

Row 6: Yf, (wrapping the yarn around the slipped stitch so that there are now TWO wraps at its base and returning it to the other needle), p5, purl the next stitch along with the loop wrapped around its base, slip next stitch purlwise (keeping the yarn in the front of the work). Turn work.

Row 7: Yf (wrapping the yarn around the base of the slipped stitch and returning it to the other needle), k6, knit the next stitch through the back of the loop along with the two loops wrapped around its base, yf, slip next stitch knitwise onto right needle, DO NOT TURN WORK.

Ankle and Ribbing:

Switch back to red, and continue knitting entirely around the ankle of the sock.  On the first row of the ankle when you get around to the white stitch at the right hand edge of the heel, knit it along with the wraps around its base.  Continue to work in stockinette until it is approximately 3/4 of an inch measured from the top of the heel

Ribbing Row 1:  *K1 red, K1 white* repeat

Ribbing Row 2 and 3: *K1 red, P1 white* repeat

Bind off all stitches using red.  Darn in ends.

Well, teens are known for being fickle and changing their minds.  My just-barely-teen is typical.  She's decided she didn't like the patterns I'd been swatching, and picked out another from my stitch dictionary library.  It's "Serpentine Rib" from Barbara Walker's Fourth Treasury of Knitting  Patterns, p. 216.  The kid has good instincts, though. I have to agree with her.  The stuff I'd been playing with looked way too clunky in the scale yarn I was using.  We're both happy now, and I'm off an running.

One very minor glitch -  I have to say that I've caught the sainted Barbara in a rare mistake.  Her graph presents even numbered rows (right side rows) of the pattern.  The direction for the set-up and subsequent wrong side odd-numbered rows is given in prose.  It's given as "*P2tog, YO, P8: rep from *, end last repeat p2.  It's off by one stitch (not a big mistake), and it's pretty obvious if you've ever worked faggotting in lace knitting.  If you start the wrong side row at that point Walker does, you won't produce the neat wavy lines of openwork as shown in her illustration. 

Here's my own graph of the corrected pattern, showing both odd and even numbered rows.  If you try this one, be sure to remember that it does start on an odd numbered, wrong side row:

In the mean time, I've cast on for the poncho and have knit about 2 inches, the first of which is in seed stitch so that the edge doesn't curl too badly.  I don't like the width though.  I may end up ripping back and working one fewer repeats, narrowing the body somewhat.  Otherwise I have the sneaking suspicion that I'll run out of yarn.  Not a good sign if I'm unsure this early in the project...

Now with Dragon put to bed, I can turn to my daughter's blue lacy poncho.  Over the weekend we went paging through pattern books and looking at old projects.  She lit upon a couple of lacy looking stitches that she liked. 

The first is the mock cable I used as the edging for Justin's Blanket on wiseNeedle.  The thing didn't photograph well there, and the instructions for that counterpane are in prose, so here's a wider version of the same idea.  (Apologies for the lousy quality of these charts.  For some reason my standard Visio to Fireworks graphics prep cycle is spitting out oddly non-uniform results today.)

The second is a lacy panel adapted from a wider pattern appearing in B. Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns.  The original isn't graphed, starts in a different place of the repeat, and is set up for multiple iterations of the ribbon.  I pared it down to just one repeat to make a self-contained panel:

Both are lace knitting patterns in that they have something happening on every row.  If one is knitting in the flat (back and forth on two needles) you can see that maneuvering to do a P2tog tbl (purl two together through the back of the loop) on a wrong-side row might be awkward.   Whichever panel is chosen, it will probably alternate between sections of K2 P2 or K3 P3 rib. 

As far as swatching goes, I've been playing with my de-plyed Paternayan.  Thinking that the 2-ply result of my pains was rather thicker than sport, but thinner than DK, and that I wanted a lacy effect, I started swatching on US #9s (5.5mm), and worked my way up through needle sizes to #13s (9mm).  I'm wavering between #11s (8mm) and the #13s.  More swatching is in order, especially swatching to see if the 11 or 13 looks best with the plain old ribbed part, and to make a nice, even piece to determine gauge over both textures.

In the mean time, I've decided to run the color stripes on the vertical rather than the horizontal.  That means I'll figure out how wide the rectangles will need to be for this poncho, figure out some pleasing alternation/panel widths for the chosen lacy part and ribbed sections, then decide which panels need to be in which of my three available colors (blue variegated, plus wedgewood and slate blue).  Once that's decided it's cast-on time, working the color stripes with Intarsia joins between them - each from its own ball. 

