I think of it as a kind of sketch. I was doing a few things at once here: getting a general idea of size, and experimenting with which increases would best match which decreases in appearance, and trying out a couple of different edgings. Now I should probably throw it in the washer and dryer (it's superwash wool) to see how that affects things.
Where is it all headed? Might lead to a kind of hat, might not.
have at least doubled in size.
Bob the bumptious (tiger stripe) still looks kittenish. Merlin f/k/a Martin is more the young cat. The difference is more apparent when they are standing up; but when they are standing up they are usually moving, rapidly.
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All over the map this weekend. Well, not really, but we went to Platteville on Saturday for a Carla Bonhoff concert, and then to Madison yesterday for dinner with Mom, Dearest Daughter and her guy. Our favorite Chinese buffet was under new management. Our appraisal: the food wasn't as good as it used to be. But the company was wonderful, so all was well.
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It's grey and decidedly chilly this morning. Won't be long before it's time to put the storm windows down.
of clarity, and need no translation. In this case "thread over twice" really does mean a double yarn over, and in the 2nd row she even clarifies what to do with that double over.
The results left me a little "meh".
Ok, but not exciting. Maybe with blocking, or in a finer yarn, or a crisp cotton or linen? I started on smaller needles (right side of pic), then changed moved up a size, but that's as much experimenting as I plan to do with this one.
* pp 8-9, Knitting and Crochet Manual. New York Tribune Extra No. 62, found on Google Books.
While I was at it, I went ahead and worked up a second edging from Knitting and Crochet: An Illustrated Manual of Home Industry. And I must say that although the pamphlet does have illustrations, it does not have illustrations of everything, not by a long shot. I was knitting blind here. Though I suppose the up side is that I'll never have to worry that my recreation doesn't look just like the original. I'll never know if it does or not.
My written version came out this way:
Ox Heart Point Edging
Working Note: on Rows 2, 4, 6 and 8, you will be knitting into the first loop and purling into the second loop of the double yarn over.
Cast on 6 stitches
Row 1: k1, yo, p2tog, yo twice, p2tog, yo, k1: 8 sts on needle.
Row 2: k2tog, k2, p1, k1, p1, k1:7 sts on needle.
Row 3: k2, yo, p2tog, yo twice, p2tog, yo, k1: 9 sts on needle.
Row 4: k2tog, k2, p1, k1, p1, k2: 8 sts on needle.
Row 5: k3, yo, p2tog, yo twice, p2tog, yo, k1: 10 sts on needle.
Row 6: k2tog, k2, p1, k1, p1, k3: 9 sts on needle.
Row 7: k4, yo, p2tog, yo twice, p2tog, yo, k1: 11 sts on needle.
Row 8: K2tog, k2, p1, k1, p1, k4: 10 sts on needle.
Row 9: k9, yo, k1: 11 sts on needle.
Row 10: k2tog, k1, pass the st formed by k2tog over the second st knit to bind off 1, bind off 3 more sts in knit, k5: 6 sts on needle.
and it looks like this:
I don't know why it's called "Ox-Heart".
I must say I've been quite engaged (obsessed?) with looking over the old knitting pamphlets that can be found by searching in Google Books. The one this edging comes from was published by "The New York Tribune" as an extra, and many (all?) of the patterns were sent in by appreciative readers of their knitting column - some of the introductory statements are rather charming. One thing that hasn't changed over the years is the eagerness of enthusiastic knitters and crocheters to share their favorite projects.
I finished knitting on the small shawl in autumnal colors.
The finished fabric has a very nice drape, and a pleasant almost springyness to it - I think partly due to the mesh section and partly due to the character of the yarn. For whatever reason, I love the way it feels over my shoulders. The base yarn that the dyer used is a superwash merino, 3 ply, smooth with a firm twist - reminds me of Koigu or Louet Gems. This is a lousy picture, but it does give an idea of how the fabric falls into nice folds.
The top edge rolls to the outside, which might bug the heck out of some people, but doesn't bother me. I'm mulling over some ways to mitigate this tendency, though, just as a design challenge.
The whole thing used a little less than one skein of "Calypso" from Creatively Dyed Yarn (color: Gin) - so somewhere in the area of 480 yds. I knit it on 3.00 mm/ US #2 Addi lace needles for a gauge after blocking of 15 sts = 4 ". (I'm a loose knitter, so I expect many would use a US 4 for this gauge with this yarn).
The stitch patterns work very well with the variegated yarn, I think for reasons that Tracy mentioned in her comment on an earlier post: there are sections of smooth stockinette that show off the color play, and the small repeat mesh section that mixes the colors up. The overall arrangement is simple/bold enough to stand up to the color changes. I don't think this would look particularly well in yarn that forms definite stripes, whether wide or narrow. Because the shawl is worked from the bottom point up with increases at each side, that type of color arrangement would form horizontal color bands that would fight (rather strenuously, I think) with the stitch patterns.
I mentioned in an update to the post before last that there was a correction to the final line of the old Wheat Ear edging pattern I had been playing with.
According to this correction, the eighth row would be: yo, p5tog, k3.
I tried that. P5tog is a major PITA, even with a crochet hook. Maybe I could manage in a more elastic yarn than cotton. Maybe I will even try sometime.
But for now, here's what I did for Row 8: yo, p2tog, k3tog, pass the second stitch on the right needle over the first and drop it off the needle, k3.
With a bit of blocking that might be quite pretty. It definitely looks more like wheat ears this way.
