[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

[Repost of material originally appearing on 28 July 2006]

On the North Truro Counterpane, it really is an ideal summer beach project. The pieces are small and quick to finish. I've memorized the triangle and square units (I still have to refer to the pattern for the big hex). The soft cotton handles nicely in hot weather. I can sit and knit a pile of pieces during the day, then sew them onto the growing blanket in the evening. Or now that I'm home, I can knit pieces one by one and sew them on as I finish them. Note that I'm not bothering to block these. I suppose I should, but given the sheer number of units, doing so would be unwieldy. In this case laziness wins. As far as my rate of production now that I'm home and back to knitting only an hour or two in the evenings, I'd say that I can complete about one meta-motif in a week. Not a fabulous rate of progress to be sure...

I'm considering posting the graphs for the units here if enough people are interested. It won't be a finished pattern, as I will not be doing the calculations for yarn consumption needed for various size blankets, nor will I make a yarn recommendation (the stuff I used is an anonymous coned Webs special, roughly between DK and Sport in weight). So having said that - here's my progress.



Between beach work and finishing up at home (in and around the Baby Surprise and other projects) I managed to complete two more meta-motifs, and start a third. I've got eleven now. The blanket is sitting on a 6x8 foot rug, so it's just about 5.5 feet across its widest dimension. I am still aiming for something to put on my queen size bed (about 7.5 feet x 8 feet) so I'd say I'm a little over a third of the way there.

The biggest drawback of a project like this? No. It's not that it takes a geological age to finish - even more if you only work on it seasonally like I do. It's the *)#$-load of ends to darn in after sewing all those pieces together.

With each meta-motif using 13 units (1 hex, 6 triangles, 6 squares), plus one plain triangle between units, so far I've got 28 ends x 11 meta-motifs (more or less). That's 308 so far even though I've been leaving tails long so I can use them to sew the motifs together and avoid introducing even more to end off. I've not been fastidious about ending them off right away because I do sometimes need to go back and use an available tail for that purpose. Although I've been nibbling away at that greater total, I fear that even when I've finally finished the thing (invented half hexes and companion units to square off the edges plus a coordinated lace edging to finish all) I'll still have at least another summer of just darning in before I'm truly done with my Truro.

Technorati : knitting

[Repost of material originally appearing on 27 July 2006]

After yesterday's post about the Baby Surprise, Alyse asked if I had any comments or tips on using the pattern as published in Knitters, and whether I'd knit it up before.

I reply that this was my first attempt at a Surprise. I can say that it worked up extremely quickly, and that while how it will all come together was not intuitively obvious at the time of production, once the body was done and I figured out that the single seam on the garment goes across the top of the sleeves and across the back - all doubts were settled.

I think that the proportions of the thing look a little off. If I do another, I'd make it wider across the body. The sleeve width and depth looks o.k., but the body diameter seems a bit skimpy, especially when buttoned. I'd probably do this by adding a few stitches to the center back and to each side prior to starting the sleeve increases.



Uberknits wants to know if I used the white because I ran out of leftover purple and pink, and if the white was Encore, too.

No. I have over 3/4 of a skein of pink left, and about 10% of the purple remaining. I decided to tame the pink/purple with the white and went stash diving to see what I had on hand that was washable and of the same weight. I ended up using some orphaned Canadiana. (There is no such thing as surplus yarn, there is just yarn that is waiting to make it into the next garment). It's not as soft as the Encore, and it's just a tiny bit heavier, but not enough to have a major impact on gauge.
As to the proportions of the colors used - since I didn't have a clear idea of how the thing was going to come together up until after I was half-way through the white, what you see is more serendipity than planning. Still, you can't go far wrong if you stick to proportions. The pink stripe is half as wide as the buttonhole area of the purple. The mechanics of the pattern itself made the lower purple area come out three times the width of the buttonhole band. The white area to the underarm increases is approximately twice the width of the pink stripe. And when I was nearing the end, I made sure that the final pink and purple stripes (on the cuff) were the same width as the first pink stripe. Overall, in spite of some floppiness of the collar, I'm pleased.

