Double Basket

This very accurate picture is from
http://www.holyokehome.com/2010/06/#axzz4mddIgjkc

            After a day of de-wallpapering, boiling my head, running, and getting scratched to hell picking gooseberries for my mother (who knew gooseberry bushes had demon thorns?!) I am finally able to sit down and get the needles out, or I will be once I stop the bleeding. Whew! I am pooped and this pattern although utterly lovely is a pretty long pattern. Do you like the appearance of cables but the idea of knitting them gives you the willies? Do you need a pattern that's nearly as stretchy as ribbing but looks so much better? Do you want to impress people with your mad skillz while actually doing nothing other than knit and purl stitches? Well I've got you covered fam.

 This natty pattern looks a great deal like cables! Those waving ribs? They're actually knitted straight and the wave is introduced by the purl welts inbetween the ribs pushing and pulling them in and out.

This effect is further exaggerated by the third smaller rib interrupted by the welts pulling the other ribs towards it. The pattern naturally shrinks inward and thus has a LOT of lateral stretch, when pulled the pattern can stretch up to 30% larger horizontally (if left unblocked), It has some vertical stretch too but only around 5-10%.

Swatch is as follows - 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 46st x 63st - Longtail CON -Surprisingly Stretchy COFF

So as you can tell this pattern is very broad (hence the swatch is over ~50st rather than ~30st there are other stitches that require more stitches for the whole pattern, however once you learn to "read your knitting it is easy enough to edit the pattern to chop of the end rib for example.

CON multiple of 18st + 10 (see it's a lot!)
Row 1 -   *K11,P2,K2,P2,K1*K10
Row 2 -     P1,K8,P1*P1(K2,P2)x2,K8,P1*
Row 3 -   *K1,P8,(K2,P2)x2, K1*K1,P8,K1
Row 4 -     P10*P1,K2,P2,K2,P11*
Row 5 - 8: repeat rows 1-4
Row 9 -   *K*
Row 10 -   (P2,K2)x2,P2*P10,(K2,P2)x2*
Row 11 - *(K2,P2)x2,K2,P8*(K2,P2)x2,K2
Row 12 -   (P2,K2)x2,P2*K8,(P2,K2)x2,P2*
Row 13 - *(K2,P2)x2,K10*(K2,P2)x2,K2
Row 14 - 17 - repeat rows 10-13
Row 18 - *P*

Whew! That was hard work writing out, and now all I've got to do today is wait for my pudding to set, (gooseberry fools yum :D) that is the last of the basket stitches for now, and it is a lovely one to end on. Happy Knitting!

Basket Welt

          Just got back from a run I finished the last stitch in the chapter earlier, and I have a total head rush lets do this! Although I am desperate for something to eat. I will post and then get lunch.

We're in opposite land compared to yesterday's stitch, although we are still in basket city. This pattern Barbra lists together with basket rib and it makes sense why they look different but show the same interaction, although in opposite ways. This time around we've got more knit stitches or "vertical" stitches but the overall look of the pattern is distinctly horizontal, unlike basket rib the reverse of this pattern isn't really used (it doesn't look like much). We've also got welts appearing in this pattern, and they show off beautifully how they can be used effectively when they are small.

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 30st x 42st - Longtail CON - Surprisingly stretchy COFF

Pattern for working flat:
CON - Multiple of 10
Rows 1 & 2 *K5,P5*
Row 3 - *K*
Rows 4 & 5 - *P5,K5*
Row 6 - *P*

            This stitch has a much closer resemblance to basket stitch than it's cousin basket rib, it is also a less dense stitch and so knits up considerably faster. It also knits up faster than basket stitch itself so it makes a nice substitute given their similarity. Anyway that's all for today. Happy Knitting!

Basket rib and Real life

            Well it's been a while but I promise I've been busy knitting, getting my hair dyed like a unicorn, and sorting out the physical version of this blog; I've finally filled a whole book (and have nearly finished the first chapter of swatches although they don't all fit in the first book) my mum helped me jazz up the front of the book and if you're into paper craft in general you should have a look at her blog. And here is the final version of said real book:

 As you can see the pages get pretty thick with all the swatches in.

            Right on with the swatch, basket rib, it's a variation on basket weave and is a good example of the interaction between knit and purl stitches. Although it consists of mainly purl stitches which are horizontal the overall effect is a vertical rib like texture. The reverse is a denser version of the waving rib pattern.

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 39st x 26st - Double loop CON - Chain COFF
Pattern for working flat:
CON multiple 4+1
Row 1 - K1*P1,K1*
Row 2 - K2*P1,K3*P1,K2
Row 3 - P2 *K1,P3*K1,P2
Row 4 - P1*K1,P1*
Row 5 - K1*P3,K1*
Row 6 - P1*K3,P1*

A pretty slow knit given its density but it is very warm and on small enough needles it would likely be windproof so it would make a good winter jumper if you have the patience for it. Happy Knitting!

Basketweave

            A famously popular pattern today, and it's easy to see why, it is both a very pretty and interesting pattern and it is super easy to knit up. Barbra's pattern uses multiples of 5 but 7 is common and more often used, I personally like her prefer the 5 stitch purl bars, it looks more "square". Also new yarn today! I bought this to make a test swatch for a HP Quidditch jumper but never ended up making it, (Mostly because the yarn is expensive but partially because I would've had to make up the pattern as all the online copies I could find looked crap) maybe one day I'll make one.... but that would involve finishing this project.
            Basketweave is a good choice for an all-over pattern given both it's simplicity and it's texture, but don't confuse it with Basket stitch, though similarly named they are very different.

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

Pattern for working flat:
CON multiple of 8st +5
Row 1 - *K*
Row 2 - K5*P3,K5*
Row 3 - P5*K3,P5*
Row 4 - K5*P3,K5*
Row 5 - *K*
Row 6 - K1*P3,K5*end K1
Row 7 - P1*K3,K5*end P1
Row 8 - K1*P3,K5*end K1

            Welcome to Basket country! We've reached the basketcase section of the book, luckily they're more fun than broken ribs and are also much better looking, (In my humble opinion) so get on with it! Happy Knitting!