English Diamond Block Pattern

So I've been busy. And by busy I mean insane exam period happened and I temporarily became fully nocturnal thanks to two back to back exams. Seriously wtf is the organiser doing? Every semester my exams have been well spaced and not stressful at all but oh it's the third years fuck those guys it's not like these exams are LITERALLY the most important, and stressful exams of their degree! Despite the HORRIBLE organisation (and one of the exams being a total awful curve-ball) It's gone OK. Well enough that I'm still on track (OK mum! Don't freak out!)

And I also ended up totally wasting the two weeks I had off (because my exams were so smashed together I got an extra free week I guess) on Final Fantasy XV, great game, the combat system is brilliant... or at least it is when there isn't a tree or hedge screwing with the camera! And for once the story wasn't pants-on head ridiculous, it does have a very weak middle act given one of the characters is criminally under developed, but I would honestly say there hasn't really been as brilliant a villain since Kefka in final fantasy VI, without spoilers - the villains motivations are pure brilliance.

Tobus has been busy driving me insane, over Christmas she escaped once and chewed a massive hole in her bin cage lid this wouldn't be so bad here because I don't own a cat unlike my parents. Since she's gotten back to aber she's chewed all the runners off  her wheel (that I made for her), figured out how to climb on the wheel to climb on the lid so the second box has to be permanently shut, but of course once she figured out how to get on the lid she immediately ran around the room she's in. I though this wouldn't be a big deal because she's not in our bedroom anymore we keep her in the empty room in the house, (it isn't being rented out right now) so the only stuff in there is a wardrobe and a desk. Now I blocked the bottom of the wardrobe up with books because it's a small enough gap for a hamster but not small enough for an arm so I didn't want her getting under there because I wouldn't be able to get her out. Obviously the first thing she did when she got out? She chewed up the corner of a book to get under the wardrobe -_- RIP rogues anthology. Luckily she's easily lured with food and no harm was done, but now if I let her free roam all she wants is to get under the wardrobe so I'm considering breaking up the old damaged bed frame for the wood slats.

Anyway on with today's stitch English Diamond Block pattern, whew that's a mouthful. Another one Barbra doesn't really say much about we can at least learn from the name it's from England but that's really the extent of the knowledge I can find which is pretty unsurprising given how generic it is, it's just another variation on purl welts really and a pretty meh appearance one at that.

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 33st x 40st - Longtail CON - Chain COFF

Pattern for working flat:
CON multiple of 14st + 5
Row 1 - P5*K4,P1,K4,P5*
Row 2 - K5*P3,K3,P3,K5*
Row 3 - K7*P5,K9* end last repeat K7
Row 4 - P6*K7,P7* end last repeat P6
Row 5 - K5*P9,K5*
Row 6 - Row 4
Row 7 - Row 3
Row 8 - Row 2

And that's all for this post I'll be posting this in the future *oooh spook past blogging* but I'll be continuing to write several posts and queue them up for the next few days so hopefully this will make up for the several month hiatus I've had. (seriously third year university is HARD work I have 2 less modules this term so hopefully I can write more) Good luck and Happy Knitting! :)

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!

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!

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!

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!

Banded Insertion Pattern

            Are you ready for some Faux Lacework that doesn't really look like lacework? Yeah this pattern in my most humble opinion is a tad rubbish, the idea is for the stockinette rows you use a larger needle than the welt rows but unless you use a needle ~5x bigger than is usual for the yarn you don't end up with the "open" appearance of lace knitting. I don't own knitting needles larger than 5mm because I like working with dk and 4ply wool. Sure if you like things that knit up fast then sure big needles are great but eh it feels less... fancy? I like projects that take a lot of time. Barb's image doesn't really do the pattern justice either in my opinion she should've used larger needles/finer yarn as again it just looks like a regular set of welts on stockinette.

You can see the stockinette v's are much longer than the purl bars this is due to the differing needle sizes.

Swatch is as follows: 4ply -2.5mm needles & 4.5mm needles - 30st x 44st - Longtail CON - Surprisingly stretchy COFF

Pattern working flat
CON any st

Rows 1-4 *K* on smaller needles

Row 5 - *K* on larger needles

Row 6 - *P* on larger needles

This pattern works best when the larger needles are at least 5mm bigger than the smaller needles (again my lack of larger needles hampered me here others may have better luck) Happy Knitting!

Wagers Welt/All Fools Welt

            Sorry about another late post the BF arrived from holiday yesterday and I was at a partaaaay with some old friends. (And yes I should schedule ahead but I'm lazy damnit I like doing one at a time but I'm scheduling an extra for tomorrow to make up for it)

This is a fun one it has an interesting story behind the name, and it is worth posing the question it asks to other knitters. The "wager" in the name refers to the simple question:
out of 8 pattern rows, how many rows are purled?
From the appearance it is difficult to guess particularly at a distance, so the French called it puzzle stitch the Germans the Dispute stitch; but the English, who seemed to think only a fool could be stumped by the problem called it "all fools welt". The answer is of course "one".
It's a simple combination of garter stitch and stockinette indents. It is technically a series of purl welts but it has much more in common with garter stitch than a true purl welt.
            Given the name it's fairly obvious that this is a fairly old stitch dating back to at least medieval times and it is probably much older given it's simplicity.

Only one picture today, as it's nothing we've not seen before I thought a closeup would be unnecessary.

