The blue washer at the bottom is one of the first ones I made. The orange one above is one of the more recent ones. The original pattern calls for a yarn-over increase two stitches in from the beginning of every row for the first half of the face washer. To achieve a similar appearance for the second half--with the little eyelet which results from the yarn over--the pattern calls for two decreases plus the yarn-over increase. The result is the right number of stitches, but a slightly distorted shape. I didn't like it much. My friend M, laughed and said it was a bit of a Dr Seuss shape. I had to agree. So I decided to change the pattern. Instead of doing the second half with the decreases, I knitted the first half according to the pattern and left it on a needle; then I made a second one the same. A three-needle cast off joined the two triangles and finished off the washer with a knitted in ridge at the fold-line. I liked that a lot better--hence the washer on the top is rather more square than the Dr Seuss version below. However, I'm planning to keep the Dr Seuss version. I am very fond of The Cat in the Hat and other slightly off-centre stories and the thought of a Dr Seusss version of knitting makes me smile.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Knitting Like Dr Seuss
As mentioned in previous posts, I've been knitting face washers as Christmas gifts. Since yesterday, January 6th, was the Twelfth Day of Christmas, I've decided to stop now. This morning I gave my friend V a couple of the washers I'd knitted. Since she's a knitter, we discussed some of the technicalities. Here's a pic of two of the washers I've made:
The blue washer at the bottom is one of the first ones I made. The orange one above is one of the more recent ones. The original pattern calls for a yarn-over increase two stitches in from the beginning of every row for the first half of the face washer. To achieve a similar appearance for the second half--with the little eyelet which results from the yarn over--the pattern calls for two decreases plus the yarn-over increase. The result is the right number of stitches, but a slightly distorted shape. I didn't like it much. My friend M, laughed and said it was a bit of a Dr Seuss shape. I had to agree. So I decided to change the pattern. Instead of doing the second half with the decreases, I knitted the first half according to the pattern and left it on a needle; then I made a second one the same. A three-needle cast off joined the two triangles and finished off the washer with a knitted in ridge at the fold-line. I liked that a lot better--hence the washer on the top is rather more square than the Dr Seuss version below. However, I'm planning to keep the Dr Seuss version. I am very fond of The Cat in the Hat and other slightly off-centre stories and the thought of a Dr Seusss version of knitting makes me smile.
The blue washer at the bottom is one of the first ones I made. The orange one above is one of the more recent ones. The original pattern calls for a yarn-over increase two stitches in from the beginning of every row for the first half of the face washer. To achieve a similar appearance for the second half--with the little eyelet which results from the yarn over--the pattern calls for two decreases plus the yarn-over increase. The result is the right number of stitches, but a slightly distorted shape. I didn't like it much. My friend M, laughed and said it was a bit of a Dr Seuss shape. I had to agree. So I decided to change the pattern. Instead of doing the second half with the decreases, I knitted the first half according to the pattern and left it on a needle; then I made a second one the same. A three-needle cast off joined the two triangles and finished off the washer with a knitted in ridge at the fold-line. I liked that a lot better--hence the washer on the top is rather more square than the Dr Seuss version below. However, I'm planning to keep the Dr Seuss version. I am very fond of The Cat in the Hat and other slightly off-centre stories and the thought of a Dr Seusss version of knitting makes me smile.
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3 comments:
I've had a couple of goes at the three needle cast off and while it has worked i've been a little disappointed in the finish in the corners. Question for you though...do you use the yarn from both to cast off with or do you use just the one and somehow secure and weave the other back in?
Agreed, the last stitch does tend to be a bit loose, but I usually tweak that as I weave in the ends. I only use one thickness of yarn to cast off. I break off the first one when I'm done that triangle and use the second one that's still attached at the end of the second triangle.
What a great idea! And definately an improvement on the shape. You've gotten me thinking of design possibilites ... casting off in a differnt colour to make a feature of the ridge, each half a different colour, & ooo! & maybe even different stitch patterns on each side!
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