Did I mention "Figure out if I've got enough yarn?"  Gotta do that to, especially because seven skeins (3 variegated blue, 2 each of my two blues) de-plyed into 10.5 skeins (4.5 variegated, 3 of each blue) equals 1,764 yards   That's 756 yards of variegated blue, plus 504 yards each of the two blues.  In total it should be enough, but I may need to get very clever with color placements to make sure I don't run out of anything. 

A short post today on a time-stressed weekend day. 

Buzzing in on the hopping heels of last week's bunny, here's another small graph from my embroidery book.  This super-simple one is original. One dragonfly can be spot-placed, or they can be done in series using stranding.  A strip of dragonflies can be aligned either katywumpus as I show here, or all facing the in same direction.  In knitting, I think that these would be particularly fun to accent with shiny beads or duplicate stitching on the body or wings.  They'd also be a killer trim if done in bead knitting. 

Other uses for simple graphs include filet crochet (Mary Thomas' Knitting Book describes filet knitting, too); all types of cross stitching; needlepoint; and lacis or pattern darning.  I've even heard from people using TNCM patterns for wood marquetry and tile mosaics!

A couple of weeks ago when I wrote about charting knitted texture patterns, a couple of people were curious about Aran Paint, one of the lesser-known programs I mentioned.  Here's an example of what it does.

I'm starting with a twisted stitch texture pattern in Baulerches Stricken 1 by Lisa Fanderl.  This is the first volume in a set of three German language knitting books that present traditional knitting patterns gathered from various regions of the country.  This series is certainly interesting, but as with many stitch treasuries, presents the patterns using its own rather ideosyncratic notation and symbol set.  In this case, the pattern is shown using plain old typeset characters, some linked with bars to indicate the direction of the twisted or cabled stitches.  I've played with some of the textured and lacy patterns from this series, but to work with a minimum of fuss, I usually had to re-graph them first. 

This particular pattern is shown on p. 129  It's a simple 10-stitch wide panel, and features some twisted knit stitch ribbing manipulated to look like a series of bells connected by chain links.  I'm afraid I don't have my swatch or a knitted sample, but this did look quite nice run as panels up the front of a baby sweater, close together in the upper bodice area, and set progressively further apart by an increasing number of stockinette stitches towards the lower edge.

Here are the results of graphing with Aran Paint:

Screen shot of mock-up

Final Graph

The program also produced this set of prose instructions as a text file (it also outputs the same material in HTML):

AranPaint-BS1-129a.ara    (10 Stitches  x  26 Rows)
Repeat these 26 rows for the length required.
Row 1: K1, T2F, P1, K2, P1, T2B, K1.
Row 2: P1, K1, P1, K1, P2, K1, P1, K1, P1.
Row 3: K1, P1, T2F, K2, T2B, P1, K1.
Row 4: P1, K2, P4, K2, P1.
Row 5: K1, P2, K4, P2, K1.
Row 6: P1, K2, P4, K2, P1.
Row 7: K1, P2, K4, P2, K1.
Row 8: P1, K2, P4, K2, P1.
Row 9: K1, P2, K4, P2, K1.
Row 10: P1, K2, P4, K2, P1.
Row 11: K1, P2, K4, P2, K1.
Row 12: P1, K2, P4, K2, P1.
Row 13: K1, P2, T2F, T2B, P2, K1.
Row 14: P1, K3, P2, K3, P1.
Row 15: K1, P3, C2F, P3, K1.
Row 16: P1, K3, P2, K3, P1.
Row 17: K1, P2, T2B, T2F, P2, K1.
Row 18: P1, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1.
Row 19: K1, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K1.
Row 20: P1, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1.
Row 21: K1, P2, K1, P2, K1, P2, K1.
Row 22: P1, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1.
Row 23: K1, P2, T2F, T2B, P2, K1.
Row 24: P1, K3, P2, K3, P1.
Row 25: K1, P3, C2F, P3, K1.

You can see that the thing is certainly useful, but that it has its limitations.

• The program doesn't include twisted stitches (like knit one through back of the loop).  All of the original pattern's knits are twisted, but I couldn't show that on my version.  YOs and eccentric cable crossings also aren't included.
• AranPaint includes its own "artificial intelligence" that prevents one from graphing only every other row, or from placing a cable unit such that it commences on an even numbered row.  For example, if you're working in the round and want to move one stitch over on two succeeding rounds without a plain round between them, you can't graph it in AranPaint.
• Symbol keys or glossaries don't print at the same time as the pattern.  While that's not a big deal, and you can retrieve the keys from the publisher's website, doing so is a pain and means an extra trip through cut-and-paste land.
• You can't easily get output for the mock-up I show at left above.  To do this, I had to open AranPaint, take a screen capture, edit the capture down for size in Visio, save it as a *.jpg, then use Macromedia Fireworks to trim the resulting *.jpg down to something that is web-manageable.
• There's no undo function beyond "remove last stitch."
• Moving elements can be a pain, as there is no drag and drop.

