Reversing knitting patterns

(warning: lots of technical knitting details ahead...so if you aren't into that kind of detail, just skip this, or read the first half, which isn't so technical.)

Yesterday I spent four hours in a knitting store painstakingly paring down a pattern in Barbara Walker's Third Knitting Treasury. It was a seven-rayed leaf or feather pattern (I've forgotten the name) that looked like it might be interesting for the peacock "scale feather" pattern, but at 29 stitches across (15 per feather) it was going to come out too large, so I scaled it down to a five-rayed feather pattern.

Scaling down lace patterns isn't that hard as long as you understand the basic rules, are willing to spend a couple hours fine-tuning to make sure the stitch counts work out right, and accept that your first few attempts will to look like a mutated grapefruit. (Particularly advanced knitters may wind up with a mutated squid. :-) ) Usually you have to trim the length as well as the width of the pattern, which means you have to pay close attention to what's going on in each row--this is where a photo of the finished work comes in handy.

Then, of course, after you've designed the basic pattern, you have to work out the half-drop--how to nestle the individual motifs against each other so that, when knitted, you get a nice even grid. This is tricky at the best of times, and when you are working with a pattern whose number of stitches changes from row to row, it can become a nightmare. I've found that it makes life MUCH MUCH simpler if you just grid out two patterns side by side, running parallel to each other, with blank boxes in between, like this:

x--
--y
x--
--y (where x and y are different rows of motifs; the -'s are just there because HTML doesn't like blank spaces)

This makes it really easy to see where the half-drop occurs, and which stitches are part of which pattern. Then you muck around with the stitches in between until you get an effect you like.

That's also a nice way of charting out lace patterns that include a half-drop (two iterations of the pattern offset from each other)--then you can clearly differentiate which stitches belong to which motif. Makes it a lot easier to see what's happening. I'm a visual person, so I chart everything--I LOATHE the written-out patterns, you can't tell *anything* about what's going on. All you can do is slavishly reproduce them exactly as written. Chart it out, and you can SEE what's happening.

At any rate, I spent several hours painstakingly reworking the pattern, doing a half-drop, making sure the stitch counts worked out, normalizing the number of stitches between patterns...then got home and started knitting the first few rows, and realized, to my horror....that the pattern was going to come out UPSIDE DOWN from the direction I needed.

Aargh.

So I have just spent the last hour or so reversing the pattern, which (as knitters know) can be pretty tricky, because knit stitches really don't reverse all that well. In particular, there are a few stitches that *really* don't reverse well.

So, a few tips on "reversing" difficult stitches:

First, a chart index:

/ = decrease (usually k2tog, but I'm not too fussy about the direction for this discussion)
- = purl stitch
1 = stockinette stitch
0 = yarn over
M = make one stitch (pick up from row below and knit)

An increase in one direction becomes a decrease in the opposite direction. Fortunately, since most patterns have balanced increases/decreases in each row, you can pretty much ignore this and flip the pattern top to bottom:

/11110
/11101
/11011

/11011
/11101
/11110

Technically, you are swapping the locations of the increases/decreases--but unless you want to think deeply about it, let's just say that these patterns do flip easily and reasonably intuitively, though you may have to fiddle with the direction of the decreases.

However, if you don't have balanced increases/decreases, life gets a little more interesting. For example:


--1--
--1--
--0--
----
looks like a ladder of stockinette stitches rising up out of a little hole (the yo). Unfortunately, when you reverse it, it doesn't work right:

----
--/--
--1--
--1--

preserves the stitch count but hasn't got the "hole".
----
-/0/-
--1--
--1--

preserves the stitch count *and* has the hole, but the hole is offset to one side--it doesn't end the line of stockinette stitches, it's half a stitch to the side. Looks icky.

So how to create a hole at the *top* of a line of stitches? I did a little bobble:

-/ - \--M3--
--1--
--1--

The M3 (p1,k1,p1 into same stitch) forces the top stitch open, creating a little hole; then the next row takes out the extra stitches. (Doing it as two p2togs plus 1 p2tog to the side, rather than one p3tog pulls the stitches of the bobble apart, holding the hole open.) It creates a dense bit at the top, but you get the nice line of stitches terminating in a hole.

