WOOLWORKS AND ANN KRECKEL’S “JANE’S BABY BOOTIES”
As folks here know, I adore this little pattern. It’s not mine, but I’ve knit at least sixty pairs for friends and family. Ann Kreckel posted it to the Ancient KnitList mailing list in 1995 (in its pre-Yahoo academic server days). It is Ann’s redaction of an older pattern passed down to her from her mother. There’s also a similar pattern that appeared a couple of years later in Threads Magazine (before they abandoned handwork), sent in from a lady then in her 90s, who said she learned it as a girl. I’m still looking for the ultimate source of both her and Ann’s mother’s pattern, probably in a women’s magazine or knitting booklet published before 1920.
In any case, for the longest time, this pattern has been available in the archives of the KnitList, and later on the now apparently defunct Woolworks.org website. Most of Woolworks’ content can be found here on the Internet Archive, via the Wayback Machine, a nifty tool for exhuming dead websites.
Ann’s pattern for Jane’s Baby Booties is here at this link, in full.
Here is my mini tutorial on knitting her pattern.
Here is my hat pattern to match her booties (PDF).
Woolworks disappearance is a shame, especially in that it appears to have happened without comment. Woolworks, compiled and maintained by EmilyWay, was one of the first comprehensive knitting sites on the ‘Net, and Emily should be one of the Internet knitting community’s patron saints.
In any case, having tried but failed to find Ann herself, I’ve shared the link above, but am loathe to repost her pattern verbatim. It’s hers, and I respect her copyright. If you know Ann, please match-make the two of us together, because I’d like to host the full text of her excellent design here.
PACKING ADVICE FOR EXPATS-TO-BE
OK, I’ve gotten a request from someone who doesn’t wish her name or tag posted. She is looking at an extended family stay in India in support of her expat husband and wanted recommendations on what to pack. I’ll attempt to answer, but with the caveat that each person’s experience, expectations, housing situation, and comfort level is different; and what I see here in Pune may not be typical of the rest of the country.
As to our housing, we are three people: two adults and a teenager. We opted for a sparsely furnished high-end apartment and what we brought is specific to that situation. Others who rent unfurnished apartments or stand-alone villas, or who have small kids, will have different needs.
Our apartment complex has a 24-hour guarded gate, a secure parking area, a building generator that bridges electrical outages and brown-outs (albeit with a minute or two gap before it kicks in); filtered water; piped in gas for our four-burner cooktop (instead of having to buy and lug our own propane cylinders) and an elevator. Our apartment has hot water heaters in the bathrooms and kitchens (push a button and in 20 min there’s hot water); a dishwasher, washing machine, small microwave, and a refrigerator. There is no conventional oven, although we could buy a small convection one if we really want to (we don’t). Our furnishings are minimal but functional – dining table and chairs, sofa and coffee table, TV stand, beds and built-in closets/drawers in the bedrooms, curtains, student desks in the kid bedrooms, and a big desk in the bedroom set aside as my husband’s office. It’s common for upscale apartments to have one bathroom for each bedroom. We also have a maid’s room, but with no maid, it’s dedicated to laundry.
Note that India’s electricity is 240V, and the plug configuration is different than in the US, so most US appliances and electronics won’t work here unless they are clearly marked for 240v. Most computer and high tech gear is multi-voltage (100-240V) though.
I’ll break this down by categories.
Kitchen and Food
We are cooking a lot of Indian style food because maintaining a familiar Western menu is prohibitively expensive and difficult to source.
Recommend to bring – any cooking implements that are vital to you. We brought a set of good knives, pots, pans, a heavy iron skillet, my hand-grater, a chopping bowl and chopping knife, stainless tableware, metal cooking tongs, vegetable parer, a couple of funnels, and some silicon spatulas. We brought some disposable plastic storage containers (I should have brought more of these), measuring cups and spoons, and plastic wrap. We also brought a heavy plastic cutting board for meat and good refillable water bottles that are easy to clean.
Recommended to buy here – Strainers or colanders, glassware, inexpensive unbreakable Corian type dishes, plastic or steel mixing bowls, steel cooking spoons and flippers. Plastic storage containers, canisters, and bins for spices, flour, lentils, coffee, etc. Gas service is low pressure/low flow, so the following have been indispensible: rice cooker, electric kettle, inexpensive low-tech pressure cooker. Coffee maker, toaster. Wooden cutting board for vegetables, small wooden rolling pin for making Indian flatbreads. Blender/grinder if you plan on doing a lot of Indian cooking. Cheap cotton dishtowels. Thermos bottle for coffee or tea. All of the small electrics can be resold when you leave.
