NOTHING DOING HERE, MOVE ALONG
There’s nothing like a flurry of activity at work to make one feel
appreciated. I feel very appreciated right now. My
priorities being in the right place, there’s been precious little
knitting here since my return from vacation. I anticipate things
returning to the chaos that passes for normalcy here by next week.
Even though I have no knitting or stitching goodies to share today, I can’t let you wander off unrewarded. Here’s another beach picture to contemplate.
This one was taken last Tuesday by The Resident Male, of a beach shack perched in
the dunes of the National Seashore near Provincetown, Massachusetts.
QUESTION GRAB-BAG
A few knitting and non-knitting related questions from the inbox:
How did Killer Bunnies go?
Tons of fun. We played as a mixed-age group, with the youngest
being 7. We had hoped to get the Red Expansion Pack at Puzzle Me This
in Provincetown, but they were out. We settled for Violet, the
next one in sequence. The game plays more smoothly if you add
them in order because each pack builds on the last, but we were able to
use most of the Violet cards anyway.
What size needles did you use for the two versions of your counterpane?
The old version in the heavier cotton was knit on one of my odd size
needles, it’s a set of old long steel DPNs, they’re probably antique 9s
– and just a bit larger than standard US #4s (3.5mm), but closer to #4s
than #5s (3.75mm). The new piece is knit on 3mm needles, which in
some makers’ lines is a US #2, and in some is somewhere between a US#2
and a US #3.
Did you finish that embroidery doodle while you were away?
Are you planning on assembling the counterpane in the same way as the last try?
No. These units can be joined in many ways. Last time I
butted the triangles together. This time I plan to join
squares. My goal is to do the layout shown at the upper
right. Last time I used the one at the lower right. Both
use some plain solid triangles in addition to the pattern bearing units.
Where did you buy the counterpane pattern?
I didn’t. I made it up, starting with a standard spiraled
star. I added the outline-like bars to emphasize the motif, and
played with several treatments for the ground behind the star.
This one like my Mountain Laurel counterpane plays with a textured
ground and smooth star, but unlike that piece, plays a bit more with
the ground. I also wanted to do a counterpane that was an
tessellation of more interest than a flat tiled hex or a plain octagon
and hex. That’s why there are four units – the center hex, a
patterned square, a patterned triangle, and a plain triangle. The
layout above is actually an early draft showing how I played with the
concept, looking at ways in which I could use the patterned units to
extend the lines of the center hexes.
Can you send me the pattern?
Be patient. I plan on posting it to wiseNeedle this year –
probably after I’ve gotten considerably more done on the thing and have
a decent representation of the piece’s final look. I’d also like
to noodle up a complementing half hex and border.
RETURN TO REALITY
The only problem with starting out the summer with one’s vacation is that while there’s lots for the kids to look forward to in July and August, to me it feels like summer is already over.
While we had great fun on our week away, the weather wasn’t ideal. I didn’t mind the wet and cold because I was at my favorite place on earth – the beach in North Truro on Cape Cod. This is sunset over Provincetown, as seen from the deck of our room on one of the nicer days.
We had a couple of good beach days at the start of the week, then the weather turned cold and nasty. Luckily we were there with friends, and between good companionship and copiously applied wine, were able to keep both warm and entertained.
I did get in some knitting, but progress was slow. I was re-creating my North Truro counterpane pattern – invented in the very same spot – from my sketchy notes. I got off to a couple of false starts, regraphed some probelm areas, made some of the lines of the piece crisper, and played with various methods of joniing that avoid some need for seaming. Here’s the result:
As you can see, I’m mid-motif. The initial unit is the hex in the center. I knit that starting on some 3mm DPNs, moving to a circ as it got larger. Instead of binding off, I purled my final row, and left the thing on the circ. Then I attached my yarn at what looked to be a good corner point, and holding the thing with the reverse side front, knit one side’s worth of stitches. That produced the appearance of two rounds of purl on the front at the base of my soon-to-be-knit side square. I then worked the side square out using two DPNs. I worked my side squares attached like this, one at a time. After I got a couple done, I knit a side triangle separately (it’s worked base to tip) and sewed it into place.
I also experimented with skewing the attachment of the square unit. Since it really doesn’t matter where on the center hex the sides begin and end, I knit one square on katywumpus – aligning its center to the point of the star instead of to the center of the leaf motif in between the star arms. You can see it above. It’s the lone square that I’ve pointed out with the arrow. I’ve decided I like the original orientation better and left it intact just long enough to photograph.
Well and good. Things look like they’re working out. I’ve avoided working all those squares separately and the seams joining them to the hex in the center. My bargain basement Webs-find yarn is working out well, with a very soft slubby cotton hand. I like it a lot. Compare it to my first iteration of this idea:
I don’t know if you can see it, but the older yarn is MUCH heavier. It’s a very dense cotton worsted – almost a twine. The newer yarn is a 90% cotton, 10% acrylic blend, and is somewhere between DK and sport in thickness, plus it’s much less densely structured than the older stuff. The lighter yarn drapes better, plus it shows off the motifs better. All in all, things look quite promising!
String-Or-Nothing 