Finished Object - Entrelac Scarf

Amid lots of prep for handing in Masters Level I, I blocked my proposed Charms O.W.L. swatch, since I already had all the blocking stuff out.

I can't put in my proposal until May 1 - which, of course, is tomorrow, and which I will NOT be doing via dial-up. So, first thing on Monday, I'll be putting in my O.W.L. proposal. It may take a few extra days to get it approved (or not, but I'm hoping they'll approve), but that doesn't matter, since I won't be physically starting it until May 16 at the Jared Flood class. (And since I'll be starting Girasole then anyway, I really, REALLY hope it's accepted as an O.W.L. exam!)

On the scarf front - go figure, I have a scarf. Since it was a really, really lovely day out Wednesday, and my allergies were (mostly) behaving despite the hellishly high pollen, I sat on the waterfront for an hour and knit while watching "Whip It" on my iPod. That was the plan, anyway... Turns out it was really, really windy - and cold, and yet sunny enough that I couldn't actually see my screen. So, it was sit at the waterfront for twenty minutes listening to an audiobook and knitting, then move inside for half an hour and keep listening and knitting. Progress Was Made. By lunchtime on Thursday, I'd finished the main part of the scarf. When I got back to my desk, I needed lots and lots of 6" fringe - which is easier made by the foot. Which makes wrapping all the yarn that's left around a ruler a really, really easy way to make fringe.


Had to sneak the fringe on to the scarf while doing other work, but it was what kept me sane Thursday afternoon. (It's "all heck breaks loose" season.) Managed to get that done, so by the end of the day, I had a scarf:

I really like the way the blue diamond pops out of nowhere! PS, SOFTEST SCARF EVER!!!

And it's a scarf that goes well with my spring/fall jacket, too!

Yarn on Thursday: Stitch Edition - Hey, this is "Brioche"!

The project: Knitting all the stitches in KnittingOnTheNet.com's Stitch Directory.
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!

This week's stitches: (#50) Fisherman's Rib (also: Unique). This stitch is reversible and was also listed under "Unique and Different" - but this is the first place it appears in The List, so here's where it'll go.

Speaking of the list, for the next month or so, everything will be reversible. A lot of the earlier patterns were also reversible - but showed up in other sections of the list. Don't blame me, blame the list? That I made? Um... nevermind. Anyway, previously done reversible stitches are as follows: Box Stitch, Checks & Ridges, Close Checks, Diagonal Rib, Diagonals, Double Seed Stitch Elongated Chevron, Garter Rib, Garter Stitch, Garter Stitch Steps, Large Diamonds, Little Pyramids, Mistake Rib, Mock Cable, Moss Panels, our old standby, Moss Stitch/Seed Stitch, Moss Stitch Border Diamonds, Parallelograms, Parallelograms II, Pavillion, Pique Triangles Plain Diamonds, Purled Ladder, Squares In Squares, Thermal Underwear Stitch, Triangle Ribs, Triangle Squares, Triangles, Twin Rib, Two By Two Rib and
Windmill. Yeah, I realize that looks like all the stitches we've done, but really, it's not. And some are more reversible than others - check my "Things I Noticed..." if you're curious about any of the above.

So, on to this week's stitch!!

Because I'm getting near the end of a strip, and everything else coming up soon is lace, I did this one out of order. Fisherman's Rib is any number of stitches across, so I picked 20, with five seed stitches before and after each row. I ended up doing 24 rows, but it's short. Short, short, short. Did I mention short? Anyway, here it is:


What I noticed about this pattern: It looks, sort of, like a k1p1 rib - but it SOOOOO isn't.


Ooo, looks like loosely-knit ribbing, right?


But it's not! Look, there are TWO stitches looped over
the back of every supposedly normal-looking knit stitch!!
Did I mention it was short? And it uses a LOT of yarn. Srsly. But done out of wool on slightly smaller needles? Boy, oh boy, would you have a warm jacket. I can totally see why Brioche (which is what this is!) is becoming the Hot New Thing.

Next week, more than one stitch, I promise... although things may get a bit sketchy in July with the conference, my O.W.L., and the usual work-going-nuts-in-the-summer. That's why I tried to load "extra" stitches into as many of the opening weeks as possible!

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!

I'm sad, but at least I got lots of buttons.