Recommended to leave home – Baking dishes and pans, unless you plan on buying a convection oven. Anything that would be a pain to wash or care for because even with a dishwasher, you’ll end up doing a lot more hand washing than you are used to. Or if you are engaging household help, avoid bringing anything that you’d cringe to see broken in their well meaning but occasionally ungentle care.
Cleaning and Maintenance
It’s quite grimy here from the prevalence of diesel exhaust, plus for most of the year there are no rains, and the dust flies. You will be dry-mopping floors and dusting almost every day.
Recommended to bring – A dry Swiffer holder (the least expensive one disassembles neatly for easy packing). Don’t bother bringing the disposable pads. Go to a fabric store and buy one yard of the cheapest microfleece flannel they have in stock. Take a Swiffer pad and measure it out on the fleece, then cut the yard of fleece into rectangles of that size. You’ll get about 16. No need to hem, just use them in place of the disposable, then shake them out and when you’ve got a pile of dirty ones, toss them in the washing machine. Bring a small vacuum if you have or plan to have rugs. I brought my Roomba, for which a 240v adapter is available on the iRobot website. A small tool kit (hammer, wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers, etc.) is very useful. Bring cheap brown packing tape and duct tape. We had windows that didn’t close completely, and needed to tape plastic bags over the gaps in order to exclude mosquitoes.
Recommended to buy – Mops, buckets, brooms. You’ll need them all. If you have a balcony, get a broom just for outside, because it will quickly get too filthy to use indoors. An iron and ironing board, unless you plan on sending everything out for laundering and pressing. (If you do, be warned, it’s hard to find a place that does this gently, and we haven’t yet found a satisfactory dry cleaner.) Clothes drying racks – dryers can be had here, but electricity is very expensive. You’ll want to dry things on a rack or line, either indoors (cleaner, if you have the space), or outdoors (quicker, but only if you have a secure place to do it, and don’t mind dust-dingy clothing). Laundry detergents, all fabric bleach, and other cleaning consumables are all available.
Recommended to leave home – Unfortunately, you can’t ship most cleaning products because they are caustic, this includes scouring powder (like Comet or Ajax). This is a shame because on the whole, the stuff available in the US is more effective than what’s on the shelf here. But what’s here is good enough if you apply extra elbow grease and determination.
Tech and Entertainment
Recommended to bring – Dual voltage flat screen TV that has a hook-up to use with a laptop computer in order to watch pre-recorded material. A small hard drive loaded with the same (we have a DVR at home, and on it we brought five years worth of laagered favorite movies and shows with us). Laptops for each person (schoolkids need their own to bring with them, the working spouse will need one, and the accompanying spouse will need one to maintain sanity, too). You’ll appreciate Skype to keep in touch with the folks at home. Tablets, iPads, or other readers – books and games are bulky; readers allow you to subscribe to the home newspapers or magazines on line, plus read all you want, wherever you want, without accumulating a weighty and expensive pile to ship back home, plus they can hold your music, too. iPod/iPad or music player speaker/amplifier/stand/recharger. “Jailbroken” phones or phones that can accept an international SIM chip. You can get phones here, but they are 2-3x more expensive than similar models in the US. Hand held game units for the kids, with lots of games. Hobby supplies. If you knit, stitch, paint, or do any sort of craft as an outlet, bring your supplies. Stuff can be had here, but availability and selection are extremely limited, and there is a lot of down time and isolation, especially for an accompanying spouse. Allow yourself a generous bit of space for such things, if that’s what’s needed to keep you happy.
Recommended to buy – an uninterrupted power supply (UPS). We bought one locally (they’re prohibitively heavy to ship) and have our router attached to it. When the power goes down and up as it does up to six or seven times a day, the UPS bridges the minute or two between the municipal power disappearing and the building’s generator power kicking in, which otherwise is long enough to reset the house router and lose connectivity. The router or switch itself (usually obtained through your ISP as part of their package). Omni-plug accepting power strips, which are widely available here. These provide a modicum of surge protection, plus they accept US-format wall plugs. Provided the item connected is dual voltage (like a computer or phone charger), they eliminate the need for individual adapter plugs. Note that replacement earphones and other accessories for the leading makes of phones, iPods, and MP3 players are widely available.
