Diamond Brocade

Omg I'm back two days in a row! It's like I'm on top of things or something. Actually that's a lie I'm just using up some time at knitsoc (the knitting society at university) on with today's stitch or rather stitches because it's a two for one!

Diamond Brocade is a very old, very cool pattern. Super easy and very pretty (for once I agree with Barbra) it's also super easy to edit. Because of this there are literally hundreds of versions of this pattern, today we'll be looking at two, plain diamond Brocade and double diamond Brocade. Both lend themselves nicely to men's vests I find and could be very attractive in two colours.

Simple diamond Brocade

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 33st X 32st - longtail CON - chain COFF

Pattern for working flat

Con multiple of 8st + 1

Row 1 - K4*P1,K7* end P1,K4

Row 2 - P3*K1,P1,K1,P5* end P3

Row 3 - K2*P1,K3* end K2

Row 4 - P1*K1,P5,K1,P1*

Row 5 - *P1,K7* end P1

Row 6 - Row 4

Row 7 - Row 3

Row 8 - Row 2

Double diamond brocade

Swatch is as follows

4ply - 2.5 mm needles - 36st x 48st - longtail CON - chain COFF

Pattern for working flat

Con multiple of 12st
Row 1 - K5*P2,K10* end P2,K5
Row 2 - and all even rows, knit all knit at purl all purl st
Row 3 - K3*P2,K2,P2,K6* end K3
Row 5 - K1*P2,K6,P2,K2* end K1
Row 7 - P1*K10,P2* end K10,P1
Row 9 - Row 5
Row 11 - Row 3
Row 12 - last week row of pattern see row 2

Whew, well next post is another brocade and it's honestly one of my favourite stitch patterns from the knit purl section of the book, as it's both interesting historically and very pretty. Anyway I have to get on knitting a jumper sleeve see you soon.

Dutch pyramids

Look! It's me! I know, I know, I haven't posted in, like, a month but I have been stupidly busy. I've got 4 bleeding assignments this week (I've already done one so shush mum) so I'm taking a break from the crazy end of term stress to write a post. Also I've managed to figure out how to rotate the pictures on my phone without using Instagram that tends to crash when rotating pictures. (now that's some poor optimization) and no I haven't gotten my laptop repaired but there is literally NO ONE  I can call in Aber about it, ( seriously this is a student town how?!) who will actually pick up during business hours 😠😠😠

Anyway aggravating life at university aside I've been busy Knitting too! I took a small break from the swatches to knit a Christmas jumper, it's fairisle style with reindeer and snowflakes so that's been my project the last 3 weeks I'm on the sleeves at last so hopefully it will be done by next week.

Today's Swatch (or rather November's Swatch) is Dutch pyramids, bow sadly I don't have my kindle right now so I have no clue what Barbra thinks of this one and I cant remember given I knitted this up about 3-4 months ago now (time flies 😨) it's an interesting kind of pattern I suspect that one round of it would make a pleasing border on the bottom of skirts, dresses and jumpers.

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5 mm needles - 37st x 36st - German twist CON - chain COFF

CON multiple of 15st+7
Row 1 - *P1, K5tbl, P1, K8* end P1, K5tbl, P1
Row 2 - *K1, P5tbl, K1, P8* end K1, P5tbl, K1
Row 3 - *P1, K5tbl, P9* end P1, K5tbl, P1
Row 4 - *K1, P5tbl, K9* end K1, P5tbl, K1
Row 5 - *P2,K3tbl,P3,K6, P1* end P2,K3tbl, P2
Row 6 - *K2,P3tbl,K3,P6,K1* end K2,P3tbl,K2
Row 7 - *P2,K3tbl,P10* end P2,K3tbl,P2
Row 8 - *K2,P3tbl,K10* end K2,P3tbl,K2
Row 9 - *P3,K1tbl,P5,K4,P2* end P3,K1tbl,P3
Row 10 - *K3,P1tbl,K5,P4,K2* end K3,P1tbl,K3
Row 11 - *P3, K1tbl, P11* end P3, K1tbl, P3
Row 12 - *K3, P1tbl, K11* end K3,P1tbl, K3


Phew that was a pain to write out. Hopefully I will find the time to post again soon, now I have to listen to the lecturer with the most Christmassy name (I would say but I don't exactly have permission, let's just say his first name is that of a reindeer with a sore nose) drone on about crystal structures in magnetic fields. (the thrills! #not)

Pyramid pattern and other news

Ok I know it's been a while but I still haven't gotten my laptop repaired to be fair the guy is literally never in his store or picks up his phone as far as I can tell. But I have realised that some of the pictures I thought were only on my laptop are also on my phone so I'm posting from here despite hating the blogger interface for mobiles (seriously the pictures are just impossible to format) Also I'm not entirely sure I can even rotate the pictures right now so the next few posts the swatch image may be the wrong way around. So on with the pattern.

(Look! I fixed it!)

Sadly I think you've all been waiting for a kinda meh pattern sadly but there are some nice ones coming up. It would make a decent border at least. The pyramid pattern is originally from Italy but it's common to other European countries.