Okay, so, Max & Cindy both thought the entrelac half-blanket looked like a bag of some sort. So, slowly, it's becoming a bag. But not without some related trauma. You see, the last local chain fabric store is moving to Far Away. (Anything that requires crossing two interstates is "far away" in my book. As is anything that requires driving on THREE interstates to get to quickly.) The Hancock Fabrics closed a while back; now the JoAnn's Fabric stores in NoVa are consolidating west of here (good news for my cousin, bad news for me), and thus I either have to drive 40 min to get to a store, pray the one quilting store left locally has what I need, or go to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is not the preferred option.






The store is consolidating because (1) the economy is running six months behind the store revenues - there's been a MAJOR uptick in people making their own stuff again, but those profits won't show until November at the earliest and (2) the idiots at this mall decided to raise the rents. The number one comment heard, again and again, from everyone in line (hey, stuff was 90% off!!) was "Well, I've got no reason to come to this mall any more." And it was a couple of hundred people over the space of an hour! Most also shopped the office supply store when they came, or hit the designer discount shop, or one of the restaurants - but no one said they'd come just for any of those other stores. They came for the JoAnn's.

So, I wasn't able to get the invisible thread or matching lining fabric for the bag that I'd come in for; I was able to score $180.00 worth of REALLY COOL shiny buttons for $18. A huge bag of shiny buttons makes up for a lot of unhappy.

ANYway, I still had a bag to work on. Here's the outside, folded up:


Now, since I had all this blue yarn left over (having completely run out of lavender yarn), I decided to knit a lining, since buying one was Right Out. I cast on half the number of stitches I'd need for a round, then picked them up again on the backside, as if I was starting a short-row toe. This gave me a nice, solid, one-piece lining.


Since "having things work their way into and then through the seams" is something I like to avoid, having a one-piece lining makes me happy. I started it with size 5 needles (what I'd been using for the rest of the bag), then stepped up to 6s, and then finally 8s. I did a k2p2 rib at the top until it looked like it was about long enough (and hey, I wasn't completely out of yarn!).


The lining is currently inside out;
the knit side will be inside the bag; the purl side won't show. After turning the lining so the pretty side will be visible inside the bag, I tucked it into the outside to see if it worked. (Don't worry, I'd been checking the size as I knit - having a Too Big Lining or a Way Too Small lining would've been bad; luckily, this one was Just Right.


The sort-of idea of how it will look.
Now I just have to do the seaming on the outside of the bag, firmly attach the lining, and put on the buttons and the strap. I'll be doing a few more like this over the rest of the year, since it's a fun little yarn-bag, and probably putting out sets-of-three as patterns. We'll see.

The Yarn. It got me. Really.

Sometimes, the yarn just Gets You. In this case, I've had two balls of Feza Iplik "Cyprus Mohair" in the changes-all-sorts-of-bright-colors colorway staring at me for quite some time. Months. (Well, a year... but that was the third ball, which I've misplaced somewhere.) And this weekend, despite all the other projects I should be working on, it attacked me inside the craft room, wrestled itself on to needles and forced me to knit. (Honest, it happened just like that.) I'm doing a 10-count entrelac (2 repeats), which works just amazingly with this particular yarn.

Here it is at the end of Ball #1 on the train last night:


And here it is later in the evening, being all dramatic-like, just before I wove in the ends from the beginning and the join so it will take less time to Be Finished once I actually run out of yarn.


Since I *am* actually getting some of my other knitting work done, I'm allowed to keep at it, so I figure it will probably be finished on the ride home.

Now if I can just find that third ball of yarn, so I can make the matching hat...

Masters Monday: Week 48, and counting

At the end of February (Week 40), I made the following list, to keep myself on track.

"So, here's how the end of the Masters went. My idea was if I made the list as if I'd done everything, maybe it would get done. The stuff in italics is when it ACTUALLY happened - if it has yet!

