First, a useful link elsewhere:
Second, three links to some older posts of mine I think you might find useful:
I don’t know if you noticed on Saturday, but I’ve hit on a combination of selvedge stitches that I like for blocking my swatches. I might even like it for lace shawls and such. At any rate, it’s easy to knit, and it’s easy to block with blocking wires. And I like the way it looks.
This month, the random number generator chose sunshine, suggested by Natasha. I spontaneously decided to work up the component parts of this compound word, and encoded sun and shine separately. When they are stacked on top of each other, they spell sunshine. This is not something I’ll do every time someone suggests a compound word.It’s a very similar principle to my idea for making coordinating stitch patterns by taking an excerpt of rows of a bigger stitch pattern.
Each month, my Patreon backers have the chance to suggest words for me to encode as knitting stitches. A random number generator helps me choose the word of the month, and then I get to work, first turning the letters into numbers, then charting the numbers onto grids in various ways. Finally, when I make the chart into lace, I turn the marked squares into yarnovers and work out where to place the corresponding decreases. (I usually make lace; occasionally I make cables instead.) I also make a chart for any craft that uses a square grid for designing; this goes in a separate post.
You might have noticed that I knit a lot of swatches. I’ve been getting fussier about how carefully I block them, and have been getting more consistent about using a short blocking wire (or skinny metal knitting needle) along each edge. Recently I’ve been pondering my swatch selvedges, and thinking about how to make it easier to thread the blocking wire through them. I remembered coming across a selvedge that uses yarnovers at the very edge, and decided to try that, at least for swatches.
It does make for easier blocking; I’m not yet convinced I like the look of it, though that doesn’t matter so much for swatches. I might try the yarnovers on every other or every third row instead.
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Norah Gaughan is well known for her cable designs, so it’s a delight to have a book that is a combination of a stitch dictionary and a guide to her cable design process.
Last year, I made a colorwork chart for World Wide Knit in Public Day; this year I made a lace design. These are part of my series of stitch patterns I’m making for what I call “geek holidays” (which obviously includes knitting, to my mind).
I’m pleased to say that I have a pattern in Knitty!
Longwing is a double garter stitch crescent shawl with two chevrons inserted in the middle. The result sometimes reminds me of part of a star shape, but more often makes me think of a butterfly’s wings. There’s something fun about wearing butterfly wings without it being obvious.
This month, the random number generator chose paradise, suggested by Nyriis. I’m really pleased with how this turned out, despite (or perhaps because of) the unexpected owls.
Each month, my Patreon backers have the chance to suggest words for me to encode as knitting stitches. A random number generator helps me choose the word of the month, and then I get to work, first turning the letters into numbers, then charting the numbers onto grids in various ways. Finally, when I make the chart into lace, I turn the marked squares into yarnovers and work out where to place the corresponding decreases. (I usually make lace; occasionally I make cables instead.) I also make a chart for any craft that uses a square grid for designing; this goes in a separate post.
This is the third and final part of my very basic series about how to use a stitch pattern. Here are the first two:
Stitches in stitch dictionaries are usually written to be worked flat, but they can usually be converted to be worked in the round. This post discusses how. Occasionally, you’ll find a stitch pattern written to be worked in the round; the instructions here will work for those, too.