Pattern for working flat:
Con multiple of 8st + 1
Rows 1&3 - *P1,K1* end P1
Rows 2&4 - *K1,P1* end K1
Rows 5&7 - *P2,(K1,P1)x3* end P1
Rows 6&8 - *K2,(P1,K1)x3* end K1
Rows 9&11 - *P3,K1,P1,K1,P2* end P1
Rows 10&12 - *K3,P1,K1,P1,K2* end K1
Rows 13&15 - *P4,K1,P3* end P1
Rows 14&16 - *K4,P1,K3* end K1

Well that's it I will try and post again this weekend, hopefully the formatting on this isn't too terrible and I'm off now as writing on my phone is super annoying.

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?!

Sorry about the lack of posts but my laptop is busted. And by busted I mean it wont turn on because the power port is damaged and I need to send it off for repair (which I need to stop putting off) and because all the pictures of the swatches are on said laptop it will likely be a while until I can post (somewhere in the one to two week range I'm guessing or it could be sooner or longer really this information is useless) so bear with, and I'll be back posting asap.

Lozenge Pattern

            Well I'm back from my holidays! And I'm just about settled back at uni, I still need to unpack properly and sort a few things out but things have finally quieted down again. Although I may be very busy in the next few weeks depending on how lectures go and how fast I can finish Persona 5 (Yes I'm back at it again) That along with CSD 2 finally being released likely means my knitting progress will slow down somewhat. This shouldn't be a problem for all of you as I'm pretty far ahead (touch wood) It's always the way for me summer is my knitting season and autumn is usually so busy I grind to a halt but hopefully knitsoc will keep me somewhat on track. Its just a short post today as it is late and I want to go to sleep.

Lozenge pattern so called likely because of the appearance of broken rhobuses within the pattern also known as a lozenge pattern. What's weird to me is we call cough sweets after a synonym for rhombus, and no, I couldnt find out why. I'd hazard a guess that maybe some early brand were lozenge shaped and the name just caught on. But that is just a shot in the dark. The pattern is quite old, likely as it is so simple its pretty easy to just make up, and is traditionally from Italy. Weirdly looking at this pattern kineda makes my eyes go funny, like it's an optical illusion. Maybe that's just me. It's a nice enough overall texture but I wouldnt use it for anything requiring close inspection as it might give you a headache!

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 30st x 40st - Longtail CON - Surprisingly Stretchy COFF

Pattern for working flat:
CON multiple of 5st

Row 1 - *P1,K4*

Rows 2 & 3 - *P3,K2*

Row 4 - *P1,K4*

Row 5 - *K4,P1*

Rows 6 & 7 - *K2,P3*

Row 8 - *K4,P1*

            Well that's all for today, I'll try and post as often as I can during this insanely crazy period. Normally I'm super busy until around november at this point, I often can't even find the time to game ;_; depending on how much work I'm set, hopefully I'll have a day in the week where I only have one lecture or maybe even none and then I'll use that time as catch up.
I am complaining a lot about this time of year but honestly, I do love autumn because:
1) The best food is autumn food
2) It has the best weather
3) It's the prettiest season and
4) It's my birthday soon!

So Hopefully I'll have enough time to enjoy the season. Good luck and happy knitting

Triangular and Pennant Stitch

my life rn

            Oh no It's been a whole week! In my defense I will say I hacent been fleeling great, I won't
super go into it because 1) It's gross 2) It's a periodic thing so if I say I'm not feeling well you ccan all assume I'm suffering because sometimes my organs like to not work properly. I'm getting a bit impatient at the minute because Cook Serve Delicious 2 is coming out in around 3 hours and I've had to wait an ectra 3 weeks and ITS KILLING ME, also student finance has decided to be stupid and take their website down at basically the worst possible time (seriously it's a week before uni starts and the site is down for maintinance bloody idiots shouldve waited until at least mid-term) so I cant preint out my declaration form and it's stressing me out tbh. AND my holiday to majorca is on saturday so I am getting excited for that especially now it's getting bleeding cold in the day. Oh and there was a powercut today. That was fun. And I really need to pack. There's a lot of stress right now.

            Anyway as a sorry for not posting for a week I'm doing two stitches today, although to be fair they are very similar and would probably have been two shorter posts otherwise. Anyway Triangular and Pennant stitch both have a tendancy to form a pleated look if left unblocked. Pennant tends to do this more than triangular stitch, or rather it makes more defined looking lines vertically in fact the effect is so strong it's sometimes called pennant pleating. Triangular stitch is often also called mock kilting which strongly suggests it's orgininal development being in Scotland or Ireland. Blocking tends to lose the plating so I would suggest doing a swatch of these before using it, as it tends to draw in a little, particularly towards the ends, because of the pleating. Because blocking ruins it they can be hard to predict.

Triangular stitch

Swatch is as follows - 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 35st x 42st - Longtail CON -Stretchy COFF

Pattern for working flat:
CON multiple of 7st
Row 1 - *P6,K1*
Row 2 - *P2,K5*
Row 3 - *P4,K3*
Row 4 - *P4,K3*
Row 5 - *P2,K5*
Row 6 - *P6,K1*

In theory you could broaden this stitch by editing the pattern only slightly, a nice pattern for a skirt.

Pennant Stitch
(blurgh it's slightly blurry I should really re-take this.
I may need an update)

Swatch is as follows - 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 30st x 36st - Longtail CON - Stretchy COFF

Pattern for working flat:
CON multiple of 6st
Row 1 - *K1,P5*
Row 2 - *K4,P2*
Row 3 - *K3,P3*
Row 4 - *K2,P4*
Row 5 - *K5,P1*
Row 6 - *K2,P4*
Row 7 - *K3,P3*
Row 8 - *K4,P2*

Both of these patterns have common repeats, so they are quick to pick up. And because the pattern chages slightly every row it's not a chore to knit. Again this would make a nice skirt.