Stitches like K5tog are very hard to reproduce; I've just been replacing them with M5s. If anyone knows of a better option, lemme know.

Better yet, if anyone knows of a lace book with detailed instructions on how to do these things, let me know. I wish they were more common, but from what I've seen most knitters are content just to work within a pattern--not much innovative thought there.

Anyway, I have to run off, I'm going to a farm today to check out some fleeces! Utopia Ranch, run by Jean Near, produces some of the most outstanding merino fleeces I've ever seen, and I'm looking for an extra-lustrous one to sample for the peacock shawl. I've never met a sheep whose fleece I've used, so it should be pretty cool; and I'm meeting an old college friend who also has a farm, so I think it'll be lots of fun. :-)

Tien

New project!

Well, I have finally decided on my new project...a peacock shawl.

No, that's not a new shawl design, it's a theme...it will be a Faroese-type shawl, shaped like angel wings, with a peacock theme. (Here's a photo of a very lovely Faroese shawl: http://www.nwkniterati.com/movabletype/archives/PinkTea/000476.html )

I plan to alter the design, though, to eliminate the rectangle in the center (which would disrupt the pattern). Instead I'll knit it as a 2/3 or 3/4 circle shawl, with extensions towards the outside to give the upsweep of the "wings" (instead of an upside-down Pac-Man).

There will be three patterns in the shawl: the center part (next to the neck) will be green and gold "scale" feathers, like a peacock's back feathers: http://www.gregfolkert.com/pics/wallpapers/animal/peacock_l.jpg (the part right next to the tail).

The middle part will be feathers radiating out from the "scale" feathers, fanning out like an eagle's wing feathers. (Yes, I know this is unrealistic, but it gives more visual interest to the shawl, IMO--the wing feathers will pick up the "wing" shape of the shawl.)

The final part, of course, will be the peacock tail, with "eyes" radiating out from the center.

I'm still experimenting with yarns--at this point, I'm leaning towards either two-ply reeled silk or spun silk mixed with firestar (a glittery fiber)--possibly kid mohair or a lustrous finewool, but unlikely. But I have been spinning and dyeing sample yarns, and knitting sample swatches. I *just* finished a lovely two-ply spun silk yarn made with green tussah silk and gold-dyed firestar, which is very pretty--it comes out as green silk with glittery gold highlights, which is exactly what I'm looking for. (I was looking for something that would duplicate the look of the back feathers: http://www.plumesnfeathers.com/plumage.html )

I am also *considering* using real peacock back feathers for the top part of the shawl...I have a very cool book on Hawai'ian feather capes and feather leis, and have always wanted to try making a feather cape--but I will worry about that once I get it finished. I think it might look really cool, but it might also distract from the knitting; the peacock eyes are the "real" feature, after all.

I am also looking into incorporating real gold thread into the peacock eyes--either 32-34 gauge 22K gold wire, 50-micron gold fibers (from the semiconductor industry) "spun" and plied with reeled silk, or Japanese gold embroidery thread (which is 2% gold--gold foil wrapped around a silk thread). I think that will add some nice glitter to the peacock eyes. Again, I'll worry about that when I get there.

I am also designing and redesigning several lace patterns for the shawl. The "base" pattern for the peacock eyes is Candle of Glory, from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns--turned upside down, it looks almost exactly like a peacock's "eye". However, the pattern is only about ten or fifteen stitches across, and since I'm knitting this shawl on size 1-2 needles (best guess--still swatching that as well), it makes for a peacock "eye" that's maybe an inch across. Way too small. So I am working on enlarging it. Sounds easy, actually somewhat complicated.

I also don't have patterns for the scale feathers or for the wing feathers yet; I plan to make those myself. Again, more swatching.

I have some novel ideas for handling increases on this shawl, but I'll explain them in a separate post, which will also cover increases and decreases and shaping for knitting. (Separating the posts will make it easier for non-knitters to skip the technical bits.) Suffice it to say for the moment that I am inventing new variations on the traditional ways of "shaping" a round shawl, to avoid disrupting the peacock's tail.