All of these limitations being said, the program is still quite handy.  Although I usually use my Visio template system for most "hard core" graphing, I do enjoy doodling with AranPaint, then having the resulting piece turned into an editable texture pattern.  Here's one of my doodles:

and the prose version:

AranPaint-doodle.ara    (9 Stitches  x  36 Rows)
Repeat these 36 rows for the length required.
Row 1: P2, C5R, P2.
Row 2: K2, P5, K2.
Row 3: P2, K1, C3B, K1, P2.
Row 4: K2, P5, K2.
Row 5: P2, K1, C3B, K1, P2.
Row 6: K2, P5, K2.
Row 7: P2, C5R, P2.
Row 8: K2, P5, K2.
Row 9: P1, T2B, K3, T2F, P1.
Row 10: K1, P1, K1, P3, K1, P1, K1.
Row 11: T2B, P1, C3R, P1, T2F.
Row 12: P1, K2, P3, K2, P1.
Row 13: T2F, T2B, K1, T2F, T2B.
Row 14: K1, P2, K1, P1, K1, P2, K1.
Row 15: P1, C2B, P1, K1, P1, C2F, P1.
Row 16: K1, P2, K1, P1, K1, P2, K1.
Row 17: P1, T3F, K1, T3B, P1.
Row 18: K2, P5, K2.
Row 19: P2, C5R, P2.
Row 20: K2, P5, K2.
Row 21: P2, K1, C3B, K1, P2.
Row 22: K2, P5, K2.
Row 23: P2, K1, C3B, K1, P2.
Row 24: K2, P5, K2.
Row 25: P2, C5R, P2.
Row 26: K2, P5, K2.
Row 27: P1, T2B, K3, T2F, P1.
Row 28: K1, P1, K1, P3, K1, P1, K1.
Row 29: T2B, P1, C3R, P1, T2F.
Row 30: P1, K2, P3, K2, P1.
Row 31: T2F, T2B, K1, T2F, T2B.
Row 32: K1, P2, K1, P1, K1, P2, K1.
Row 33: P1, C2B, P1, K1, P1, C2F, P1.
Row 34: K1, P2, K1, P1, K1, P2, K1.
Row 35: P1, T3F, K1, T3B, P1.
Row 36: K2, P5, K2.

Before you write and ask, remember - symbols and abbreviation sets used in AranPaint write-ups and graphs can be found here.

I was re-graphing this rabbit from my book of embroidery patterns, and I thought angora-fanciers might like to work it into a headband or sweater front. 

The original plate from 1597 showed a large group of animal motifs clustered together to save space.  It included this one, two coursing dogs (possibly greyhounds) a squirrel, an owl, a stag, a unicorn, a parrot, a yale, and the lion I previously shared for Gryffindor pullovers.

My Classic Elite Waterspun poncho is done!  Here it is mid-block:

I am really loving the improvised blocking wires I got to finish my Forest Path stole.  I threaded them through the I-cord edges, two per side, then spread the poncho out on some towels to dry.  The edges are straight, the corners are perfect, and dreaded curl-up has been eliminated.  And I didn't even need pins! 

And here's a shot of it on the happy recipient:

For those of you who wrote to ask for the pattern, here it is.

1. Make swatches until you get a fabric that you like.
2. Figure out your gauge.
3. Measure how big a neckline you need to go over your head.
4. Multiply that measurement by your gauge, and round it up to the next multiple of four.
5. Cast on that number of stitches, placing 4 markers evenly spaced.
6. Knit 6 rounds.
7. On the 7th round, K1, make one, knit to one stitch before the next marker, make one, K1.  Repeat this three times.
8. On the 8th round - knit
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 until your poncho is as long/wide as you like it.
10. Bind off, or work one or more rounds of attached I-cord to finish.
11. If the neck is too wide, pick up purl bump stitches at the base of the rolled collar.  You should have the same number as you cast on.  Put 4 markers in your work evenly spaced.  Then work one round starting with k2 tog, (k1, p1) until you have two stitches left before the next marker, ssk.  Repeat between the other markers.  Then work a K1, P1 round continuig ribbing as established.  Continue this way, alternating decrease rounds and plain ribbed rounds for about 6-8 rows.  Bind off VERY LOOSELY, making sure you can still get your head through the hole.

