Notes
Thanks to Rob at robknits for letting me know about a problem with the smilies in the comment section and for including the error code she received. In this way, we learned that our hosting company had changed some things that we hadn’t known about. That problem has been fixed.
Also regarding the comments page: The buttons above the comments box have been removed because of an issue that also came about because of the host company’s changes. However, the functionality remains so if you want, say, italicize something, you would use the standard html code. For example, to get this: Yikes, you would type this: <i>Yikes</i>. Same for b (bold), u (underline) and strike (strike out).
Susan - Please let me know if you continue to have problems viewing images?
A pleasant weekend here - a little shopping, a lot of sunshine and fresh air and most of the snow accumulation melting down. It was in the 50s here on Saturday - gorgeous day :) Of course the temperatures are going right back to arctic levels tomorrow. With the wind chill figured in, the temps should hover around 0 F for most of the day.
With the warmer temperatures making a stab at returning, I discovered the need for something a bit lighter than a chunky wool hat so I made this:
It was done with two Classic Elite yarns, Spotlight and Flash, both cotton, worsted weight yarns on a size 6 US (4 mm) circular needle. I cast on 108 stitches and that turned out to be a little big - 100 stitches should do the trick. It was also just a bit shorter from top to bottom than I would have preferred so a few more rows on subsequent versions are definitely in order as well. The stranding was off the top of my head and while I like the look, it was a pain in the butt to do:) However, that’s only because I don’t have a lot of practice stranding and I’m pretty sure if I did it more often it wouldn’t be nearly so annoying. While it is a bit loose (the hat, not the stranding), it’s wearable so I’m not going to rip it out. I’m just going to take the lessons learned and apply them to future models.
Another washcloth - staggered seed stitch with a double-crochet edging. I love this cheerful raspberry color though I seem to have an issue with making two washcloths the same. My brain seems to prefer an assortment to a set :) I’ll probably make one more of these and that should get me through. I’ve been enjoying making them though so perhaps I’ll just go on making one every now and again and put them away for future purposes - last minute gifts, etc. Any excuse to keep playing!
I’ve also been playing with the entrelac shawl thing, I decided to see how it would work if I started with the traditional triangles rather than blocks. Actually it works out nicely as you can see in the above photos. The swatch at the top left was cast on with size 6 US (4 mm) needles - also the size needle all the swatches were worked in. The cast on was too tight and my feeling is that even severe blocking would only partially alleviate this. The swatch at the top right was cast on with size 8 US (5 mm) needles) and then worked with the size 6. This is much better. While there’s still some pull along the upper edge, it’s really only a function of the stitch configuration and would block out perfectly. The bottom swatch, really done for comparison purposes, is all garter stitch. I don’t much like it but I felt I had to execute at least one swatch in this fashion in order to make an informed decision. I think the stockinette has it :)
The good news is that the triangles work for starting the piece - they look decent and alleviate the problems of a big, saw-tooth edge (sabre-tooth entrelac?). The bad news is that its going to require casting on a lot of stitches to begin with since this would be worked from the top down. For example, using the lace pattern from Friday’s post (which is 25 stitches across) and extrapolating from the swatch that there should probably be 8 starting triangles (given a similar weight yarn and the same size needles). That would require casting on 200 stitches. Actually, that doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Some shawls I’ve seen require casting on 400 or more stitches. Okay, I’ll stop whining; 200 stitches I can live with :)
Of course, there will have to be an edging too. The sides are going to be slightly uneven and a nice edging would be a tremendous help towards smoothing that out. Right now I’m thinking that’s going to require picking up all the edge stitches - something I have seriously avoided doing until now. Still, maybe it’s about time to just swallow my trepidation and go for it. After all, I don’t have any trouble with sock gussets…
And entrelac is all about picking up stitches anyway - right?
No trackbacks yet.
okay, we all know that i usually consider anything brighter than khaki and grey off the scale of possibility for my own use, but when i do actually venture into color combos, i have to say that pink and green together always are among my list of favorites- so i love the hat- i would sit it out to admire it-
i really like the staggered seed stitch and am going to be a lemming- i have a sweater for dana i need to work on and i think i am going to convert the pockets the pattern calls for which are set in to patch pockets using that stitch- the sweater itself consists of endless rows of stockinette and i think the change for the pockets will liven up the look a bit-
thank goodness for people like you who try out new ideas and share them!!
stay happy-
Thanks Barb :) The hat was fun as I hadn’t made one in cotton before (and, of course, I couldn’t find the white Cascade Sierra we’ve spoken of previously!) Though it is rather…erm…limp it seems to stay on just fine and give my noggin a little breather from the wool.
I think using the staggered seed for your pockets sounds terrific - see, I would never have thought of that. All I thought was - Mmmm, nubbly - good washcloth pattern!
Re your entrelac shawl, would you do the half triangle things along the sides which give you a straight edge when you work entrelac in a rectangle? To avoid having to pick up a lot of stitches to do an edging, you could always do one that is knitted on perpendicularly to the body.
Charlotte - Right now I don’t think there will be side triangles - but as I’m still working things out, I suppose anything’s possible :)
Due to the way this is made, there won’t be any live stitches along the sides to knit an edging onto - hence the nessecity of picking them up.
Gorgeous hat! I love the way the colours work with each other.
Opal - Thanks :) Stranding and I only sort of get along. It’s more in the nature of an armed truce than an alliance - but sometimes it seems like a good idea :)
Hi Robbyn,
I’ve been looking at your Dana Victoria pattern for months (love the thumb gusset and mini-bobbles) but didn’t look at your blog until last night when I decided I finally wanted to give the mitts a go. I’ve found your site very enjoyable; beautiful patterns and interesting blog entries. I will be returning, especially when your recipes look so yummy! Btw, do you know that some of your sidebar links are not working? E.g., how to make cables without a cable needle.
We are having very seasonal weather here in Toronto and I am really enjoying the cold beauty of the snow. It’s a great time for knitting, though, isn’t it? :)
still seeing the dreaded red Xs 
yay I see pretty pictures now 
Mary - Thank you for your kind words - I’m very happy that you like the pattern and are enjoying the blog. Thank you also, for letting me know about the links - I should have some time this weekend to check on things and get them straightened out :)
Yes indeed - this is ideal knitting weather!
Susan - Good! Great! Yay you :) ‘Cause what’s a blog without pictures?