Right that's it for today I'm off to impatiently wait for Cook Serve Delicious 2. At least I can impatiently wait with other people on the Dev's Dischord. This is where it doesn't get released until late into the night and I'm waiting up till 3am only to download it and be too tired to play. I swear half the games I wait for I can never end up playing as soon as I would like. See Persona 5. Anyway have fun with the two patterns, we're heading onto some very nice, very old ,overall patterns soon (yay brocades) so nothing complicated in our future for now. Happy Knitting!

A real pleated kilt

Garter Stitch Zig-Zag

This magazine has the pattern in
im sure you can reverse image search this

            Well today I'm going to talk about some knitting other than our swatches! I've taken a small break (very small about 2 days) to knit something else. My mum bought me some wool this summer that I didn't really know what to do with because I mostly knit with 4ply and it's sort-of scratchy (it's not very scratchy but I'm a big baby and cannot stand anything even slightly tickly) so I couldn't knit anything for me with it. I am a notoriously selfish knitter, I don't think I've ever given a knitted object to anyone other than my bf, where honestly it's just an excuse to knit something for me because I pretty much never make clothes other than scarves and I like making home items and we live together. So today was a large tradition break for me, I made clothes other than scarves, I used some scratchy wool and it wasn't for me. For the record the yarn does look very nice but seriously itchy things blegh. Anyway I got the pattern from that magazine I mentioned last post, so sadly I can't give you the pattern for it because I don't want to be sued, but I will say it's pretty much just armwarmers with a thumb gusset and leaf panel. anyway here's a picture of my mum wearing them. If you want to know the magazine it's literally just called knitting, you'll know that you've got the right one because the front page has a ginger woman wearing a brown leaf dress.

That's my mum.

Anyway a quickie today because it's a pretty simple pattern I can't really say alot about and I've already been waffling on abit. garter zig-zags on stockinette background it tends to lay flat. It has a weirdly 3 dimensional look to it up close, but from a distance the pattern isn't very distinct from far away so you could probably make a weird optical illusion if you made a whole item out of this stitch.

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 30st x 48st - Longchain CON - Surprisingly Stretchy COFF

Pattern for working flat:

Row 1 - And all odd rows *Purl all st*

Row 2 - *K3,P3*

Row 4 - P1*K3,P3* end P2

Row 6 - P2*K3,P3* end P1

Row 8 - *P3,K3*

Row 10 - P2*K3,P3* end P1

Row 12 - P1*K3,P3* end P2

Well that's the pattern today, I would link to the magazine subscription but the link is super long and it's easy enough to find by reverse image searching the top image. I might do some more patterns in the magazine or even some free online patterns that I can directly reference but for now on with the swatches and Happy Knitting!

Dotted Chevron

            What's this? Another Post? So soon?! What's going on!? Oh I'm home-home for a few weeks so I have fewer distractions *Cough*Persona5*Cough* Also I bought a knitting magazine today, (Yes I'm talking about knitting in paragraph one! This blog has gone insane) And it literally has 30 patterns in it, seriously online patterns are extortion! It only cost me a fiver, and it's got tonnes of patterns in it and that's not even including the free book for baby knitting, (which I will likely never use I am not a fan of human maggots) comparing that to some patterns online that cost 2 quid each (Although I rarely buy patterns I would much rather make my own after looking at a basic pattern) it feels like I got a bargin. Also the next one has some nice vintage looking patterns so I might subscribe. Although it seems like a bit of a mad thing to do because I already have one huge project and I don't really need more patterns that I won't use.... But the again there is a really nice mans vest that I could knit for the BF. Oh knitting why do you produce such horrible dilemmas? at least I have more to knit now GoT is over. I must knit faster, winter is coming!

            Anyway today's swatch and a new yarn this one is 100% cotton so it behaves slightly differently from what we've seen before. Cotton is slippery so looser knitters might have some difficulties with it, this yarn also had the (annoying) propensity to split. Cotton also is not stretchy unlike wool so it's not really suitable for anything that needs to draw in and it also tends to spread a little, because it's slippery. The pattern is pretty basic chevrons made of purl stitches with dot shaped welts in between. Honestly this pattern is a bit meh in my opinion but often the patterns show up differently on different yarn it may look better on a more elastic yarn.

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 36st * 50st - Longtail CON - Chain COFF

Pattern for working flat:
CON - multiple of 18st
Row 1 - *K8,P2,K8*
Row 2 - *P7,K4,P7*
Row 3 - *P1,K5,P2,K2,P2,K5,P1*
Row 4 - *K2,P3,K2,P4,K2,P3,K2*
Row 5 - *P1,K3,P2,K6,P2,K3,P1*
Row 6 - *P3,(K2,P3)x3*
Row 7 - *K2,P2,K3,P4,K3,P2,K2*
Row 8 - *P1,K2,(P5,K2)x2,P1*
Row 9 - *P2,K14,P2*
Row 10  - *K1,P16,K1*

Well that's all for today I guess I have to get on with more patterns as I wait for Cook Serve Delicious 2 to come out. Oh and I should say I'm going on holiday (again) soon and I dont know if I'll take my laptop, so if in a few weeks I suddenly stop posting it's because I'm in the pool in majorca. Happy Knitting!