1. Knit final two swatches. actually done Week 46 & 47 - they're done now
   See? Here's Swatch 2. Done, done, done.
   Best k1p1 rib EVER.
   And blocking facedown seems to work well...
2. Write pattern. actually done Week 40!!
3. Write report. Remember it's not "write a book", and keep it clear, simple, and BRIEF. STILL NOT DONE.
4. Clean and block all 16 swatches. actually done Week 43 - and 46 &47
5. Weave in ends of all swatches. actually done Week 46, except for Swatch 2, which is still drying.
6. Write tags for swatches, pin to swatches. Written, but swatches have threads, so tagging will be easy if I do it?
7. Clean and block hat. Turns out original hat is actually pretty good. Still needs to be blocked, woven in, and pompom attached.
8. Add pompom to hat.
9. Add tag to hat. Must remember to make tag for hat!
10. Answer all the questions, with at least two citations for each. Getting closer to this, actually. Possible finish today or tomorrow.
11. Assemble binder, using, as appropriate, top load or side load pages. actually done Week 46, for the most part. Just need to add Swatch 2, questions, hat, report...
12. Double check everything so there aren't any dumb mistakes.
13. Have third party double-check everything so there aren't any super-obvious dumb mistakes. (The third party is likely to be my husband, who doesn't knit, but at least he can read and count, so if I'm missing something major, he should spot that, right? Right?)
14. Pack as-lightweight-as-possible sturdy box, triple-checking address.
15. Check everything one more time. Double check again. Swear I've forgotten something, check again. Find no obvious errors. Make husband check everything again. Check one more time. Seal box. Open box, swearing I've forgotten something. Have husband drag me out of the house with re-sealed box, and drive me to the post office before I can go completely bonkers, since clearly, I've forgotten SOMETHING.
16. Watch husband mail box... (since he knows if he lets me anywhere near it, I'll open it again because, you know, I SWEAR I've forgotten something - are all my swatches in the right pocket? Are the tags in the correct corner? Are the tags on the correct swatches? Is my pompom actually secure on my hat? Did I remember to number the questions? Are my citations actually linked to the correct question answers? Did I remember to put page numbers on the report? Is the report too long? Oh no, what if the report is too SHORT? Did I remember to say not to iron bamboo yarn, it might burst into flame? Did I get the address correct? Did I get MY address correct?) ...with delivery confirmation.
17. Sit in car, stunned that it's out of my hands at last.

This makes me laugh a LOT, because I've also got even OLDER lists that had me mailing everything during Week 26. Here it is, Week 48 - one month until everythin MUST be turned in, or I have to start all over again.

Hopefully, I'll actually finish up this week?? I mean, it's possible, right?

A different sort of progress report.

(Excerpts from a recent inteview with CraftyGryphon)

So, let me get this straight: you've gone completely mad?

No, I wouldn't say mad, exactly. I may have let my schedule get a wee bit out of hand for the coming months, but that's not madness. More along the lines of rampant disorganization.

Well, let's review: you're about to finish - allegedly - your Masters Hand Knitting Level One packet for The Knitting Guild of America, correct?

Yes. I'd like to get it mailed by next Saturday at the latest, since that's when classes start.

Classes. More on that later. So, you'll be handing in your Master's packet shortly. This year, you've also started a "Monster Blanket Project". Which seems to involve knitting a bunch of patterns you've never seen before, and churning out a king-sized blanket when all is said and done.

Yep! That's a lot of fun. No requirement there, I just thought it would be fun to do, and it gives me something to blog about at least once a week. On Thursdays.

Thursdays. Say, weren't you doing something about books you'd read on Tuesdays?

I was, but I read so many books I'm about a years' worth of posts behind at this point. I'll probably bring that feature back sometime in the future, though. People liked it.

Okay, so, Masters, Blanket. And you've got a few projects going, correct?

Well, it's either forty-nine or fifty, depending on whether I can get some more Dreambaby DK tomorrow.

... depending?

Well, I've either got half a baby blanket or a bandeau top for myself - and not quite enough yarn. Well, actually, I've used all my purple yarn. I'm really hoping the store has more purple... although my friends Max and Cindy say I should just turn it into a cute little handbag, and I might do that if I can figure out where I left my extra handbag strap. So maybe it is done?

Er... right. So, Masters, Blanket, fifty projects...

Probably forty-nine!

Probably forty-nine. You do sleep, don't you?

(laughs) Of course! Not a lot; I've always done fine on six or seven hours. And I've recently discovered I can do stockinette in the round in my sleep.

Really?

(laughs again) No, just seeing if you were actually paying attention. Some people zone out when I start going on about knitting.

Well, it's safe to say most of our readers aren't that type.

Makes sense. Well, as much sense as putting a fake interview in my blog, at any rate.

Er, yes. That brings us to the final point - you were just admitted to the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup at Hogwarts-on-Ravelry. That requires quite a bit of work, doesn't it?

Well, it's not so bad. You don't *have* to do anything, really, but it's suggested you take at least one class a month - more if you think you can handle it. I'll start with one a month, this term, to get the hang of things.

Any particular classes?

