And now…a post…about…knitting!

My very own Beer Mitt

Please read the title of this post with the appropriate Monty Python-esque emphasis. And having done that, we move on to the rest of the post…

I love KnittyBlog! For those knitters out there who haven’t already explored Knitty’s magazine or the blog, I really, truly recommend you go there, if for no other reason than World Wide Wednesdays, when the post is a compendium of knitting stories from around the world.

You’ll find running stories like this…

…And strange and wonderful tales like this.

And of course, Knitty’s mag is the home of the amazing Beer Mitt, which I blogged about here.

You don’t have to be a knitter to enjoy this stuff, either. Who knows, you might be inspired to become a knitter, and that would be amazing!

The Story of a Shawl Design

I thought it might be fun to re-post this from my project page on Craftsy.com – which is an amazing site if you’re interested in learning something new, be it about knitting, crochet, quilting, sewing, baking cakes, photography, and so on. Even though I work in the Arts, it’s not often I get to create something like this, and learning how to design a lace shawl opened a lot of new thought pathways for me. …and it was a lot of fun!

Of the stitch patterns mentioned in this design, the Miniature Leaf pattern came from the pattern for the Little Silk Shrug in Lace Style (published by Interweave Press), and the Oriel pattern comes from Barbara G. Walker’s Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns (THE definitive stitch dictionary in my opinion – if you’re only going to have one, this should be it).

The first attempt at this top-down triangular shawl, as illustrated by the 1st chart (see photos below) and swatch/sample, worked fine for the Miniature Leaf pattern in the centre, but did not work when I switched to the Oriel pattern, which turned out not to be symmetrical, despite the fact that the increase rate worked well for both patterns (1, 1, 2, 2) (see detail photo – yikes!). Back to the chart to fix it…

The first chart – looks okay, but it wasn’t when I knit it.

Definitely NOT symmetrical! Back to the “charting” board.

The second chart turned out better (see photo), with both stitch patterns symmetrical in each triangular wedge. I also made a better transition to the border, continuing the purl stitches into the border rows. However, the border on this attempt didn’t seem work as well – it isn’t as “pointy” as the first sample, but I’m not too bothered about that, as the other stitch patterns turned out well. Perhaps I would need to add more border rows to make the border more “pointy”?

The revised project chart – now it should work!

Success! Both sides look the same.

When I come to knit it again, I will make the centre larger and use a wool or wool blend fingering weight yarn that will hold the blocking better than the cotton I used here – and that is in a colour I like better. The stitch definition of the cotton is wonderful, but cotton doesn’t hold blocking well, and I don’t think I’d want to keep having to re-block it.

It was a really enjoyable journey and now I’m working on another design for a triangular shawl that has a thistle motif to reflect my Scottish heritage.  When I come to knit that one, I will post on my progress here.

Love of Knitting eBook review

At the request of the publisher, here’s a short review of a recently released eBook from Love of Knitting, titled Free and Easy Lace Patterns. If you’re interested in the publication, you can find it here.

Overall, I think it’s a great, simple, clean publication. I enjoyed:
-the variety of patterns which illustrated different contexts for lace: a garment, a scarf/wrap, and an edging
-the variety of yarn weights used in the publication – it’s great to see a scarf/wrap presented in worsted weight, especially one that uses a pattern that includes features such as knupps; this promotes lace knitting as being something that can be done with yarns other than fingering or lace-weight (which are wonderful and I love working with them – but it’s great to see more variety)
-the inclusion of an edging in the publication; something traditional that is well-worth reviving; who wouldn’t love the luxury of merino wool edging on your pillow? It’s also a great way to use up a small amount of yarn left over from a larger project!
-the simplicity and clarity of the layout, as well as the patterns themselves

Things that could be considered for future lace-type publications:
-adding a chart for all the patterns: this is the one thing I missed for the Cielo Shell pattern, which I otherwise really liked for its simplicity
-when techniques like knupps are introduced, perhaps a small section on tips or tricks for executing this – sometimes knupps can be frustrating (at least the “purl 5 together” part) and anything that would help a knitter new to this would keep them motivated to complete the project.

Overall, I think the book is very good and I’ll certainly keep these patterns in mind as I look for new lace projects, as well as check out Love of Knitting.