Recommended to leave at home – Bicycles, Razor scooters, and the like. Indian traffic has its own internal chaotic rule set. I wouldn’t suggest any but the most intrepid adults to ride in the streets. And that goes quadruple for kids. There are no places for them to ride at all, even in this gated community tooling around the parking lot will get old, very quickly. Sports equipment – again the “place to play” problem, plus most stuff – swim goggles, soccer balls, and the like are available here.
Personal Care
Recommended to bring – Personal care and cosmetic brands you can’t live without. That being said, Olay, Gilette, Garnier and Colgate brands have significant presence here, although most Americans would not be thrilled by cumin-flavored toothpaste instead of mint. If you like unscented products, bring them from home, because unscented isn’t popular here either. Q-tips, hair gel. If you need acne ointment with salicylic acid in it, bring that too. Definitely bring mosquito repellent containing DEET, preferably pump spray for economy, even if you are usually opposed to better living through chemistry. Mosquito-borne illnesses are a huge problem, and dengue is far worse than temporary exposure to the repellent. Bring high SPF sun block. They have sunblock here but it’s often mixed with harsh “whitening agents” because the local aesthetic values fairness to an extent that will make most North Americans of any race cringe at the personal care product commercials. I can’t speak to hair dye yet, although in another couple of months I may. Razors, again if electric – dual voltage. If manual, you may want to stock up rather than buy local. Bring any prescription medicines, in original containers, plus any non-prescription stuff you need, including non-Aspirin pain relievers, plus maintenance medicines like enteric Aspirin or vitamins. I’d strongly suggest going to a travel medicine clinic to get needed vaccinations and prescriptions for “just in case” medications, then filling them before you leave home. Bring a fever thermometer, band-aids, anti-itch crème, and antibacterial ointment. All can be found here, but only after much searching, which you may not have time for if need for them presents itself.
Recommended to buy – Hair dryer, the ones bought here tend to be more forgiving of the iffy voltage than even the US-purchased “international” dual voltage models. Mosquito killer wall sprays – in the US you can buy little plug in units that dispense air fresheners or fragrances. Here the same technology is used for insecticides. Again, remember that the illnesses are worse than short term chemical exposure, and use them.
Recommended to Leave at Home – Think of streamlining your daily routine and kit. Personal care items are bulky. Although brand availability is limited, adequate shampoo and conditioner can be found. Moisturizers are available. Soaps, especially hand-made soaps are excellent. Bring the absolute minimum.
Household Items
Recommended to bring – Towels and sheets. Make sure you know the size of the beds before hand. Most in high-end buildings are king size, but don’t make any assumptions. For kids, those bed-sitting pillows with arms on them. They will be spending lots of time in their rooms, and a dorm-style sitting pillow makes their bed a comfy place to read, listen to music, or study.
Recommended to buy – Bed Pillows. They’re bulky. Unless you have specific sleeping needs, you’ll find what’s here adequate. Furnished apartment furniture is very generic – you’ll probably want to liven the place up a bit with purchased rugs and pillows. Textile choices here for decorative items are better than choices for standard domestics. Small supplemental floor or table lamps. Wastebaskets and garbage cans, laundry baskets and hampers.
Recommended to Leave at Home – Heavy bedding, including quilts and comforters. A lightweight cotton blanket (or maybe even just a top sheet) is all that’s needed, even with air conditioning.
Clothing
Pune’s climate (for India) is mild, with only a month or two of intense heat. Daytime for the rest of the year is in the 80s-90s, and nightimes are in the 60s-70s. During monsoon (June-September) it can be very humid, and rains at least a little bit four days out of five, some of those days quite intensively. During the other months, it’s extremely sunny and parchingly dry. Even here, you are not going to need jackets, sweaters, or warm pants.
Clothing here is sized small by US standards. My daughter is about 5’6 1/2” and depending on length wears a US 11, somewhere between a size medium and large. Here if she’s lucky to fit into anything off the rack it’s a women’s extra large, or a men’s large. Shoe stores seem to stock up to US women’s size 9 (Euro 40). I’ve been told you can get things larger, but it’s all special order.
Remember, male or female, you are going to be stared at. If you’re female and of any age you are going to be stared at twice as much. And if you are young and attractive, you are going to be openly leered at, catcalled, and if unescorted, even jostled. Be aware of this as you are planning clothing choices.
