Laura's pattern for #15

Here it is all knitted up. It's a pretty pattern and fun to do and I had no difficulty at all with the instructions. So well done. I tied up all the loose ends, after doing 16 swatches, it's second nature now, and blocked it. Notice a newer, smarter approach in the first photo, I blocked it upside down so I could get the curling selvedges to really lay flat. I also learned that the cable cast on is the perfect one for these swatches, so I am no longer finished mine!! I have three cable swatches to re-do. Alas, that's the problem with perfection, the job is just never done.

The only thing I think you need to consider is WHEN you do on the bind off row. In our instructions it says the finished swatch has to be no less than 4" and no longer than 4.5". I ended it when it was exactly 4" which ended up being row 3. However, the effect is not correct. Row 3 is the first cable row of the pattern and the eye expects the cable to start moving inwards. So I would recommend casting off in a row 1 or 2. Which means you have to do three cycles of the pattern, and hope that it doesn't measure more than 4.5". There's a lot of fudging that you can do in the blocking phase, stretching, shaping making sure things are the right length. So give that a try.

Test Post to show Mom our work (tee-hee)

Here is where you write stuff.

This is how you upload a photo:

-adjust photo placement.

No. 15 - Test Swatch

The pattern requirements state that there must be two purl stitches before the cable, do you think it would matter if that amount increased over the pattern?

Would you test this pattern out for me?

Please ignore the bottom part of the cable. It was my first attempt at working out the pattern. By the time I got to the end I discovered I cast on 19 sts instead of the required 20 sts. The top part is better for reference.

Pattern Notes
C3B = Hold one stitch behind work using a cable needle, knit two stitches, purl the stitch from cable needle
C3F = Hold two stitches in front of work using a cable needle, purl one stitch, knit the two stitches from cable needle
C4F = Hold two stitches in front of work using a cable needle, knit two stitches, knit the two stitches from cable needle

Directions
CO 20 stitches
Row 1: K4, P2, K2, P4, K2, P2, K4.
Row 2: P4, K2, P2, K4, P2, K2, P4.
Row 3: K4, P2, C3F, P2, C3B, P2, K4.
Row 4: P4, K3, P2, K2, P2, K3, P4.
Row 5: K4, P3, C3F, C3B, P3, K4.
Row 6: P4, K4, P4, K4, P4.
Row 7: K4, P4, C4F, P4, K4.
Row 8: Repeat Row 6.
Row 9: K4, P3, C3B, C3F, P3, K4.
Row 10: Repeat Row 4.
Row 11: K4, P2, C3B, P2, C3F, P2, K4.
Row 12: Repeat Row 2.

Repeat Rows 1-12.

Bind Off in Pattern.

Weave in Loose Ends

How are you weaving those ends in? What reference are you using?

Righetti has a completely different technique than TKGA's. I've mostly used TKGA's but I thought I read somewhere that if the end is on the selvedge, then weave the yearn end vertically. But for some reason I've woven the ends using the duplicate stitch method on my first 4 swatches. I don't know why I did it that way, maybe it was the ribbing that through me. But I got to tell you, I find this method wicked, it it hardly noticeable but at times painful. The first few were hard, but I got the hang of it. This part doesn't bother me much. So, each day I do one edge of as many as I can. Some time soon, I'll have them done. Who knows when. I still haven't picked up #15 yet, it remains at my couch side. The couch where I haven't sat on for days, it seems.

Another sleepless night, so I started answering the questions. I'm having the same feeling of tediousness as when I began the knitting, however this step seems repetitive in places and less challenging. Oh well. It's been awhile since I wrote anything so I'll begin with baby steps.

Only Two Styles of Casting On

As for my casting on: all the items that have ribbing I used the Long Tail Cast-On, everything after that is Cable Cast-On. And CC is pretty loose. At each stitch addition (pulling the stitch onto the left needle), I kept the right needle engaged or stuck between the yarn and the left, leaving a nice space and tension. It seemed to work nicely for me. But remember, my photos show the samples are well pinned. Thinking about it now, I should have been blocking them at the same time. It took a long time to pin them all.

Here is an example of the Long Tail Cast On:


I did experiment with a provisional cast on for a 1x1 ribbing. Casting on by way of Long Tail, half the required number of stitches with smaller needles and a different colour of yarn.
Row 1 RS: (K1, YO) to end.
Row 2 WS: (P1, Pass 1 purlwise) to end.
Return to MC and proper sized needles and continue ribbing pattern. The contrast colour can be cut away and you are left with a springy, lovely, and professional looking start.

Buss, Katharina. Big Book of Knitting. New York: Sterling, c1999. pg 22.