Basically my life

Seeded Chevron

Henry VIII in the tudors, It's good go watch it.

            Hooray a new post! Been busy actually knitting the past few days, (Mostly because I'm
getting annoyed with Persona 5 after Okumura's palace, literally the worst) But I'm starting to run into a classic student problem, I'm running out of things to watch. Seriously I've finished the whole of the series the Tudors. (costume drama about Henry VIII it's great go watch it) Now I'm watching being human and I'm already halfway through it, and I have no idea what to watch next, given game of thrones has finished (Dat finale doe) I'm going to have a serious lack of things to watch this autumn and autumn has the best telly normally! Havent been watching bakeoff I suppose I should watch some of that. But anyway on with today's swatch.

Seeded chevron is a very pretty pattern but it's hard to call it a stitch pattern. It's more like a combination of stitch patterns it uses seed stitch, purl welts and plain old stockinette to make an overall very attractive pattern. It's personally one of my favourites but it is a bit of a pain to knit because seed stitch is time intensive. The pattern is technically reversible, but on one side the seeded chevrons are bordered by welts, and on the other they are bordered by stockinette. Personally I prefer the welted border but both sides are attractive. The pattern is pretty long and complicated but stick with it.

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 45st x 70st - Longtail CON - Chain COFF

Pattern for working flat:
Row 1   - K1 *P3, (K1,P1)x2, K1, P5, K1, (P1,K1)x2, P3, K1*
Row 2   - P1 *P1, K3, (P1,K1)x2, P1, K3, P1, (K1, P1)x2, K3, P2*
Row 3   - K1 *K1, P3, (K1,P1)x5, K1, P3, K3*
Row 4   - K1 *P3, K3, (P1,K1)x4, P1, K1, P3, K1*
Row 5   - P1 *P1, K3, P3, (K1,P1)x3, K1, P3, K3, P2*
Row 6   - K1 *K1, P3, K3, (P1,K1)x2, P1, K3, P3, K3*
Row 7   - K1 *P3, K3, P3, K1, P1, K1, P3, K3, P3, K1*
Row 8   - K1 *(P1,K3,P3,K3)x2, P1, K1*
Row 9   - K1 *P1, K1, P3, K3, P5, K3, P3, K1, P1, K1*
Row 10 - K1 * P1, K1, P1, (K3,P3)x2, K3, (P2,K1)x2*
Row 11 - K1 *(P1,K1)x2, P3, K3, P1, K3, P3, (K1,P1)x2, K1*
Row 12 - K1 *(P1,K1)x2, P1, K3, P5, K3, (P1,K1)x3*
Row 13 - P1 *(P1,K1)x3, P3, K3, P3, (K1,P1)x2, K1, P2*
Row 14 - K1 *K1, (P1,K1)x2, (P1,K3)x2, (P1,K1)x3, K2*

Phew that was a long pattern to write out. I'm also not entirely sure you can find this one online anywhere but a smart knitter might be able to replate it from the image. Anyway I'm off now, good luck with the pattern it's very pretty once you finish it so it's well worth the difficulty. Happy Knitting!

Pinnacle Chevron

Current paint project,
she's taken about a week so far and still isnt finished.

            Oh no, I didn't keep my promise of posting yesterday! And no one is surprised. Look I just
forget when I'm on holiday and because my laptops doing "something spooky" as my brother would put it, it's a real PITA to post when I'm here, I keep leaving it upstairs and it's annoying to climb three flights just to get my laptop down. Not only that but because my phone is being weird with instagram at the minute some of the pictures I've taken need to be edited again on my laptop which again, is testing my already lazy nature. I've also been doing very little actual knitting since I got here mostly because Persona 5 partly because stellaris and partly because a bunch of my mini's arrived and I've been painting. (Yes I paint mini's, yes that's like the lamest thing anyone can do, but really I only do it for display/I like painting, not for actual wargaming unlike the BF who is a much bigger dork than I am) My problem is I have about 20,000 different hobbies and I tend to have very intense periods of doing one a lot more than the others then I get distracted and drop it. I procrastinate my hobbies with more hobbies! For example the above paint project is actually a "side project" for my main project which is a giant dragon. And I havent started it as I can't decide on a colour scheme I've narrowed it down to either, black and blue, black and red, or white and blue. Buuuut I'm sure I'll figure it out when I get back to uni. I'm actually staying here longer than expected as the BF doesn't have to go home next week and I didn't want to abandon him to a house with only J*** (one of our housemates, he's fine but the BF wanted to have a longer holiday with me) in it.

Anyway on with todays stitch. Pinnacle chevron. One of the prettiest patterns in the first chapter (possibly beaten by seeded chevron which is next up) it's a very nice overall texture. Because it's basis is a broken 2x2 ribbing the pattern also has a lot of lateral stretch. If left unblocked or blocked lightly the ribs tend to twist slightly, (a result of the moving purl stitches) and resembles a mock ribbing rounding out naturally, defining the chevron.