Well, I won't know until the requirements for each are posted. But it wouldn't do to take a class I didn't think I could finish - sure, I'd get points for my House for starting, but you get the real points for finishing.

Um... that makes sense. I think. Wait, your House?

I don't know what House I'm in yet. I don't get sorted until next week. I think I'm hoping for Ravenclaw - or maybe Slytherin.

Not Gryffindor? Doesn't everyone want to be in Gryffindor?

Lots do, I suppose, but "being brave" isn't really my thing. It'll be interesting to see where I wind up. I hope we find out early, so I can get my O.W.L. proposal ready to go.

... Wait. You're going to sit for an O.W.L. as a First Year?

It's allowed, and I think it'll be fun. I'm going to see if I can do Girasole for my Charms O.W.L., if I make the blanket size. That should be doable in three months.

Let me summarize: you're knitting a blanket for fun, working on your Level I Masters, you've got approximately fifty projects already going, you're about to start taking classes at Hogwarts and you're going to knit ANOTHER blanket for an O.W.L.? Is that correct?

Yes. Should be fun! Oh, and I'm going to the TKGA National Convention for a few days in July. I hope I'll be able to take my O.W.L. attempt on the plane - I'd hate to miss a week of knitting time. Maybe I should take the train? That would be just loads of knitting time...

I stand by my original statement: "You've gone completely mad."

General note

As a note: I've been getting comments in either Chinese (I'm pretty sure it's not Japanese, but I don't read Kanji - and I sure don't read Chinese characters!), now from two sources. Since there isn't really information on the commenters' blogs, and I don't click hyperlinks in comments unless I can source them. If these are legit comments, I'm sorry, but I don't like leaving live links to unknown things up in the comments (and I'm sure as heck not gonna click through to see what they are.)

Yarn on Thursday: Stitch Edition - Week Fourteen!

The project: Knitting all the stitches in KnittingOnTheNet.com's Stitch Directory.
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!

This week's stitches: #45 - Twin Rib, #46 - Two By Two Rib, #47 - Windmill and #48 - Woven Stitch.

First up, Twin Rib. It's a six stitch repeat, so I did six seed stitches, eighteen pattern stitches, then six more seed stitches per row. It's a two row pattern, so six vertical repeats was quite enough to let you see what's going on. There are six rows of seed stitch before the next swatch.




What I noticed about this pattern: It's a nice little rib variant, and is identical (from left to right) on both sides. Unlike a normal rib, though, it doesn't pull in on itself. I'd block it to line up the vertical columns of knit stitch (or purl stitch, depending on where you're looking at any given instant). The "obvious" curl in the photo isn't really there; I was just having a heck of a time getting a combination of "good light" and "flat surface", some of which depended on my sense of balance, late in the evening.

The Two by Two Rib is your classic bottom-of-a-sweater ribbing. It has a four stitch repeat (or "multiple of 4"+2). I opted for the plain four stitches, five times, for twenty pattern stitches flanked by five seed stitches per side. Again, it doesn't take long to get the idea behind this stitch, so I whipped up 20 rows pretty quickly. There are six rows of seed stitch before the next swatch.


What I noticed about this pattern: Tricks I learned from my TKGA classes: tug on the working yarn just a wee bit when switching from k to p and from p to k, and all the stitches line up and look lovely, without one column of stitches being obviously bigger/more spaced out than the ones next to it. But man, oh man - it pulls in, just like it's supposed to. (I even broke out the White Table background so you could see, clearly, just how much a k2p2 rib pulls in on itself!) Ribbing isn't usually blocked, but if you wanted the look without the pulling-in, you'd have to block pretty harshly!

Windmill is a wide one - twelve stitches, which means two repeats. So, I did three seed stitches, twenty-four pattern stitches, and three seed stitches per row. It's also a long one - fourteen rows per repeat, so I did two repeats over twenty-eight rows. There are six rows of seed stitch before the next swatch.


What I noticed about this pattern: It's triangles, with a twist! Boxed triangles, but rotated! I really like it. Failing to remember that there's two rows of p6/k6 between direction-switches lost me a row somewhere in the first repeat, but I compensated by finishing the swatch with only one row. So it's really over 26 rows, instead of 28, as it should be. (Give me enough Benadryl, and I'm unlikely to care if I've completely mucked up a pattern. Allergy season will end soon, right?

