So, pretending that it's perfectly normal to take a three-month hiatus in a weekly posting project, here is Week 16, finally. Since my Exploding SNAP list says I need to get an *average* of four stitches a week covered here four each of the four weeks in August, I decided to start off stitch-heavy with six, to give myself some possibly-needed leeway later in the month. So, here we go!!
The project: Knitting all the stitches in KnittingOnTheNet.com's Stitch Directory.This week's stitches: 49. Condo Stitch ; 51. Garter And Loops; 52. Layette; 53. Open Work Garter Ridges; 54. Roman Stripe; and 55. Seafoam Stitch
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!
Oh goody, we get to *offically* start on lace!! I was kinda hoping the the not-lace would last for the rest of this strip, but when (after Fisherman's Rib) I crocheted strips 2 and 3 together, it turns out I have a lot more pink strip left to knit. Which is actually a good thing - this blanket's already taller than me - it really *is* going to be King Sized if I'm not careful. (Heck, even if I am.) And since my last "week" of posting for this project was in April, it's time to get going again.
Condo Stitch is an open-weave sort of stitch. Since I want it to be able to pull open on itself, I had to make some adjustments to my seed stitch borders! For the first small needle row, I just did normal 5 stitches of seed stitch, and knit 20 stitches, then three rows of seeed stitch (forward, back, and forward) over 5 stitches. Then, k20 back across with the big needle, then three rows over 5 stitches of seed stitch with the small needles again. It worked, although I was initially worried that going back to the small needles at the end of the big needle row wouldn't actually work, even though Math Said It Should. (Note: Trust the Math.) My small needle was the Size 7 I'd been using all along; my big needle was a Size 15 I found lying around. (Hey, in my house, it happens!)
Three needles, whee!
Since it's a "knit any number of stitches", I kept it to my usual 20 stitches of pattern, with five seed stitches before and after. Since I wanted it to have room to strech out and show off - and also because I was carefully checking after each row to see if it was long enough to count as the end of this strip (it soooooo wasn't). It gives a nice, open mesh.
What I noticed about this pattern: Since I'm getting close to the end of a strip, this one was a bit of a problem. How loose to make it? And really - with the garter stitch border, it wouldn't work well at all without my "border change". It really depends on being stretchy! It did work, though, and is a nice, airy garter stitch. If it was worked in the round, it would make a cool mesh bag. I could also see it working well for a summer wrap/sweater/coverup, since in summer, knitting is all about the fashion rather than the warm! Anyway, once you get the hang one of your needles feeling like a baseball bat in your hand every other row, it works up quickly to nice effect.
I'm thinking Market Bag!!
Garter and Loops is a fun one! I did six rows of seed stitch before starting the pattern, and since it's a multiple of four stitches "with a two selvedge stitches recommended on either side", my five stitches of seed stitch before and after the 20 pattern stitches worked perfectly. I did five vertical repeats of the pattern, which made a nice square area - that's 20 rows.
What I noticed about this pattern: This is fun, and it looks better the more I do it - there's definitely a trick to getting everything lined up properly for the "k-p-k-p in all four stitches at once" row. It's pretty solid, too - not a lot of give, and it does pull in on the sides, since sure - it's an openwork pattern - but there's basically a faux-cable crossover hidden at the bottom of every loop. I'm not sure what I'd use this one for, but I'll find something - it's just too cool!
Layette I did six rows of seed stitch before starting the pattern, and since it's a multiple of four stitches, my five stitches of seed stitch before and after the 20 pattern stitches worked perfectly again! My memory of the pattern, however, failed. I meant to do two entire repeats - and I certainly did the 18 rows - but I forgot to put the last set of holes in. Whups. I was busy making sure that I had 20 stitches at every Row 1, I think. (Row 1 is the only time to count stitches, since there's so much yo-ing and k2tog-ing it gets pretty crazy at times.)
What I noticed about this pattern: Ooouf, this is an odd one. I think I'd actually put an extra row of k2p2 (or whichever keeps the ribs going the proper way) at the end of each pattern repeat, so that the knit-side holes and purl-side holes would completely alternate, making this swatch really reversible. And easier to keep track of the holes - I was halfway through my Roman Stripe before I noticed I'd completely forgotten to add the last set of holes on this swatch! The two on one side-two on the other doesn't appeal to me. Does give a nice texture, though. Since it's basically ribbing with holes in the middle, it pulls in a bit from the sides, and will need blocking.
Roman Stripe. Strictly speaking, the Open Work Garter Ridges should have been next, but it's last-swatch-of-Stripe-#3 time (finally)!! Once again, I did six rows of seed stitch before starting the pattern, and was able to keep my five-seed-stitch border at each end of the 20 stitch pattern area, since "20" works for the "any even number" requirement for the horizontal repeat. I ended up doing five 7-row repeats to get to the end of the strip, then did seven rows of seed stitch and bound off. Luckily, I'd been attaching the strips as I went, so putting it together didn't take too long.
OH CRUD. I did not take a photo of my Roman Stripe somehow! You can sort of see it here:
... but I recommend looking at the Walker Treasury Project's photo, here. Mine looks like that, just a bit closer-knit, and pink. And there will be a photo of it up next week, darnit!!
What I noticed about this pattern: This really seemed to be a mishmash of a lot of things thrown together at first - knit a row! Make a lace row! Mix it up! Wheeee! - but there's a method to it that produces a really cool-looking fabric! I've been looking for something for my Dream in Color Starry shrug - this may be it.
Just for fun, here's the first three stripes, finished and crocheted together. (You'll notice I managed to get a photo of THAT.)
Open Work Garter Ridges. And here we go - the beginning of Stripe Four! Woohoooo!! I started with 30 stitches via long-tail cast on (I'm much better at getting the right amount of yarn now - thank you, Lily Chin!), and worked six rows of seed stitch. Since it works over "any even number", I kept my five-seed-stitches-before-and-after going, with 20 pattern stitches. Since it's a three-row repeat (which, since it's an odd number, is really a six row repeat to get back to where you started), I did 18 rows and judged that to be quite enough.
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What I noticed about this pattern: Easy. Textured, yet open. If you're teaching someone to get comfortable with the mechanics behind knitting together and bar increases, start here! Plus - totally reversible. It is, apparently, sensitive to changes in tension; I think my last two repeats were during the Dramatic Final Dances of SYTYCD, and it shows - they're much tighter, but still clearly the same stitch. So, pay attention to the "tension" thing.
Seafoam Stitch is the last of the Reversible Stitches on The List; next week, we get a whole new category, "Eyelets and Lace"! But for now, here's Seafom Stitch! I did six rows of seed stitch between this swatch and the last. This is a (multiple of 10)+6 stitch, but I want to see the pattern clearly - so I went out on a limb and decided I'd go for it: two seed stitches on either side of a 26-stitch-wide pattern area. (And I'm really glad that the Open Work Garter Ridges are so solid!) I'll have to be careful when I'm joining this strip to the others. It's also an 8-row pattern, so three repeats will give me 24 rows. (Gee, it's been a while since I've had 24 rows in a swatch - about time!)
What I noticed about this pattern: Ooooo, pretty!! Really easy "lace", although by the end, I was modifiying by doing rows k6, put needle through next loop and yo twice then pull whole thing back through... etc. If you do it that way, your second k6 on the chart starts with "k1" being the second yo-twice, and count from there. This is also really pretty, with a lot of things going on for a pretty darned easy stitch. Maybe *this* is the stitch for my shrug...?
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!
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