Swatch is as Follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 37st x 48st - Longtial CON - Chain COFF

Pattern for working flat:
CON multiple of 18st + 1
Rows 1 & 3 - P1 *(K2,P2)x2, K1, (P2,K2)x2, P1*
Rows 2 & 4 - K2 *(P2,K2)x2, P1, (K2,P2)x2, K1*
Rows 5 & 7 - P1 *P1, K2, P2, K2, P3, (K2,P2)x2*
Rows 6 & 8 - K1*K1, P2, K2, P2, K3, (P2,K2)x2*
Rows 9 & 11 - Rows 2 & 4
Rows 10 & 12 - Rows 1 & 3
Rows 13 & 15 - Rows 6 & 8
Rows 14 & 16 - Rows 5 & 7

I've added spacing to this pattern as I think it makes it easier to read. I will be doing more complex patterns this way from now on to save your eyeballs. This pattern is another cyclical one, (like the chevron pattern) where the second half is the inverse of the first half. This pattern is also a good one if you want to practise "reading" your knitting as it's pretty obvious is you make a mistake. Anyway hopefully I will remember to do another blog post sooner rather than later. This week has been a pretty good test of how often I will post when I'm at university, as the only difference is I'll be doing lectures rather than just playing persona 5 and painting. I will likely post less if I have a lot of work to do (obviously) but twice a week is a pretty good rate for most blogs anyway. Good Luck and Happy Knitting!

Chevron Pattern

I'm the good guy. Right?!

            Ah! How has it been so long since the last post?! I blame Persona 5, that game is

Me right now.

ADDICTIVE. But it still has the bs gameover mechanic if your main character dies in battle, why can't my teammates use a revive bead on me? Why can't I restart the battle rather than being forced to lose an hour of progress like it does with boss battles? Basically I'd been grinding for an hour in order to beat the second palace boss and a whole load of crap happened that was beyond my control. I ambushed a shadow in a room full of shadows, excellent it's practically impossible to lose in a battle if you ambush an enemy, I win fight end but then another enemy joins the battle (this can happen if there were other shadows nearby) Enemy happens to be faster than everyone in my team, fine it gets one turn then I can weakspot and talk my way out of it. Nope. Lucky crit on another character gets another attack, weakspots my main character (before I have the opportunity to change persona) gets another attack, then just hits my main character again (of course it didn't go for anyone else) and kills them. I lose an hour of grinding for sucessfully ambushing an enemy. Great. That's why I've stopped for now as I'm a little salty.

Enough about my salt and on with the pattern that you've all been waiting patiently for. Speaking of patterns I've completly filled the second book now and I'm onto the slip stitches so we won't be out of options when we've finished the basic ribbings. The chevron pattern is formed of transverse zigzags, that we saw earlier in the parallelograms of the vandyke pattern. In the second half of the pattern the first halves odd rows, become the even rows and visa versa. The pattern if left unblocked tends to ruche up in a zigzag pattern meaning although the overall texture is flat if worked in a large yarn it would make an interesting wavy blanket.

This picture shows off the natural wave better than the distinct pattern, likely because of the tweedy yarn I used

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 33st x 48st - Longtial CON - Chain COFF

Pattern for working flat:
CON multiple of 8st + 1
Row 1 - K1*P7,K1*
Row 2 - P1 *K7,P1*
Row 3 - K2*P5,K3* end P5,K2
Row 4 - P2*K5,P3* end K5,P2
Row 5 - K3*P3,K5*end P3,K3
Row 6 - P3*K3,P5* end K3,P3
Row 7 - K4*P1,K7* end P1,K4
Row 8 - P4*K1,P7* end K1,P4
Row 9 - Row 2
Row 10 - Row 1
Row 11 - Row 4
Row 12 - Row 3
Row 13 - Row 6
Row 14 - Row 5
Row 15 - Row 8
Row 16 - Row 7

Well that's it for today, I will probably only post when I get home again, or maybe I'll post on the train on wednesday so see you then. The next two patterns are very nice and are probably my favourites in this chapter but they are somewhat tricky the seeded chevron particularly. So good luck and Happy Knitting!

Tulip Pattern

Although I put my clothes away for once
as I didn't want to get yelled at by my mother

            I'm back off my holidays (Boooo!) so you'll now have a more regular posting schedule
(Yaaay!) everyone's been busy today returning the house to habitable levels, doing laundry, getting the cat, doing the shopping, doing more laundry, getting annoyed that the cat keeps crying ect. Although I have a HUGE spike in my views on the 8th of august when I posted the parallelogram pattern so either you all went mad for that one or you were all dying for a new post. Either way I've been very busy today, on the last day on the beach I wove in all the ends on my finished swatches and I've been putting them in the book as fast as I can I've only done 5 so far because it's a tedious and long job but hopefully by the end of the week they'll all be in and I can get on with the slip stitch patterns. Anyway enough chatting on with the pattern.

Tulip pattern is likely so called because it resembles rows of tulips in a flower bed. Or well... Sort of? Idk i get where they're coming from, but it looks mostly like a weird ribbing, and it has a lot in common with broken rib patterns. I personally much prefer last week's patterns as they have a clear use but idk about this one; it's not ugly but I probably wouldn't do it again. Not my style. It does look better with blocking, and maybe the yarn I used here wasn't the best choice but I think its more personal taste. (I'd hazard a guess it's not one of Barbaras favs either given she doesn't say anything about it) It'd probably look best in green.
It also has an annoying tendency to curl a lot as you can see I've tried to pin it flat but it REALLY doesn't want to, and if you know me I will do anythning to get a stitch that doesn't curl. It does have a lot of vertical stretch so if you want a pattern that stretches well longways this may be a viable choice.