Recommended to Bring – underwear, sneakers (trainers), walking shoes, sandals. Jeans and light weight pants. Short sleeve cotton shirts or tunic style tops. Nothing sleeveless unless it’s intended for layering under stuff with sleeves (which is highly recommended). Shorts should not be shorter than your fingertips when you stand with arms at your sides, over the knee cropped pants are better. “Breathable” but modest exercise clothing if you plan on going to a gym (by modest for women I mean short sleeve rather baggy t-shirts, Capri length or over the knee exercise pants, nothing midriff bearing and no exercise bras worn as shirts). Bring one outfit that’s appropriate for attending an afternoon church wedding (modest dress or skirt/suit set). If you’ll be here for monsoon, bring a folding Totes type umbrella – a rain jacket is too hot during the day. If you’re going to be out in the sun, bring a sun hat.
Recommended to Buy – Accessories, scarves, bags, etc. Both costume and real jewelry especially if you like ornamentation. No one does bling quite as well as here in India. I am not brave enough to try wearing a sari yet, but others have more grace than I do enjoy them immensely. I will be buying kameeze or kurti style tops in the near future.
Leave at Home – This is not the place to seek attention, flaunt or prance. Think “clothing suitable for visiting an elderly maiden aunt,” not clothing that shouts “I’m hot!” to the world. Think clean and neat, and a bit on the preppy side. Avoid Statement Clothing, unless you are prepared to endure the attention. Also, remember maintainability. Leave stuff that needs to be dry cleaned at home.
Office and School Supplies
Recommended to Bring – Schools differ in what they require, but I’d suggest a couple of large spiral bound notebooks. The only ones I’ve seen here are very small and saddle stapled, like exam books. Student calculator, if you’ve got a kid in middle school or higher. They have them here but they are quite expensive. Same thing for combination locks for school lockers. Sharpies and paper scissors come to mind. Spare power cords or USB cables for your devices. You can find USB thumb drives here quite cheaply though. Batteries if you have a lot of battery powered items, and if you’ve got a household shipment allowance because they are expensive here, too. A good student backpack (we each have one and use it for work/school or day trips). Scotch tape, school glue, and crazy glue for small repairs. A LED flashlight or two. Crayons or colored pencils for the kids (if any). Photo printing paper. Small stapler and staples. Envelopes. Stationary for writing thank you notes.
Recommended to Buy – Cheap printer/scanner. You’d be amazed how many documents need to be copied, and how many duplicates of passport type photos you will need. Being able to manufacture these at home is a lifesaver.
Recommended to Leave at Home – Printer paper. Everything here is A4, not US Letter or Legal size.
I’ve gone on long enough. Please feel free to leave additions or suggestions, or ask questions in the comments. Hope this helps someone.
LAST LEGS (OR IN THIS CASE, ARMS)
What is this wadded, folded red object?
The red top-down pullover, of course. I’ve finished both sleeve caps. They were worked onto the body rather than seamed on later, and were done both using the short-row method described in the pattern. More or less. There was some fudging and work-arounds to maintain the lacy rib pattern, and I ended up having to do an extra row after pick-up because try as I might, I could not pick up as few stitches as were specified without leaving unsightly gaps and puckering. So, I picked up an appropriate number (mid way between my chosen size and the next one up), then worked an additional row of strategically placed decreases to slim the count down to the pattern’s number. That means my lacy rib starts one row after the seam instead of butted up against it, but unless I point that out, it’s not noticeable. (Oops. I just did.)
Why is it all folded up? Because now that I’m in the post sleeve cap arm section, I am knitting both sleeves at the same time, using the two-circ method. This will guarantee that they are both the same length and configuration.
I often do the same thing for socks, mittens, or other things that come in identical or mirrored pairs. I even knit cardigan fronts side by side when working flat, for the same reason. You can barely see a pink stitch marker attaching the two sleeves together in the center, just above the working needles. This is a small trick I stumbled on that has eliminated hours of grief for both two-circ and flat production of side by side pieces. Securing the two pieces together in a fixed orientation helps me keep on track, knitting both items in the same direction and minimizing the “Drat! I just loaded everything onto the same needle” mistake.
RIGHT ON TRACK
The red top-down pullover is growing at a good pace. I’m finding the Cascade Yarns UltraPima to be a very easy cotton to knit – easy to keep tension, non-splitty, and fast to work. I’m averaging about 3 inches per evening.
The true color is rather more tomato than fuchsia, but you get the idea:
The pattern is of the type I haven’t seen for quite a while. It’s not written for new knitters. As I warned before, if you are intimidated by things like “repeat as for left, reversing shaping,” or if you have problems calculating back to add panels of an established pattern to newly cast-on stitches, you will want to sit down with this one first, making plenty of notes and figuring out what is meant before you plunge on ahead.