I'm not 100% satisfied with my "increasing evenly spaced across row" way back in Swatches 1 and 2 and I might just knit them again using this type of Cast-On. Maybe.

The Blocking Phase

I spend most of Saturday weaving in loose ends, and about a quarter of the way through the hateful exercise, I finally could "see" the stitches, so doing a duplicate stitch was no longer the hap-hazard game it had been in the beginning.

Blocking is tricky when you are doing swatches that look the same, but need to be labeled correctly. I did them in small batches and kept the labels nearby, then attached them next to the swatch with safety pins. [what would life be like without safety pins, velcro and duct tape?]

I transformed my laundry room into a blocking studio, with all the soaking and such taking place next door in the bathroom, and the surface of the appliances serving as a great place to work.

Just as I was getting set to finish #15, the self-designed cable piece, I noticed an error!! So had to rip it out to the error and fix it. In the process of doing that, I realized I should have had an additional row of knit, before I started the cabling, as it looks really crunched on the cast on edge. I am going to block it today and see how I feel about it.

The thing I dreaded the most, the weaving in of the loose ends, is DONE. It's finicky work and that's why it's hard for me.

No. 14

Wrong-Wrong-Wrong

No. 12

There we go.

No. 13

Knit By Laura

No. 11

No. 10

No. 9

No. 8

Knit By Laura

No. 7

Knit By Laura

No. 6

Knit By Laura

No. 5

Knit By Laura

Swatch #16 c'est fini!

Here's it is. First the back and then the front of this two-coloured swatch. I only noticed when I was taking the picture, how wonky the rib stitches are, but at this stage of the game, it'd better come out nicely in the blocking, cause I'm done. Of all the swatches, this one is by far the ugliest one.

There are several loose ends to tie in and this is the beasty I am going to start with. I won't start the hat until I finish the loose ends.

How are things at your end? Find your battery charger yet? Funny that would happen to you too, I just found mine (after praying to St. Jude) Try it. It works.

Onto No. 13

Minor technical difficulty: misplaced battery charger

Therefore: no evidence of accomplished work

However, as I completed No. 12 this morning I realized, you just blew me away the last week of December! Flabbergasted me! Left me speechless! Writless!

So today, I commend your efforts:Now, I've been reading and jotting down my answers to the multiple questions asked, and reading on and on and actually enjoying the reading. Not enjoying the writing, but hey it has to be done and I will finish this task before the Spring! But something confuses me about the instructions for the Swatches, I'm hoping you can clear this up for me.

Swatch 15 -Your Choice of Cable on page 8, and then there is again Swatch 15 Pattern, on page 9. What do you make of it? Never mind. I get it. I knew! I knew that as I write out my question I would figure this one out. Of course, they want you to create your own Cable Pattern and then write it out. Hmnphff!

Never me mind. Onto No. 13.

No. 7

I've been knitting this sample as such:
Knit 3, SSK, knit to last 5 stitches, K2tog, knit to end.

However, as I look at the sample I wonder, should I be knitting it this way instead?:
Knit 2, SSK, knit to last 4 stitches, K2tog, knit to end.
Whereby, the sample will appear to have three rows of knit prior to any decrease, as in the swatches 4, 5 and 6. Hhmn.

Which method did you use?

Alright, I've got to get my act together. Sickness is no excuse for not knitting!
You're pulling too far away from me. I'm going to knock your socks off this week. Woo!!

Swatches 11 and 12

These dearies were a delight to knit.

Nothing difficult about them -- different effects from the k2 tog or ssk and so forth, and that's what we will have to write about in our question section. So there they are.

I have just the last colour swatch to do, some possible re-do's, and then the hat.

#15 - Your Choice of cable

Here's the cable pattern I chose for #15 up close. I love the fact that it looks like a braid, never did this one before. But as it has you doing cable stitches on every knit row, it's hard to keep it loose, but not so loose that the stitches look wonky. I will see what it looks like all washed and blocked and make a decision from there. If this one doesn't work, then the next one will be an easier cable pattern.

Hope all is well back east. We keep getting hit with blasts of snow and no melting yet. That's a first -- 2 1/2 weeks of snow -- and not a snow plow in sight. Still haven't received our mail.

Three more beasties done. . . .

Here are the cable swatches 13, 14 and 15. I did finish swatch 12, but didn't photograph it cause it didn't fit in with this photo shoot. [it looks very much like swatch 11 -- with some minor differences that we will have to write about].

#15 is the swatch where you choose the cable pattern, I chose a braided cable, not hard, but hard to look neat. So I will show you a close up in the next post.

Also did some "weaving in of loose ends" and hate the process. But will carry on cause I just have to.