secret code

Mourn: a needlework chart for any craft

sample image for Mourn: a needlework chart for any craft, by Naomi Parkhurst
| Naomi Parkhurst

I encoded Mourn as lace last week as a memorial for those who have died because of COVID-19, though it of course has wider uses. This is meant as a border pattern.

I also like to provide a basic chart for any craft that’s worked on a grid: beads, cross stitch, whatever. I also try to provide at least some digital art of the pattern repeated all over not as a chart. It doesn’t necessarily look like a finished object for any particular craft, but I just want to give a sense of it in use. (I try to make it look like knitting when it’s got floats short enough for easy stranded knitting.)

Follow link for charts and more information

Iris: a needlework chart for any craft

example image for Iris: a needlework chart for any craft, by Naomi Parkhurst
| Naomi Parkhurst

The random number generator picked Iris from the suggestions for this post, suggested by Pia, one of my Patreon supporters.

I usually develop a complicated knitting stitch pattern for each word, but I also like to provide a basic chart for any craft that’s worked on a grid: beads, cross stitch, whatever. I also try to provide at least some digital art of the pattern repeated all over not as a chart. It doesn’t necessarily look like a finished object for any particular craft, but I just want to give a sense of it in use. (I try to make it look like knitting when it’s got floats short enough for easy stranded knitting.)

Follow link for charts and more information

Iris: a lace knitting stitch pattern

sample knitting for Iris: a lace knitting stitch pattern, by Naomi Parkhurst
| Naomi Parkhurst

The second word I drew from the words suggested on Patreon last month is Iris, suggested by Pia, a Patreon supporter.

Each month, my Patreon backers have the chance to suggest words for me to encode as knitting stitches. I make three of these into knitting stitches each month: the second and third (posted on the first day of the next month) are drawn from the collection of new words; the first is drawn from the collection of unused words. A random number generator helps me choose these, 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.

The stitch patterns are not meant in any way to look like the original words; the words are the seeds of my creativity.

Follow link for charts and instructions

Blue: a needlework chart for any craft

sample image for Blue: a needlework chart for any craft, by Naomi Parkhurst
| Naomi Parkhurst

The random number generator picked Blue from the suggestions for this post, suggested by Bookwyrm, one of my Patreon supporters.

I usually develop a complicated knitting stitch pattern for each word, but I also like to provide a basic chart for any craft that’s worked on a grid: beads, cross stitch, whatever. I also try to provide at least some digital art of the pattern repeated all over not as a chart. It doesn’t necessarily look like a finished object for any particular craft, but I just want to give a sense of it in use. (I try to make it look like knitting when it’s got floats short enough for easy stranded knitting.)

Follow link for charts and more information

Mourn: a lace knitting stitch pattern

Sample knitting for Mourn: a lace knitting stitch pattern, by Naomi Parkhurst
| Naomi Parkhurst

I haven’t yet become aware of any friends or family who have died of COVID-19 — though I’m certain that day will come — but I have been heartbroken by the sheer number of people affected, and by knowing that things could have been much better with a competent response by a different administration.

So I have been mourning, and here is the word mourn, made into lace using my usual methods. I turn the letters into numbers and then the numbers into charts that I turn into knitting charts. 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.

Follow link for charts and instructions

Blue: a lace knitting stitch pattern

sample lace for Blue: a lace knitting stitch pattern, by Naomi Parkhurst
| Naomi Parkhurst

The first word I drew from the words suggested on Patreon this month is Blue, suggested by Bookwyrm, a Patreon supporter. I absent-mindedly used the same wheat-colored yarn I’ve been using a lot for my lace swatches recently, and then I thought about recoloring the photo, and then I decided that no, I’d leave it alone. It can be like that thing from the Exploratorium Museum where they print the names of colors in colors that don’t match the colors being named.

Also, here’s my lace for the word green.

Each month, my Patreon backers have the chance to suggest words for me to encode as knitting stitches. I make three of these into knitting stitches each month: the second and third (posted on the first day of the next month) are drawn from the collection of new words; the first is drawn from the collection of unused words. A random number generator helps me choose these, 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.

The stitch patterns are not meant in any way to look like the original words; the words are the seeds of my creativity.

Follow link for charts and instructions

Sea: a mosaic knitting chart

sample image for Sea: a mosaic knitting chart, by Naomi Parkhurst
| Naomi Parkhurst

Last week, I encoded the word Sea and made it into a lace stitch pattern and a needlework chart. For this week’s post, I reworked a code grid I made while planning that post and turned it into a mosaic knitting stitch pattern. (I used the process described in this post.)

A nice thing about mosaic knitting is that the charts are similar to the final appearance of the knitting, so I’m not going to provide a swatch. Mosaic knitting looks difficult, but it’s not as hard as it looks! Basically, knit two-row stripes, and slip stitches from the row below to make the contrasting pattern.

Here’s a detailed blog post I wrote about how it works.

Follow the link for charts

Syzygy: a mosaic knitting chart

sample image for Syzygy: a mosaic knitting chart, by Naomi Parkhurst
| Naomi Parkhurst

Recently, I encoded the word Syzygy and made it into a lace stitch pattern and two needlework charts (one, two). For this week’s post, I reworked a code grid I made while planning that post and turned it into a mosaic knitting stitch pattern. (I used the process described in this post.)

A nice thing about mosaic knitting is that the charts are similar to the final appearance of the knitting, so I’m not going to provide a swatch. Mosaic knitting looks difficult, but it’s not as hard as it looks! Basically, knit two-row stripes, and slip stitches from the row below to make the contrasting pattern.

Here’s a detailed blog post I wrote about how it works.

Follow the link for charts

Sea: a needlework chart for any craft

sample image for Sea: a needlework chart for any craft, by Naomi Parkhurst
| Naomi Parkhurst

The random number generator picked Sea from the suggestions for this post, suggested by Nim, one of my Patreon supporters.

I usually develop a complicated knitting stitch pattern for each word, but I also like to provide a basic chart for any craft that’s worked on a grid: beads, cross stitch, whatever. I also try to provide at least some digital art of the pattern repeated all over not as a chart. It doesn’t necessarily look like a finished object for any particular craft, but I just want to give a sense of it in use. (I try to make it look like knitting when it’s got floats short enough for easy stranded knitting.)

Follow link for charts and more information