One extra hint – the increases and decreases in this piece happen at long intervals, for the size I’m working in one case every seven rows, in another, every 14. Keeping track of that can be a pain, but I use one of my Stupid Stitch Marker Tricks to do it. I have a marker indicating the first stitch of the round. I take a contrasting color marker, and advance it one stitch away from the first-stitch marker on each round. When seven stitches have accumulated between my first-stitch marker and my counting marker, I am ready to do my decrease. I find this method more immediate and less difficult to forget than using tally marks on paper, counting stones, or a stitch counter gizmo.
But I’m past the tricky bits now. I’m into the section below the empire waist, where the “skirt” area is slowly increased to make a baby-doll A-line silhouette. Easy. The next tricky bit will be the sleeves, which I intend on making shorter than the original.
On yarn consumption, I’ve just wound and tapped into Skein #3. I figure one more after this one on the body, then possibly 1.75 to 2 per sleeve. I’ve got plenty and should not have to dip into the odd-lot extra skein in my mixed dye lot bag.
I’ll post more on expat life this week, once I’ve retrieved the pictures from family cameras.
NEW PROJECT, MORE MONSOON
A mixed post today. First on knitting, I’ve embarked on a quickie project – a pullover for Younger Daughter. I’m starting with this commercial pattern, the Empire Waist Top Down Pullover, from Vermont Fiber Designs (#172):
But I’m making two changes. The first is that I’m knitting it in Cascade Yarns UltraPima cotton DK. The original is written for a wool or wool blend DK. That means that the piece will be more massy and less elastic than the original designer’s intent. The other is that I’m shortening the sleeves. I’m moving the garter stitch band up somewhat, so that it aligns better with the band at the waist, and proceeding with the belled sleeves from there, so that the whole sleeve is closer to 3/4 length than back-of-knuckles length.
And here’s my initial progress on the back:
On the yarn – I like it. It’s relatively painless for a multistrand cotton DK. It isn’t splitty, and it’s a bit more forgiving in stitch irregularity appearance than is Cotton Classic, my go-to all-cotton DK. It’s also shinier than the Cotton Classic.
On the pattern – I note that the range of sizes it includes is superior, from extra small all the way up to 6X. This does make for a confusing pattern presentation though. I made a photocopy and have highlighted all of my chosen size notations. Those who struggle with tiny type will probably want to photo-enlarge this one, too. (To reassure copyright protection advocates, under Fair Use provisions I can do this provided I own the original, and either keep the resulting copy with my original, or destroy it after I’m finished. I cannot give away, sell or otherwise share the copy).
So far the pattern has presented no problems, although I would not call this a pattern for those who have not worked from an classic style one before. For example, you’ll need to know that a hypothetical direction that states something like “increase 0(2,4) stitches 0(3,1) times” means that for the smallest size, you’d increase nothing no times (in effect, skip this direction); for the middle size increase 2 stitches 3 times; for largest third size you need to increase 4 stitches 1 time. The “increase 0” direction can cause distress.
I’ll keep posting progress here as I wade deeper into the project.
On the India Travelogue side of the house, I present more monsoon scenes and contrasts. First, It’s been pretty uniformly cloudy here over the past month, with only one morning showing a breakthrough sun. But there have been many afternoons of spectacular cloudscapes. This is a view over my shoulder:
And here’s the promised view of the hills near Younger Daughter’s school, near Manas Lake in the Bhukum area on Pune’s outskirts:
Contrast this lush verdure with a dusty shot of the same area taken this past January. And January isn’t even the depths of the dry season. The driest time is May and the beginning of June, just before the rains arrive in mid-June.
MARBLE ROLLED, EDGE TREATMENTS EXPLAINED
Yaay! The lap blanket knit from Marble is finished. Well, mostly. I do have to finish off the ends and block the thing. But all of the knitting is complete, and I grafted the edging’s last four stitches to its beginning, so that the seam is unnoticeable.
Aileen in Springfield asked me how I was filling in the half-motifs, because she’s working on a modular square piece, and prefers the look of the units tipped to present as diamonds. I’ll attempt to explain, but I won’t be publishing this as a full up pattern because of general lack of interest.
My treatment includes a nifty self I-Cord edging, worked as the piece progresses. It’s a nice, robust “hem” that stands up to wear and tear nicely. Here’s how.
I started on the REVERSE of the piece, so that any ridges formed by knitting the edging on would happen on the front, the same side as the native diagonal and vertical lines of the modular squares. I needn’t have bothered with this refinement, because as you can see in the photo above, the join lines are quite indistinct. Also note the slight ruffling of the edge triangles. That should steam-block out (mostly).
