The project: Knitting all the stitches in KnittingOnTheNet.com's Stitch Directory.This week's stitches: Elongated Chevron (#13), Embossed Diamonds (#14), and Embossed Moss Rib (#15)
The yarn: Anything you want. I'm using a Phentex "Monster Ball of Yarn" (32 oz. 100% acrylic), which won't block, but will give good stitch definition.
The needles: Again, whatever you want that goes with your yarn. I'm using my beloved Lantern Moon size 7s, because they're pretty.
Why this is happening: Because lots of people want to learn new stitches this year!
Since it's only the fourth week, and I've already got fifteen stitches up, I'm going to take it easy this week, and just do three.
Elongated Chevron is a multiple of 18+1 - so, 19 pattern stitches. That's pretty easy. I chose to put 6 stitches at the beginning of the RS row, with 5 stitches at the end. It's another "whatever you did on the RS, do it again on the WS" patterns, so it works up quickly.
Things I noticed about this pattern: In the photo above, you can see that the knit part of the pattern really curls in on itself, making nice little half-circle ridges. This means the pattern *really* pulls in on the sides. The photo below - the swatch is flat, not being pulled in any direction - and look how much it pulls in! This pattern really, really has to be blocked, unless, I suppose, you want a garment to go in at a particular area. (No-thought waist shaping, anyone?)
Embossed Diamonds is a big one. It's a (multiple of 10) +3. I originally thought I'd just do the pattern across 20 stitches, with the actual pattern repeat happening between the two green stitch markers, and the "extra stitches" happening between the green and the red. This got too confusing for my poor befuddled brain (even though I wrote out the whole pattern), since I didn't really know what I was going to get. (I'm not looking at the photos on-line before I knit; I want to see what I get from the pattern without any preconceived notions.)
I caved, finally, and just put the pattern over 23 stitches. I put four edge stitches at the beginning of each RS row, and three at the end. This is the narrowest area of border yet! Now, since I wanted a clear break between the pattern and the seed-stitch border at the top, I did a k-across row on the RS, then started the seed stitch border on the WS. This gives me just 5 rows of seed stitch border at the top, but that's OK, since the other borders are so tiny compared to all the others!
Things I noticed about this pattern: It's actually really pretty! The stockinette areas do try to pull in a bit, though, so it would benefit from blocking.
Embossed Moss Rib is a (multiple of 7) +3 pattern. While I *could* go out to a 24-stitch pattern area, I chose not to (I want my seed-stitch borders to have some heft to them!), I decided on 17 stitches, instead. I put 7 stitches at the beginning of the RS rows, and 6 stitches at the end. (Which gives me 6 at the beginning of each WS row… you get the idea, just in case I wasn't clear about that earlier.) Since both sides of the pattern are interesting-looking, I switched to stitching the "Wrong Side" of the pattern after twelve rows.
See? It's knit across!
Things I noticed about this pattern: This is one to be knit if you've got very clean knit-to-purl transitions - any deviations really show up (as you can see from my swatch). It does act as a rib, but doesn't pull in nearly as much as a traditional rib.
That's it for this week! Next week, more stitches, and I'll be starting on Stripe #2 - in a new color!
A note on the whole project: Since there are 139 stitch patterns (some are listed under multiple headings), plus 7 different edgings in KnittingOnTheNet.com's Stitch Directory, I'll be trying to do two to three stitches a week, minimum. This should get everyone a goodly number of new stitches by the end of the year, and hopefully get me a blanket. No worries if you "fall behind" or "start late" - this is for fun & education, there isn't *really* a time limit of any sort on it. If you're just discovering this project, this link will take you to the beginning, and this link will pull up all the related entries. Just knit on, and have fun!
The embossed rib is a lovely stitch
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