*sigh* I took this picture when on holiday :(

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 30st x 52st - Longtail CON -  Chain COFF

Pattern for working flat
CON multiple of 3st
Rows 1 & 3 - *K*
Rows 2 & 4 - *P*
Rows 5 & 7 - K1*P1,K2*P1,K1
Rows 6 & 8 - P1*K1,P2*K1,P1
Rows 9 & 11 - *P2,K1*
Rows 10 & 12 - *P1,K2*

Well that's it for todays pattern, although I am sad to no longer be on holiday, and the cat's constant meowing to make sure we havent abandoned her again is very annoying, I will say I have missed my own bed caravan singles are horrifically small, and very hard; so my spine is thanking me for sleeping on an actual bed rather than on a very skinny rock. Hope you're all having nice holidays if you're on them and that work isn't too terrible if you're there. Happy Knitting!

Parallelogram Check

What I do on holiday

            It's been a while I know, the bf arrived here this week so we've been busy tourisiting our way around weymouth. He had to have a Rossi's and a scone from the lobster pot, I've gotten nice and brown now and I've managed to avoid getting too badly burnt. The weather isn't looking very good the next few days though, so I've been trying to organise the swatches I've knitted up by weaving in a lot of ends, and have been putting a few in the book today; I am however out of brads again so I can't write up any more. I have also just finished the ribbing chapter, so I'm skipping on to the slip stitch chapter as I feel there are more fundamental ideas in that chapter than in the colour change chapter, which seems to require knowledge from later chapters in the books. I did bring an extra book so after writing this up I may start lining the pages of it.
Anyone been watching new Rick and Morty? I have to say Pickle Rick may be the best episode they've ever done, "I'm a pickle Morty! I'm pickle RIIIIIIIICK" I may have to knit a scarf with that on with pickles as a border, but I already have enough scarves and I hate giving my knitting away (curse my selfish knitting).

Anyway on with today's stitch, as recompense for taking so long I'm going to post both the horizontal and vertical version of this pattern at once. In the vertical version the sides are stagiht, and the slanted edges are the top and bottom; where as the top and bottom in the horizontal version are straight and the sides are slanted. In both versions the checks slant left if the odd rows are the right side, and the checks slant right if the even rows are the right side. The back of the pattern should be used if used in an object with two panels with a common center.

Vertical Parallelogram Check. Odd rows right side.

 Swatch (Vertical) is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 30st x 44st - Longtail CON - surprisingly Stretchy COFF

Horizontal Parallelogram Check. Odd rows right side.

Swatch (Horizontal) is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 30st x 48st - Longtail CON - Chain COFF

Pattern (Vertical) For working flat:

Con - multiple of 5st

Row 1 - *P1,K4*

Rows 2 & 3 - *P3,K2*

Row 4 - Row 1

Row 5 - *K1,P4*

Rows 6 & 7 - *K3, P2*

Row 8 - Row 5

Pattern (Horizontal) For working flat:

CON - multiple of 10st

Row 1 - *K5,P5*

Row 2 - K4*P5,K5* end P5, K1

Row 3 - P2*K5,P5* end K5,P3

Row 4 - K2*P5,K5* end P5,K3

Row 5 - P4*K5,P5* end K5,P1

Row 6 - *P5,K5*

           The use of parallelogram shaped welts is certainly unusual if very attractive. It's worth noting that the vertical check tends to pleat gently if left unblocked, and the horizontal check has a natural wave across the fabric if left unblocked. The next two patterns we'll be doing are pretty easy, but once we get into the omplicated chevron patterns and pyramids the patterns tend to get really long. It's also harder to find some of these patterns are online, (although most appear to already be on knittingfool) hopefully you'll be patient as it takes a while to finish one round of the longer patterns. In general they are worth it however as they are very pretty. Happy Knitting!

Broken Diagonal Rib

Tomasz Schafernaker aka the best weatherman

            And I'm back sorry about the break but I've been busy doing nothing on my holidays, it's also going to be a pretty short post today as I've left it late, and I'm tired from swimming/ trying to dunk my brother and cousin as much as possible today. We went to an indoor pool as it was peeing it down all day today. Other than the day we arrived it's been pretty nice weather here so far, especially compared to home where the weather has been pretty dreadful all week. But you didn't come here for a weather report, or to hear about all the icecream I've been eating, you came here for the swatch.
Although speaking of Icecream has anyone else watched the sweet makers? Just me? I really like historical food programmes, I want to have a banquet one day but I don't know where I would hold it or why. Feasts are just fun OK?! (yes got to use an interrobang) Bluh I shouldn't write at night time my brain runs away with me. Anyway on with the knitting game.

Broken diagonal ribbing is pretty much the same as the last swatch I posted, Diagonal rib but the shift is staggered to every few rows rather than every row, the pattern provided leans in the opposite direction as the diagonal rib pattern does. The stagger gives the ribs an interesting zig-zag appearance.

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 32st x 32st - Longtail CON - Chain COFF

Pattern for working flat:
CON multiple of 8st
Rows   1 - 4 - *P4,K4*
Rows 5 & 7 - K2*P4,K4* end K2
Rows 6 & 8 - P2*K4,P4* end P2
Rows 9 - 11 - *K4,P4*
Rows 13&15 - P2*K4,P4* end P2
Rows 14&16 - K2*P4,K4* end K2

Well it took longer for me to update this post but there it is done! We're getting towards some very long and complicated patterns soon so it's time for you to sharpen up your skills, so get practising! and of course Happy Knitting!