As to what yarns are suitable, what number to cast on given a particular gauge, what size needles to use, how much yarn you'll need - this is all up to you.  Experiment!  Here are some thoughts to keep in mind:

What yarn is suitable?  Look at it.  Will it feel good when worn?  Is it hand-wash only, otherwise hard to clean, or a light color?  If so - are you prepared to care for it when it gets dirty?  Is it loosely or tightly spun?  Loosely spun yarns are more prone to pilling, catching and looking "used."  On the other hand, they're often softer with a more luxurious drape and sheen.  Is it heavy?  A poncho is a big thing - larger than a lap blanket.  Lift about 10 skeins worth.  Can you envision yourself dragging around that much weight (or more)?  Will the yarn stretch under its own weight when used in a large quantity? Cottons are heavy yard for yard and are infamous for this.  Wool is less weighty per yard or meter.  Wool/acrylic blends are lighter still.  Is the color/texture not only attractive on its own, but will it look good on you?  A puffy or furry yarn will add bulk and increase the size of your sillouhette.  A giant-gauge or shiny yarn will make a garment look larger than it really is.  Some colors and textures look fantastic as accents, but applied over an entire garment may not be as appealing on every wearer.  Decide what's important to you and choose accordingly.  Remember, you can always buy one skein to try out before you commit for the whole project.  If that yarn doesn't work out for a poncho, one skein might make a nifty hat or scarf.

What needle size to use? When swatching with a new yarn, start with the needle size recommended by the yarn maker.  Do up a good size swatch in your chosen texture stitch or colorwork design.  Do you like the feel and drape?  If so, measure your gauge - you're good to go.  Swatch feel too stiff and tight?  Try again on a size larger needle.  Swatch too drapey and holey?  Go down a needle size and try again.  You'll know when you've hit the best combo.  If you're combining several yarns of different weights or textures, be sure to swatch them as you will use them, using the stitch and needles you intend for the final project, even if that means making a VERY large swatch with multiple stripes.  Once you do get the look/feel you like, make a note of your needle size and FINISH  YOUR SWATCH.  You'll need it to do both gauge measurements and yarn consumption estimates.  (I'm not good at keeping paper notes, so I make knots in my dangling tail end to help me remember what needle size I used to make my swatch.  For example, four knots = US #4 needles.)

How many to cast on?  Simple math.  If your gauge is 4.5 stitches per inch, and you've decided that a 24 inch neckline is big enough, you start with 4.5 x 24 = 108 stitches.  That lucks out because 108 is a multiple of 4, and you don't need to round up.

How much yarn will you need? You can figure out roughly how much yarn your gauge square took for that number of square inches or centimeters.  Draw out a diagram of your project (in this case - a big square), and estimate how big you want the thing to be when it's done.  Figure out its total area and divide that area by the area of your swatch.  Got a 6-inch square swatch?  Want to make a peice that's 4 feet on a side?  4 feet x 4 feet = 48 inches x 48 inches = 2304 square inches.  6 inches x 6 inches = 36 square inches.  2304/36 = 64.  It will take you about 64 times as much yarn to knit your 4-foot square piece than it took to knit your six inch square.  Ravel back your swatch and measure, or weigh it to determine the amout of yarn you used.  Now do the math.

Shortcut:  If you like a slimmer poncho than this super-easy square one, there's a poncho pattern generation utility available elsewhere on-line.

Again apologies to those on the updates mailing list. I did a bit more maintenance, adding categories to all the existing posts so it's easier to page through this ever-growing mound.

A couple of people have asked for the graph I used to knit the interlace shown on my overly warm teal and black alpaca hat.   Here it is. 

This one didn't make the cut for my book because it's one of the designs for which I lost my notes.  A long time ago I had a miserable move between apartments.  Several boxes were stolen off the back of my truck.  Among the things that went missing was a notebook full of source notations for counted embroidery patterns.  I had been researching them casually for more than ten years, and had hundreds compiled.  The sketches for most of them had already been redone on my ancient Macintosh, but all associated notes remained solely on paper. 

When I was composing The New Carolingian Modelbook I had to go back and confirm the exact origins for all the counted patterns I wanted to include.  I managed to find the sources for about 200 of them, but a third as many more have eluded me.  This particular interlace is from my collection of the lost.  It is similar to designs by Matteo Pagano as published in his 1546 book Il Specio di Penfieri Dell Berlle et Virtudoise Donne, but I can't swear that it came from that or one of his other works.  Given the relatively clumsy, heavy spacing and short repeat it might even have been something I doodled up myself after a day of research.