Starting at Point A – the rightmost corner point of the motif at the bottom right of the blanket.
Increase progression:
Row 1: Cast on three stitches, then pick up one in the rightmost corner of the first motif.
Row 2: Slide all stitches to the right end of the needle, I-Cord style. Knit 4, and pick up one stitch in the next available selvedge stitch of the diamond motif. There should be 5 stitches on the needle.
Row 3: Flip the work over so you are working away from the main blanket. Slip the first stitch purlwise. Knit the second stitch. Slip the final three stitches one at a time, all purlwise.
Row 4: Flip the work over so you are working in from the edge, toward the main blanket. Knit the first three stitches VERY FIRMLY, pulling the yarn tight in classic I-Cord style. Knit the remaining stitches on the needle. Then pick up another stitch in the next available selvedge stitch of the diamond motif. There should be 6 stitches on the needle.
Row 5: Flip the work over again so you are working away from the main blanket. Slip the first stitch purlwise. Knit the second and third stitch. Slip the final three stitches one at a time, all purlwise.
Continue working rows 4 and 5, adding one stitch on every even row, until you have “used up” all of the available attachment points along the edge of your motif. The actual number of stitches will depend on the size of your motif. Mine was a 15×15 stitch square, so I had 14 attachment points along each diamond’s edge. After working your last Row 5 equivalent you will be ready to decrease
Decrease progression:
Row 1: Starting at the edge, working towards the main blanket. Knit the first three stitches very firmly, I-Cord style. Continue knitting across the row until only three stitches remain. Knit those three stitches together. Pick up one stitch in the first available selvedge stitch on the next motif.
Row 2: Working from the main body of the blanket back out to the edge. Slip the first stitch purlwise, knit until three stitches remain. Slip these three stitches one at a time, all purlwise.
Continue working Rows 1 and 2 of the decrease progression until you are back at the tip of Motif #2. At that point you should be down to four stitches. In the event that you have five when you reach the motif tip (which happened to me a couple of times, and I didn’t take the time to figure out why), on the last iteration of Row 2, just knit the first two stitches together instead of slipping. Fudging this way is invisible – the goal is to make sure that by the time you start down the increase section of the next motif, you begin at the point with only four stitches on the needle.
Now. How to use this same edge I-Cord idea on a straight edge? You can do it one of two ways, depending on whether you are working this at the same time as the main body, or adding it as a supplemental feature on a finished edge.
First, if you’re working a flat piece in garter stitch or stockinette and you want to add this at the same time as you are working the main body, just set aside the first three or four stitches at either end for the I-Cord curl. Or if you like, add some stitches for the treatment to your total count, but be aware that this will use more yarn and if you are working from a set pattern with a set amount, adding even six total to each row (3 left and 3 right) you will risk running out of yarn.
Once you have figured out how many to set aside or add, work each row as you usually do, BUT at the end of every row, slip your I-Cord designated stitches, and at the beginning of each row, KNIT them. You’ll notice that this edging is the same front and back, so if you are trimming both sides of your scarf or blanket, the left and right edges of your piece will look the same. This is pretty much the same thing I described as being useful for making straps for bags back in 2004, but with a whole blanket in between the I-Cord edges rather than just a couple of stitches.
If you want to add this I-Cord edge to a finished piece, it will be easier if you have worked a slip-stitch selvedge, so that the edge loops are crisply defined. But with fiddling this will also work on non-slip-stitch edges, and on cast on or bind off rows. Cast your desired number of stitches onto your needle, pick up one stitch in the body of the work to be trimmed. Flip the work over and heading back out from the body, knit the first two stitches together, then slip the rest purlwise, one at a time. Now working back from the edge towards the main body, knit the designated I-Cord stitches firmly, knit the attachment stitch, and then pick up another stitch in the main body. Continue in this manner, adding one stitch every “inwards” row, and knitting it together with the attachment stitch on the “outwards” rows. This is slightly different than the method I’ve described before for adding I-Cord to an edge, because it moves the attachment point one stitch away from the I-Cord itself, and makes a neater presentation with both sides looking more like each other.
LINES, EDGES, AND BELLS
I am back from over a week of waiting on lines at the government visa office to renew our residence paperwork. Let’s just say I’m relieved not to be up close and personal with the bureaucracy today. Sadly, I was unable to take my knitting with me to civilize all those hours. It would have helped.
Here’s my latest progress on the big blanket knit from Marble. The current state is on the left, the previous attempt is on the right.