Finally, Woven Stitch is, I think, one of my newly-discovered favorites. It's a "(multiple of 4)+2" stitch, which means moving to four seed stitches before and after the pattern area. I did three vertical repeats of the pattern, since I liked it so much! There are six rows of seed stitch before the next swatch.


What I noticed about this pattern: Basketweave effect, without having to remember where the knit row goes. (You don't want to know how wonky I can make basketwork look if there's a really interesting bit on the telly.) It's easy to remember, and would make an interesting fill or all-over pattern. I may try to replace my first-ever actual basketweave sweater (long since donated in hopes someone it actually fits will find it) with a Woven Stitch sweater. It's easy. It lies flat. It's just wonderful!

This ends the first part of the master Stitch Pattern list. The next group of stitches will be *all* be reversible - there are 28 Reversible stitches on the list, but I've already covered all but seven of them! Of these seven, several are also on the Master List as "Unique" and others are "Lace". You'll see!

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!

Is it done, or is it not?

What is it? So, I ran out of lavender yarn on Saturday, and ran out of energy (my shot got me badly enough that I actually passed up a ride to the yarn store!), so I cast off my little entrelac thing, and now I have to decide what to do with it. For this, I need your help.


Is it a headscarf?

A bandeau top?

A cute handbag (fold in half to see)?

A wrap skirt for a large-ish doll?

Or is it really just half a blanket, and I need to find more yarn and finish it up?

Fiber O.W.L.s!!!

Under the heading of "OMG SQUEE!!!", whilst poking about Ravelry, I noticed that some people had really super-cool-looking O.W.L. Ravatars. This lead me to hunt down all the O.W.L. badges I could find, and via doing *that*, I was led to the Harry Potter Knit & Crochet Cup group on Ravelry (thanks, K!) and *WOW* there are some stunningly lovely projects that have been awarded O.W.L.s thus far. I believe all these amazing badges were designed by Michelle (aka Fruitloops). The requirements for each O.W.L. are here in spreadsheet form. O.W.L.s are in addition to monthly coursework. And Quidditch. If you'd like to play along, you can sign up on the appropriate thread in the Ravelry group & get sorted until April 28; classes begin May 1. (I got my Hogwarts Admission Letter on Monday - squeeee!!) Also, there's a blog for it all here with lots of information. (And you can just lurk, too, if you wish.)


I wish to state clearly that I have not earned any fiber O.W.L.s, and the lovely little pics above are purely for illustrative purposes and the sheer cuteness of it all. I am, however, going to have a lot of fun over the next few years (well, the next seven, assuming I graduate with the rest of the crop of First Years starting this May). There are monthly classes (projects) for House Points (take up to six per month), the Cup is awarded regularly, and, when all is said and done, I'll (hopefully!) get a few O.W.L.s in the process. Someone asked recently what I'd do if I won the lottery, not silly-huge amounts, but enough so I didn't have to work for a decade or so... and I think you can guess the answer: get my Hand Knitting Level I, II & III TKGA mastery, and all of my Hogwarts O.W.L.s!!!

Masters Monday...

Ye gods & leetle fishes - it's week 47. WEEK 47. There are only 52 weeks in a year - this is Not Good! Luckily, actual progress has been made. First, I re-knit swatches 1 & 2 so the ribbing would be long enough. I have to say, all the entrelac I've been doing has really helped neaten up the edges of my knitting!


Before


After
I decided to keep the "your choice of cable" swatch that I've done, since it looks Very Very Pretty, and I have the pattern written. If it isn't approved, I have a Celtic something in reserve. So, all my swatches are done. I unpinned them one at a time and wove in their ends, then put them in their binder sleeves (quickly, with temporary tags, so I wouldn't get them mixed up!). Can I just say there is a LOT of end-weaving over sixteen swatches - and lots and LOTS in the two-color swatch (ten, to be precise)?

After careful consideration, I decided the following:

1. I have to re-knit swatch #2 AGAIN. I know it doesn't have to be "perfect" - but I'd really like the SIMPLE STOCKINETTE swatch to look as flawless as possible. At least I know how many rows I need to knit for the 2.5" (18) k1p1, and how many for the 4" stockinette (32).
2. Once trimmed and fluffed, the hat pom pom looks very pretty:
3. Writing out lots of little green index cards takes forever, especially when concerned about "legibility" and "accuracy". Since I don't actually have most of my references tablulated yet, I'm just writing out the card framework.
   
   
4. Given how much of the middle room of my house, and how much of the weekend, I had set up for this project, it's amazing how little I actually got tone.