Many of these early Modelbook designs got there by way of Islamic influences (especially patterns cribbed from woven carpets and embroidered texiles).  Over the years the patterns drifted away from work worn by the elite to work worn by middle and then lower social classes, eventually ending up in folk embroidery where they never quite died out.  Counted thread needlework styles were revived big-time among the fashionable in the mid 1800s. Researchers found and reproduced surviving older pattern books, and began collecting motifs from traditional regional costumes and house linen.  Some of the later and folk uses of counted patterns include standard cross-stitch, Hedebo, Assisi-style voided ground stitching, and various types of pattern darning or straight stitch embroidery done on the count. 

This pattern can be interpreted in many crafts.  Historically accurate uses contemporary with first publication include cross stitch panels (the long-armed style of cross stitch is overwhelmingly represented in historical samples compared to the more familiar x-style cross stitch); weaving, or lacis and burato (types of darned needle lace). 

Counted patterns are a natural for knitting.  The first book of general purpose graphed designs that listed knitting as a specific use came out in 1676 in Nurnberg, Germany and was published by a woman:  Rosina Helena Furst's Model-Buchs Dritter Theil.  (the title is actually much longer).   There may be others that predate this book, but I haven't seen mention of them, and I haven't seen the Furst book in person.  It's in the Danske Kuntsindustrimuseum in Copenhagen, a tad far for a day trip from Boston, Massachusetts.  The entire group of graphed designs displayed in the early Modelbooks shows a straight continuity with the geometric strip patterns found in modern northern European stranded knitting. 

The short 14-stitch/17 row repeat of this graph does work well at knitting gauges.   I've always meant to use this one again on socks - either as-is or stretching it a bit by repeating the centermost column so that it better fits my sock repeat, or doing eight full repeats at an absurdly tiny gauge.  As is, you'd need a multiple of 14 stitches around.  A standard 56-stitch sock could accommodate 4 full iterations of the design without adding any columns.

Some people have asked how to get a hold of my book.  The answer is, aside from the used market where it is going for quite a premium, I haven't a clue.  Sadly all I can report is that the publishers absconded shortly after publication.  I have no idea where they went, and have had no replies from them to any queries since 1996.  I received only about a year of royalties on the first 100 or so copies, in spite of the fact that the book went through two printings with an estimated total run of 3,000.  New copies continue to trickle onto the market even today (they're sold as used but mint).  The new-copy seller has rebuffed my attempts to find the ultimate source.  

Moral of the story - don't enter into publication contracts without a literary agent, and if the company has a name like "Outlaw Press" there's probably a reason.

First apologies to the few of you who subscribed to receive notification of site updates.  You must have been going nuts since last night because I gave up on Picserver, and ported all of the photos here to a new server.  It wasn't my intent to pepper you with update notes, but I couldn't turn off the notifications from here.  I promise the housecleaning is now over.

Rick-Rack Mesh Scarf in Berroco Zen

If you've ever met me you know I'm absolutely delighted at the prospect of the New Knitter Invasion, but at the same time my eyes are glazing over at all those novelty yarn scarves.  I've done a few on special request, or as gifts for family and friends - but by and large, I find them pretty but intensely boring (hence my Kombu Scarf pattern).

Still, my pal Pat shop manager at Wild & Woolly in Lexington, MA (my local yarn store) asked me to help her come up with something fun to do with Berroco Zen, a ribbon yarn that's been overlooked in favor of flashier novelty yarns. I couldn't say no. (For some reason, Zen is in the yarn review collection twice, so until I get that fixed, there's another set of reviews here). 

Here's what I came up with:

Here's the pattern.  Eventually I'll add it to the free pattern pages at wiseNeedle.

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Rick-Rack Mesh Scarf in Berroco Zen

Materials:
1 Skein Berroco Zen or approx. 110 yards (102m) of a similar ribbon yarn
US #10.5 needles

Gauge:
Gauge is difficult to measure, but finished scarf will be about 5 inches wide by about 56 inches long (exclusive of fringe).

Instructions:
Using half-hitch cast on or other stretchy cast-on, cast on 14 stitches. Knit one row.

Follow Rick-Rack stitch pattern until scarf measures approximately 56 inches long.

Rick Rack Stitch:
Row 1: K1 (YO, slip one stitch as if to knit, K1, pass slipped stitch over)6x, K1
Row 2: K1 (YO, slip one stitch as if to purl, P1, pass slipped stitch over)6x, K1

Bind off VERY LOOSELY.

Cut remaining yarn into 18-inch lengths, and attach to ends of scarf as fringe.

© 2004, Kim Brody Salazar, http://www.wiseneedle.com.  Not to be duplicated on other websites or in print without permission of the author.  Pattern for personal use only.  Please contact the author if you wish to make this item up in quantity, even if it is for charitable sale or donation.

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