Technorati : knitting

[Repost of material originally appearing on 26 July 2006]

So. Where have I been? Between work deadlines; preparing for a family vacation; coming back and having the smallest one hit by a sticky mystery illness (she's better now); and getting the kids packed off to summer camp, life has been getting in the way.

I can report that we all had a fabulous time doing absolutely nothing on Cape Cod. We mostly enjoyed the beach right at the hotel, took strolls around Provincetown and Wellfleet, kayaked a bit, golfed, read a lot of beach books, saw an unusual production of As You Like It. ate great food, and some of us knit.

I can report that I finished the two quickie sweaters previously reported - one in the fuschia shown, and one in screaming purple. I also did a couple pairs of socks, and started in again on my perennial summer project - my North Truro Counterpane. I've got no pix of the sweaters or socks as they all made their way to the intended recipients before I could find time to take snapshots, but I will show progress on the counterpane later this week.

On the two small kidsweaters from the 1,2, Top Down #609 pattern from Cabin Fever - it knit up quickly with no problems in both sizes, and final finishing was a breeze. My only criticism is that the thing comes in just two sizes - 2/4 and 6/8, with the difference between the 2 and 4, and the 6 and 8 being length, not width (2 and 4 share widths, with the sleeves/body of 4 being slightly longer; 6 and 8 work similarly). I knit a 4 and a 6. The 4 looks about right in terms of size, but the 6 will probably be ragamuffin large on the target kid. That's not a major problem as kids are not known to shrink, and baggy/huge is a cute look on little ones. I'd also note that in both sizes I had more than ample leftovers from my skeins of Encore. Especially in the 6. I did need to crack into that last skein, but just barely so.

Oh. I've got one more knit thing to report. Since the two sister sweaters were for two little girls who are about to become bigger sisters to a third daughter, I took the leftovers from their pullovers and knit up a quick Zimmerman Baby Surprise, as described in Knitter's Magazine's Fall 1999 issue (#56). I added my own collar to the thing. Please don't ask me how I did it. All I can say is that far too much local Chardonnay and beach air intervened, so no notes were taken and memory is hazy.

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[Repost of material originally posted on 16 June 2006]

No, not a knitting-related math question (for a change), but an idle query. Check out this - a UK art student has knit hersef a car. I hope she gets a good grade on the project!

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[Repost of material originally appearing on 14 June 2006]

If you are translating between knitting in the round and knitting flat you may run into a direction to perform something on the right side of the work that you now need to do on a wrong side row (or vice versa).

The absolute best source for this info are the symbol key charts at the start of B. Walker's Charted Knitting Designs, and A Fourth Treasury of Knitting Patterns (and possibly several of her other smaller books, though not Walker I or II). It's the most complete, listing a huge number of stitch manipulations and giving directions - sometimes more than one set of directions - for ways in which that same manipulation can be achieved on both right side and wrong side rows. Other books of charted patterns including L. Stanfield's New Knitting Stitch Library give right side and wrong side equivalents, but I find the Walker set the most complete and the easiest to use as a ready reference.

The info below is abstracted from a small portion of her charts, but without her specific how-to write-ups. Items with asterisks are ones for which Walker gives multiple variants that should be subject to experiment before the optimal one is chosen. Her write-ups are excellent and should fuel countess hours of yarn-y tinkering.

Technorati : knitting

Thank you to the two people who wrote in to report errors on wiseNeedle and String-or-Nothing associated with our port and update. We're fixing them as fast as we can. If you find bugs or strange behaviors, please send them in. I have also processed in the backlog of yarn reviews and queries that were stuck among junk entries in a gigantic queue of spam posts. My sincere apologies if you have been waiting to see a query or yarn review appear. After noting that we received over 100 ads for questionable products on just one single night you can bet that we're working on the spam prevention problem, too.

Next steps include catching up with reposting the last few String notes from July and August on Blog-City to the new String over here; beginning to answer the huge pile of backlogged questions on the Advice Board; putting basic structure into the Wiki; and getting as many of this season's yarns' basic data into wiseNeedle as I can. In my copious free time of course.

Oh. And knitting. I'm happy to report that the latest Red Doily progresses apace. My edging now marches three quarters of the way around the piece. There's no point in taking an additional picture yet. It looks pretty much the same as it has. I promise pix when the thing is done. As ever, your patience is greatly appreciated.