Diagonal Rib

            Ah holidays are great aren't they? Sitting around in the sun all day does have a way of making

Photo accurate picture of my brother today

you veery sleepy. I've managed to avoid getting sunburnt today (Hooray!) but my brother has lit up like a belisha beacon. (probably because the idiot didn't put suncream on properly idjut) Didn't get much knitting done today, although I say that I did get a lot done but between the pattern taking forever and pokemon raids and gyms I didn't manage to finish the square. Todays pattern doesnt take as long as that luckily for all of you.

Today's stitch is diagonal rib, not to be confused with diagonal ribbing, this pattern does draw in but not as much as a traditional ribbing. The pattern is effectivly created by making a 4x4 ribbing and staggering it left or right each row. The pattern supplied by Barbra staggers the stitches so the ribbing is right leaning, the stitch also tends to create a slanted shape, with one side being shorter than the other, this is how the ribbing drawing in effects the overall shape of the square it can be discouraged by blocking. This ribbing doesn't need a stretchy cast off unlike other ribbing as it's stretch mimicks bias stretch.

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 30st x 52st - Longtail CON - Surprisongly Stretchy COFF

Pattern for working flat:

CON Multiple of 8st + 6

Row 1 - K1*P4,K4* end P4,K1

Row 2 - K4*P4,K4* end P2

Row 3 - K3*P4,K4* end P3

Row 4 - K2*P4,K4* end P4

Row 5 - P1*K4,P4* end K4,P1

Row 6 - P4*K4,P4* end K2

Row 7 - P3*K4,P4* end K3

Row 8 - P2*K4,P4* end K4

The pattern may also be varied by increasing or decreasing the number of purl stitches on the right side (ie P2,K4) or by knitting and purpling into the back loops of the stitches that form a knit stripe on the right side. An easy enough pattern and it creates an unusual stretch which may have a variety of uses, any fabric that would benifit from being cut out of bias fabric would work well in this pattern. Now I'm off to watch the one shot episode of Casualty. (yes with Dr Doggo) Happy Knitting!

Organ Pipes

nomnomnom

            I'm on me holidays! After a long drive, we finally arrived in weymouth. Unfortunatly it is raining, so we're staying in the caravan until dinner. Which will likely be at the Marlboro (fish and chippies nomnomnom) so I can sit down after the mania that was yesterday, and the unpacking today and write a post. Now I'm on my holidays hopefully I will have time to sort out the swatches that arent in the physical copy of the book.

            Organ pipies pattern is so balled because unsurprisingly it looks like organ pipies. It's a pretty simple pattern with a nice enough overall effect, easily used in place of stockinette instead for more interest. It's pretty self explanitory and there's not much to say about it, it's inoffensive at best.

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 34st x 50st - Longtail CON - Chain COFF

Pattern for working flat:
CON: multiple of 6 + 4
Rows 1 & 3 - K4*P2,K4*
Rows 2 & 4 - P4*K2,P4*
Rows 5 & 7 - P1,K2*P4,K2* end K1
Rows 6 & 8 - K1,P2*K4,P2* end P1
Row 9 - *P*
Row 10 - *K*

            Well a simple pattern for a busy day, works well in both a textured yarn and a simple yarn. Flexible enough to work in most places where stockinette is used. Happy Knitting!

Arabic Diamonds

            Well I've had an exciting day, I finished two swatches, managed to get a ninetails and a ditto in pokemon go, my bf's parent's have finally organised us going to france, and I'm going on holiday to weymouth in two days so I am very excited.

            First the swatches, I'm nearing the end of the ribbing chapter before we reached it on this blog which is ideal I have about 4 left so it looks like you'll be close to where I am when I start the slipped stitches chapter (hooray!). Secondly the ninetails and ditto; I don't know if I've been particularly unlucky but I have managed to somehow miss every ditto out there, (one sec the tv is super loud mum's left it on bleeding hochanda -_-)  today me and mum went out to walk up a few candies from our buddies and hatch some eggs as it's the last day of PokeFest. I had to walk 1km more in order to get a ninetails so I decided once mum had gone in to quickly zip up to the local park and back on the jog there I thought "wouldn't it be funny if I caught a ditto now mum's gone in?" and low and behold a rattata appeared I caught it and literally sprinted home upon it transforming into a ditto. 

Clearly the best Icecream.

            The france thing, I have only been to continental europe once in my life, my parents prefer to go on holiday within britain (which is fine I love weymouth but we'll get to that later) this means the only time I left the uk was for a day trip to belgium with school back in 2009, it is somewhat expensive but I should be able to afford it if I'm frugal next term. And lastly, weymouth, our annual holiday to the best holiday place in the uk, (yeah I said it) I am excited to show the bf a Rossi's ice cream (also the best) as he LOVES icecream.

On with the stitch, like yesterday's stitch the arabic diamond is traditionally done in the eastern knitting style and features twisted stitches. The pattern provided by barbra uses regular stitches, however it is also easily changes simply by either purling into the back loop or knitting into the back loop. The swatch below is knitted using the non-traditional regular switches.