The book has been on hold for the last week or so, as I have had several serious job interviews and have spent much of my time either prepping for that or designing the peacock. I'm pretty close to the point where I can get back to work on it, though; I have one second-round interview today (nervous!) and once that's done I can focus on the book once more.

Tien

I finished my spiral shawl!!

And very pretty it is: http://www.travelingtiger.com/crafts/spiral.htm

It is a 68" shawl, fine enough to pass through a woman's wedding ring, about 2300 yards of handspun silk/merino yarn--15 months and 350+ hours of work. I spun the whole thing on a drop spindle.

It was a real bear to block--normally I block on the rug in the living room, but it was too big to fit--I had to graft some towels and pillows on the edge to make up the difference. There was also that brief moment of utter terror when I came in to find my housemate's cat (who up until now had been very patient about her absence on vacation) lying ON TOP OF MY ULTRAFINE, PURE WHITE, PERFECTLY BLOCKED SHAWL, happily CLAWING at it!!

I did not kill the cat. I expect to be given an extra halo in my next life for that. I did, however, get her off the shawl, and hastily snatched the shawl up and out of her reach. Fortunately, it was almost dry, and by the time I moved it to the table and finished repairing the snags, it was perfectly dry.

I still need to re-weave a number of ends (the design forced me to use a different length of yarn for each of the 64 triangles in the border...leaving me 128 ends to work in). Someone pointed me at a website for the "Russian graft"--which looks like such an eminently civilized way to do it that I wonder I didn't think of it before. You essentially turn the yarn into a loop, running it through the previous length of yarn. It's better for splicing, but if you don't mind creating a loop, it's an excellent way to manage loose ends, too.

The other good news: I have TWO rounds of job interviews at the end of this week! The first one is with a haptics company named Immersion, the second one is with an e-commerce comparison-shopping company named NexTag. I'm a little worried about stacking two sets of interviews on the same day (and so close together)--but, well, we'll see what happens. I'll put a Coke or some kind of caffeine in the car, hopefully that will help restore my brain.

But heck, I'm just happy I'm INTERVIEWING! And NexTag said they had gotten hundreds of resumes, but they were only interviewing five people...so my resume must be pretty darn strong. That makes me happy.

But the shawl is DONE!...and I'm already thinking of what comes next. I'm torn between starting another complex and interesting project, and really needing to do something mindless so I can focus on the book. Trouble is, I don't have much patience for "mindless"; if it isn't interesting, and isn't a challenge, I get bored and find something else to do.

I am currently spinning up some kid mohair and toying with design ideas...I have this neat idea for a shawl in shimmering silver silk, with tiny hints of blue and purple, and maybe a little bit of fuzziness. Qiviut? Perhaps...I need to experiment a bit to find out.

But the basic idea, at least for today, is a square shawl, with earth, air, fire, and water symbols in the four corners, and a central diamond pattern which I haven't yet envisioned. What I *am* sure of is that they will be larger patterns than is "normal"...knitting patterns tend to have small repeats, 8-14 stitches and 4-20 rows, for reasons that escape me--maybe they're stuck with what fits on a sweater? or in a magazine chart? Whyever it is, I'm not limited to that, so I want to do a little "painting" with my knitting patterns...big flames rather than tiny little ones, or a freehand pattern of flames, not repeating, in the corners.

I also know that this time I want to *design* the lace patterns (or most of them, anyway), rather than just taking existing patterns and rearranging them. I think it would be fun to design basic lace patterns. I'm currently reading through Susanna Lewis's Knitting Lace, trying to understand how lace "thinks". The book is phenomenal; its the best primer on lace design I've found. (And I've read almost everything available on the subject, by now.)

And, I've figured out how to get my AIDS Ride interviews transcribed into .wav files--it's going to be a long, slow process, but I'll get there. Then I'll be able to cut, splice, and shorten interviews down to the useful bits--and more to the point, I'll be able to fast-forward and rewind easily, instead of having to wait for the tape to go through.

I have been vacationing from the book for the last week or so (a bit burned out) but am feeling much better now, and ready to charge ahead.

Tien