You can see that true to my word, I’ve narrowed down the edge treatment. I’ve also eliminated the mitered corners in another bid to conserve yarn. Instead I just ran the I-cord along the edge of the corner unit diamond. Much faster and simpler that the previous treatment using short rows. In order to prevent cupping, I did do a couple of rounds of I-Cord “free” at each corner point of the diamond, to provide extra ease. I’m at roughly the same point in yarn consumption as my earlier attempt (seen on right, above), but you can see that I’m further along the march around the piece. Fingers are crossed, but with what I’ve got left, I think I’ll be able to finish. I do prefer the older treatment though, and if more yarn was available, I’d have continued with it. Those extra four stitches between the fill-in diamonds and the I-Cord, plus the thicker I-Cord and mitered corner made a smoother, more uniform presentation, and “absorbed” some of the natural rippling that happens when the fill-ins are made. So it goes…
Monsoon continues here, with heavy rain days interspersed with misty, overcast days. The humidity is through the roof. I’m experiencing a bit of climatic dissonance. We do get long periods of grey, dank skies in New England, but they are in the dead of winter, usually when temperatures are down in the low teens or below (that’s -10ºC and under for you Celsius folk), accompanied by intermittent snow. To have this many dark but warm days in a row is new to me.
In spite of the greyness, the omnipresent mud and the acne-like spread of potholes in the imperfectly footed brick surface streets, I’ve mentioned the up-side of the monsoon before. Everything is quite lush, and the city is transformed. Even the dusty, trash-strewn vacant lots in town are covered in deep growth, with occasional splashes of wildflowers. This weekend past we went to a patio restaurant, where we dined under a large open air tent. There was a large tree just outside the tent, hung with dozens of child-size umbrellas and spans of tiny bells. Rain fell throughout dinner, making music as the drops hit leaves, umbrellas and the bells.
Today we travel out into the surrounding hills where Younger Daughter’s school is. Because we went back to the US before her last semester ended, she had special dispensation to take her 9th grade finals all this week, before school resumes at the beginning of August. I’m looking forward to seeing what effect the rains have had on the countryside and hope to take pix to share. And in addition to my camera, I can bring my knitting!
AND BACK TO KNITTING
Now that the hustle of getting ready for our return is over, I have time in the evenings to sit and knit a bit.
I had planned to finish the large red throw prior to the trip, but I ran out of time. Luckily, I didn’t run out of luggage space, and I was able to take it with me:
As you can see, I have completed the center area of modular diamonds, and am now working around the edging. Or I was… More on that below.
I am trimming the thing out into a full rectangle, filling in the missing edge half-diamonds and completing it with an edging. I’m winging it, but have some notes if the world thinks it really needs yet another free pattern for a modular diamond throw. If you are part of that world, please let me know.
One thing of special note – the edging. I’ve used this before. It’s an “un-vention” – something I worked out on my own, but that I’m sure others have discovered before me. I am not a big fan of plain edges on stockinette or garter stitch. To me they look flabby and unfinished. When I do a scarf or blanket, I always try to include a lacy, hemmed or otherwise finished edge. This particular treatment is similar to an edge casing, sort of like a seam binding in sewing. It wraps the edge with I-cord, and is totally reversible (same on both sides). It’s worked at the same time as the body:
It’s particularly useful to create a “Chanel-look” professional detail on the fronts of cardigans. Buttonholes can be introduced between the edge and the main body, too. Or it can be used to create a casing for a drawstring or elastic, on the tops of bags or skirts. It can also be used on both sides of a narrow strip to create a firm strap, either to use as-is, or after fulling. (I posted about this almost 10 years ago).
How to work this edging? Very simple. Decide how many stitches wide you want it to be. Three or four is optimal, but up to six can be managed. Add that number to your total project width count. Let’s use four here for demonstration purposes:
Four-Stitch I-Cord Style Rolled Casing
- Row 1 (wrong side row): Work your project as usual until you get to the last four stitches. Bring the yarn to the front of the work. Leaving the yarn alone, slip the next four stitches as if to purl, transferring them one at a time from the left to the right needle.
- Row 2 (right side row): Just like when working I-cord, knit the first four stitches, making sure to pull the yarn very tightly to create the rolled edge effect. Then work the rest of the row as usual.
Now, what’s this about not quite working the edging on this project?
I had started it by adding five extra stitches of width on top of eking out my edge triangles, supplemented by a four-stitch rolled casing. That’s nine stitches per row extra. I got all the way around the corner, having worked that out, too, using short rows. Then I looked at how much yarn I have left – a little over 1.3 balls. It was highly probable that I’d run out before getting all the way around the blanket. With no way of getting more Marble here in India, I had to rethink.