But it's progress, and I actually have Swatches In A Binder. Now, if I can just get everything ELSE in the binder, I'll be all set!!

TI-neee BLANK-ets, Iiiiin the Aiiiirrrr...

Got a bit bored with all the lavender (well, I've already done an entire project in it, at this point!), so added some blue that wandered into my stash. It's a bit heavier weight than the lavender, so while the doll blanket can take a square or two in it, I can't just switch colors entirely. Because it's just a wee bit bigger, I can get away with some. As of this morning, I have five blue diamonds, and will probably throw in one more just for show. This little critter is almost done. I figure if I can make it the rest of the way across with diamonds (and one blue diamond), then I'll do the foundation triangles coming back, and will hopefully have enough yarn for the eight rows of seed stitch at the bottom. I've also discovered that, much to my surprise, I'm knitting this blanket sideways - the way it would sit on a doll bed is 90degrees from the direction I'm knitting. Which means I'm knitting it width-wise, rather than length-wise. I think. The caffeine hasn't hit yet this morning.


Knitting slowly on it - trying to keep ahead of my YoT:SE knitting and finish up on TKGA Level 1 Submission - Take 1. This weekend is, in theory, somewhat quiet (b-day party for a friend Saturday, which I'll probably be asleep for, thanks to my shot, but I'll try showing up anyway). Should be lots of tiny blanket knitting time in there somewhere, and maybe, just maybe, I'll finally get my darned binder together once and for all!

Yarn on Thursday: Stitch Edition - Triangles!

The project: Knitting all the stitches in KnittingOnTheNet.com's Stitch Directory.
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!

This week's stitches: #41 - Thermal Underwear Stitch, #42 - Triangle Ribs, #43 - Triangle Squares and #44 - Triangles. Hopefully, I'll have four stitches this week and next so I can "catch up" to where I think I'm supposed to be!

Okay, first, Thermal Underwear Stitch. It's a (multiple of four) + one, so I kept four seed stitches at the beginning of the RS row, did 21 pattern stitches, and had five seed stitches at the end. It's a four row pattern that was giving me fits, but I did five repeats just to make sure it was right!


What I noticed about this pattern: I have to tell you - this one was probably more confusing to me than it should have been... or was it? The antihistamines can only be blamed for so much, but knitting this stitch, it kept feeling like something was wrong, or off. I checked the swatch photo on line, and nope, that's how it's supposed to look. I'm pretty sure this is the only time I'll ever be using this stitch, antihistamines or no! It is, however, the same, front and back, so if you need something 100% reversible, you can consider it. I probably won't, but you can, especially if you have a high-histamine, high-confusion threshold.

Now, on to stitches that start with the word "Triangle". Triangle Ribs is squares made by triangles. Not, in any way, to be confused with Triangle Squares, below. It's a multiple of 8 stitch, so I did 7 seed stitches, 16 (2 repeats) pattern stitches, 7 seed stitches. With a 12-row repeat, I repeated twice. Six rows of seed stitch separate this swatch from the next.


What I noticed about this pattern: Needs blocking, as it tends to curl in both directions.

Triangle Squares are little squares, diagonally bisected into triangles! It's a five-stitch pattern, so I did four horizontal repeats with five seed stitches before and after the 20 pattern stitches. It's a four-row repeat, but I really need more swatches that are 20 rows, so I did five repeats. (I was originally doing all 20-rows, but some stuff is either two or three rows - gets boring pretty quickly.) Again, six rows of seed stitch separate this swatch from the next.


What I noticed about this pattern: There's just so much you can do with triangles. This one, at least, wouldn't necessarily need blocking, and it is completely reversible. Definitely something to do in a solid--color yarn, or the pattern would disappear entirely. Nice, small texture. Blocking would straighten out the rows of vertical knit stitch.

Last up, Triangles is, well, triangles. Again. A multiple of 10 stitches in the pattern means five seed stitches, 20 pattern stitches, then 5 seed stitches. It starts out strongly (k5,p5), os after two repeats (20 rows again!), I repeated Row 1 to punch up the pattern. This time, five rows of seed stitch separate this swatch from the next.


What I noticed about this pattern: Is it just me, or does it look a lot like Triangle Rib, just smaller? Of the triangle stitches, this is my favorite. It's a nice size, visually, and I prefer the back-to-back triangles here to the offset triangles of Triangle Rib. I expected it to pull in on itself, but it didn't!

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!