[Repost of material originally appearing on 3 August 2006]

First, here’s a picture showing one finished meta-unit, plus one that’s mid-assembly. You can see the swirl hex in the center, plus where the square and triangle units fit.

In the layout I’m using, these meta-units fit together with plain triangles inserted at the point where three meta-units meet.

I suppose I could have made just one big triangle for those spots instead of four smaller ones. That design variant will have to wait for a future blanket. In the next photo you can see how the concept above actually works:

Finally, here are some other arrangements for the same basic units. The swift will note that the one in the upper right is in fact the layout I am using:

In addition to these, the squares and triangles can also be used by themselves, or in combo. LATE UPDATE: The two layouts on the right are in fact different. While both employ entire meta-units, with plain triangles where they meet, the top one butts the meta-units up against each other by uniting the edges of the squares, the other unites the edges of the triangles. The differences are subtle, but the lines of the piece do look different if the lower right hand arrangement is made.

In terms of technique used and hints for seaming – the squares fit stitch for stitch along the edge of the hex. Due to decrease ratios, the triangles are in fact just a bit wide at the base. To eat up that extra width, I play with ease, plus I sew them in using mattress stitch. I take a slightly bigger “bite” out of the triangles’ sides than I do out of the edges of the squares to which I am sewing them. So far it has worked out well enough. Other spots where cast-on/bind-off edges meet are sewn together with whip stitch, picking up the innermost edges of the chains formed by the cast-on or bind off (or if no chain was formed, the equivalent edgemost stitch).

I do note that I’ve gone back and forth several times between working the hex, then sewing on the squares, or working the hex, then working the squares directly onto it’s live stitches. I had forgotten I had done this as I began this summer’s production, but looking at my finished blanket, I’m hard pressed to identfy the abberant sewn-on squares. I’ll go back to the knit-on method on the next meta-unit. In the mean time, I’ll just sit here in the heat and think about knitting, because at over 100-deg F indoors, it’s too hot to actually do anything more than sit in one spot and pant like a dog.

Now. Has anyone else tried the hex yet?

Technorati : knitting