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 33st x 48st - Longtail CON - Chain COFF

Pattern for working flat (non eastern version):
CON - multiple of 8st + 1

Row 1 - *P*

Row 2 - *K*

Row 3 - P4*K1,P7* end P4

Row 4 - K4*P1,K7* end K4

Row 5 - P3*K3,P5* end P3

Row 6 - K3*P3,K5* end K3

Row 7 - P2*K5,P3* end P2

Row 8 - K2*P5,K3* end K2

Row 9 - Row 5

Row 10 - Row 6

Row 11 - Row 3

Row 12 - Row 4

Well that's it for today, and likely tomorrow, as we're very busy preparing for our holiday. Hopefully I'll get some knitting done on the drive down to weymouth but I won't be writing up a blog post until we get to the caravan, because I get horribly car sick and it's worse with reading. Sadly I've no time to set up another post tonight so you'll all have to wait. Luckily we're heading towards several pretty looking stitches so patience will pay off! Happy Knitting!

Arabic cross

An accurate gif of me rn

           Pretty tired today, had to get up early to go into town with mum so I could get some proper running shoes and some socks. Wouldn't have been so bad, but we had to rush because my brother had to go to the orthodontist that with all the cleaning yesterday means I am very sleepy. So I might just do this post and go to bed.

Arabic Cross, an ancient pattern. It takes the original form of knitting, which first appeared in the middle east and uses it to make a pattern of crosses on a reverse stockinette background. Knitting is one of the oldest forms of fabric creation because it doesn't require large equipment like a loom to do, meaning it would have been very valuable to nomadic and non agrarian peoples. Arabic knitting, also known as eastern knitting, produces a twisted stitch simply through how it's done. Essentially you purl your stitches clockwise (as opposed to anti clockwise as in english or continental) and this produces the twist. The appearance of eastern knitting can be produced without the traditional method. You simply either knit into the back loop or purl into the backloop every other row. (depending on your preference)
The cross is well suited for small decorations/interest on an overall purl fabric, such as on a pocket or around a hem.

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 37st x 48st - Longtail Con - Chain COFF

Pattern for working flat:
CON - multiple of 12st + 1
Row 1 - *P*
Row 2 - *K*
Rows 3 & 5 - P5*K3-b,P9*end P5
Rows 4 & 6 - K5*P3,K9* end K5
Rows 7 & 9 - P2*K9-b,P3*end P2
Rows 8 & 10 - K2*P9,K3*end K2
Rows 11 & 13 - Rows 3 & 5
Rows 12 & 14 - Rows 4 & 6
Row 15 - *P*
Row 16 - *K*

            If preferred the pattern can be done without the twisted stitches, you simply knit all stitches as you usually would. For tjose of you who were unaware of the different forms of knitting it may be workwhile to attempt different versions. Personally I am usually an english knitter, I learnt to knit that way so I find it easiest often people learn one way and stick to it Personally I think it's the easiest to control, however english knitting is the slowest version of knitting so if I'm doing a simple row (all knits or all purls) I will switch to fixed needle continental because it's faster, and for ribbing I use the eastern style purl on the first purl next to a knit as it helps draw the ribbing in closer. So try different forms of knitting they can prove very useful. Happy Knitting!

Harris Tweed

            Well I'm exhausted, my room was pretty much a bomb site since I got home this summer. It's partly my fault for not wanting to put my clothes away, as my draws were full of old stuff I didn't want getting muddled in with my actual clothes, and partly my brother throwing his crap in there, thinking my room is some sort of dumping ground solution for when mum tells him to clean his room. (dirty little troglodyte)
           
            We did discover something pretty gross though. About 2 years ago a mouse somehow got into my room while I was away. (we have a cat she brings them in lets them go and is unable to catch them again) I say somehow no doubt it was my idiot sibling throwing crap in there leaving the door open and letting the cat in. Anyway, a few days before I came back my mother put some laundry in my room only to discover a dead mouse in the middle of my bed. Gross, not only that but my matress was covered in mouse poo!!! D: We got rid of the dead creature and hoovered the mattress but never found where the mouse was living. Until today when I cleared the small set of draws where my makeup sits on. Bottom draw full of chewed socks and mouse poo. Disgusting. cleaned it out and hoovered up the poo again, hopefully that is the last of the idiot brother/mouse incident.

Traditional Harris Tweed with interlocking crosses

Todays stitch is Harris Tweed, the name behind this one again is unclear; the pattern consists of interlocking crosses, this is likely the source of the name. Harris Tweed is also simply a knid of tweed, it's handwoven in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. There are several styles of this tweed, popular are plain, herringbone, and various types of checks, however generic harris tweed looks a lot like a miniature version of this knitting pattern ie interlocking crosses. This is likely the origin of the name and pattern, it is likely an attempt to replicate the effect of harris tweed and it is a very nice pattern particularly good for menswear if used with a tweedy yarn. The pattern is fully reversible so it is also well suited for scarves.

Harris Tweed (Knitted)

Swatch is as follows: 4ply -  2.5mm needles - 30st x 45st - Longtail CON - Chain COFF

Pattern for working flat:
CON - multiple of 6st
Rows 1-3 - *K3,P3*
Row 4 - *K*
Row 5 - *P*
Row 6 - *K*
Rows 7-9 - *K3,P3*
Row 10 - *P*
Row 11 - *K*
Row 12 - *P*

Now my post is done my room is tidy and I've yelled at my oik of a brother for treating it like a bin, I can finally relax and make my magikarp jump. I've actually started on some of the lacework patterns now, It's the first lacework I've ever done so hopefully I don't cock it up too much, it's going well so far though. We're also nearly halfway through chapter one of the book, the first chapter is very long compartivly but we are making good progress. Happy Knitting!