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

Pattern for working flat:
Row 1 - *K*
Row 2 - *P*
Rows 3-8 - *K*

A quickie today, we've got an interesting pattern tomorrow that requires needles of different sizes. Happy Knitting!

Quaker Ridging

            Now I know very little about Quakers other than this dude  who fuels my morning porridge is one (as far as i know he's a random man dressed like a Quaker) this is likely because the number of Quakers in the UK is 17,000 or around 0.0003% of the population, my odds of meeting one are pretty low. Maybe some of you amur'cans know a little more (yes I see you! I have the power of the almighty stats page!) Whomever they are and whatever they are like the Quakers have got one thing going for them:
They named the most changeable knitting stitch in the world.

Seriously half the time the "Quaker Ridging" looks nothing like the original pattern, because it's whole row purl welts across stockinette even the most amateur knitter can change this pattern. You could change the thickness of the welts, change the frequency of the welts change the order of thick or thinner welts, the possibilities my friends are pretty much endless. Also it's a super easy pattern takes no time to knit up at all.

This time around I'm only doing one picture no close up is necessary you'll just see knit and purl stitches, if you want to see that go to my stockinette stitch it's pretty obvious, and if you want to see more of that hot purl welt action look at the escalator stitch.

(Ohh! look you can see my handwriting)

          

Swatch is as follows - 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 30st x 37st - Long tail CON - Surprisingly stretchy COFF

           

            Okay some of the more observant of you may have noticed those metal thingies that are in the corners/ on the edges of all my swatches; they are brads (aka split pins) they hold the swatch in a physical book where I have written the pattern and notes about it, I personally started this because it's nice to touch a physical copy of a stitch as you can get to know it better before using it for a project, anyway back to the brads you may have noticed an extra one in top center, this is because this stitch CURLS. A LOT. Anything you make out of this will need a border and/or blocking to lie flat, this is due to stockinette natural curl being encouraged further by the welts. 

            The pattern is simply a 1 row welt followed by a 3 row welt, the pattern is easily changeable if you want thicker welts increase the number of rows if you want thin knit fewer rows, if you want thick then thin just swap them around. Experiment with it, it's a very easy pattern to change.

Pattern for the specific 1 welt then 3 welt worked flat:

Rows 1,3,5 - *K*

Rows 2 & 4 - *P*

Row 6 - *K*

Rows 7,9,11 - *K*

Rows 8 & 10 - *P*

Row 12 - *K*

Row 13 - *P*

Row 14 - *K*

            Well that was easy to write, and it's just as simple to knit or edit. Also do you see? I finally figured out the title formatting what a bloody nightmare now the archive should work properly and people can navigate the blog easier. Happy Knitting!

Now here's a picture of a Quaker with a cat.

Escalator Pattern

            More purl welts today, I don't know what it is about this pattern everyone I've shown it to says it's great, personally I think it's a bit silly it's just sequential purl welts! Barbra says its "fun", well I'm not sure about that but it certainly is quick to work despite the length of the pattern. and it looks like an escalator, or a set of stairs. Obviously. I'm a bit behind on the knitting at the moment, I've been too busy trying not to be a fat bastard and have started running away from zombies. So if the uploads are less regular that's why. 

 Simple purl welts on a knit background, not much to say about the pattern this week.

Swatch is as follows - 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 32st x 48st - Longtail CON - Surprisingly Stretchy COFF

Pattern for working flat:

CON multiple of 32st

Rows 1 & 3 - *K5, P11*

Row 2 - *K11,P5*

Rows 4 & 6 - *P*

Row 5 - *K*

Row 7 & 9 - P4*K5,P11*K5,P7

Row 8 - K7*P5,K11*P5,K4

Rows 10 & 12 - *P*

Row 11 - *K*

Rows 13 & 15 - P5*K5,P11*K5,P3

Rows 16 & 18 - *P*

Row 17 - *K*

Row 19 & 21 - K1,P11*K5,P11*
Row 20 - P4*K11,P5*
Rows 22 & 24 - *P*
Row 23 *K*

            Phew that's a long pattern! It's not hard once you get into the swing of it if you can "read" your knitting. It also knits up surprisingly quickly. Now I have to go run away from some zombies so, happy knitting!

Ripple Stitch

            First stitch in the book where Barbra doesn't say anything about it so I guess this oe is going to be short and sweet. Technically a series of purl welts changing positions subtly every row. (The guy who put the b in subtle was a clever bastard) It's a pretty long pattern this time around so let's get into it.

Swatch is as follows: 4ply - 2.5mm needles - 30st x 50st - Long Tail CON - Surprisingly Stretchy COFF

            As you can see it's a pretty short pattern it takes nearly as long to work as garter stitch so a slow one this week, combined with the fact that the pattern is a pretty long one I wouldn't personally use it as an overall pattern but it is very nice so it would make nice squares in a blanket.

Pattern working flat:
CON 8st + 6
Row 1 - K6*P2,K6*
Row 2 - K1*P4,K4*P4,K1
Row 3 - P2*K2,P2*
Row 4 - P1*K4,P4*
Row 5 - K2*P2,K6*P2,K2
Row 6 - P6*K2,P6*
Row 7 - P1*K4,P4*K4,P1
Row 8 - K2*P2,K2*
Row 9 - K1*P4,K4*P4,K1
Row 10 - P2*K2,P6*K2,P2

The pattern is the same in the round but on even rows the knits are purls and purls are knits. IE:
Row 2 - P1*K4,P4*K4,P1