I ripped out the whole completed edge section (two nights’ work), and began again. This time I’m using only one stitch of extra width, and I’ve cut back the casing from four to three stitches, for a total per row add of only four instead of nine:
We’ll see how far I get. To be fair, I prefer the proportion of the last attempt, but it is no longer a valid option. So it goes…
If I still don’t have enough yarn, the next possibility is to rip back some of the center diamonds and make the total piece smaller. But because that’s worked on the diagonal, doing so will be a major pain.
Here’s hoping my quick fix is enough.
BACK TO PUNE WITH THE RAIN
I can report that our Great Migration was successful. We’re now re-installed in our Pune flat, having arrived mid-monsoon. We’ll be here until next summer. I was astounded at how the arrival of the rains has changed everything. The region is now green. Very, very green.
First, on the car trip from Mumbai to Pune, inland and up the ridge that marks the edge of the Deccan Plateau (Pune is at about 1800 feet above sea level), the dry and scrubby hills were transformed. Where before there was dust, some sprigs of tenacious, prickly looking shrubs and cacti, are now pillows of lush vegetation and soft grasses. Rocky ledges are now waterfalls, with greater and lesser cascades threading down the slopes, joining to make fast-moving creeks. Dry stream beds that were little more than stagnant puddles and sand shoals are now broad brown rivers, filling their channels bank to bank, and running fast enough to make rapids. We saw newly sprouted fields, and families out planting rice in flooded paddies in village areas. In the cities I saw older people tending the vegetable patches and potted plants which have appeared everywhere a scrap of space can be found. Unfortunately, all of our attempts to take photos showing the waterfalls and green fields were unsuccessful. Here’s the best of the lot:
Through the heavy but intermittent rain people were going about their business as usual, but wetter. The scooter riders were still out in force, but soaked to the skin. Likewise the pedestrians. So were the cars, but on waterlogged, slippery roads. Reduced visibility, road construction pothole puddles, and wet pavement make driving here even more hazardous than usual. I was very thankful that Mr. Rupesh was at the wheel. We did see many accidents and breakdowns on the road, mostly mini-cars that had bottomed out when their tiny wheels tried to swim through deep puddles, or heavy lorries with flats or broken axles from encountering potholes at speed. Sad to say, we did pass a couple of serious accidents with injuries, where two-wheelers and larger vehicles collided.
In spite of the rain, people here are happy to see it. They don’t seem to be all that inconvenienced. In the US, if it rains on our vacation, we’re sad and annoyed. Here the rain is seen as a blessing. Families plan vacations and outdoor activities FOR the rainy season, and TV commercials are full of happy children, frolicking with family in downpours. However embracing the rainy season does occasionally end up in tragedy. Monsoon is also a season of thanksgiving and religious devotion. Earlier this month thousands of unfortunate pilgrims were swept away or stranded by floodwaters in the northern provinces. But in even in the face of terrible loss, the rains are the lifeblood of the land, and are very welcome here.
Finally, here’s the view from our balcony. The shot of the sports festival on the left was taken back in late April, just before the rains. The one on the right, not ten minutes ago:
LOST MY MARBLES
My modular blanket in Marble continues to grow. Of course, there are the two glaring missing squares, but I can knit them separately, then sew them in:
The floor is tiled in 1-foot squares, so you have an idea of the size so far. This is as large as the outside is going to get. I’m on the third of my five big balls of Marble. After I finish out the corner (and the missing blocks), I’ll do the triangles to make the thing into a nice, even rectangle. Then I’ll do some sort of banding around the edge, possibly an adaptation of one of the bias scarves so often done in long repeat variegated yarns. I’ll probably miter the corners. After that, if I have enough yarn, possibly an edging, although a simple band of I-Cord or double I-Cord may be just the ticket.
In other news, Younger Daughter is back from an early stay at Roads End Farm – heaven on earth for horse-mad girls.
This year in addition to the fun of riding and friendships, the thrice-clever Margaret taught the kids how to do needle felting. Younger Daughter has found her fiber calling:
Yesterday’s production: Stumpy pony, small dino with coffee mug, evil kitten, stubby squid, bird perched in mug handle, and tiny stegosaurus. All were done with remnants of rustic wool yarns from my stash, snipped into short lengths, and combed out somewhat using two old wire hairbrushes.
Other than that, we’re in the final throes of preparation for migration back to Pune, India.
String-Or-Nothing 