Thursday 18 February 2016

Happy Circumstance.

I had one of those long days yesterday doing stuff and along about 4 p.m., I was ready to simply sit and knit.

Not that I had not done some bits of knitting earlier in the day.  I did.  In fact, I knit most of the morning on the pretty blue shawl.  I have no idea why I felt that the working part of my day was long. Please note:  The working part of my day as in the part of the day when I am not knitting. 

When I sat down, I decided that I had enough of the shawl and was ready to work on something different.  I picked up my twisted Stitch Wrap.  That surely is different and I really did want to keep active on it.  I kind of have a deadline for it. but not really a big deadline, just one I would kind of like to keep.  I am doing this wrap as part of the Knit Girllls  Craft All the Things which finishes up at the end of March.  I would really like to get a project in to one of these "Along" things done in the set out time.    

I had not picked up this project for a couple weeks.  There was an error.  I had skipped a row and I needed to go back about three rows.  Three rows in this project has come to mean tink back one more stitch by stitch so you can be certain that all the stitches are in the right places.  All these little twists make me feel less than confident and the price I am willing to pay is one lone round.  Fair trade.

And voila.  

 It's not blocked yet so there are places where the stitches look a little bit funky, but that is how we roll here. Funky is good.  

This lovely wide panel is called Doppelherz mit Fenster or Double Heart with Windows.  Doppelherz mit Fenster.*  I can see a few places where some of the crossed stitches are wrong, but I am not going to worry too much.  There is a big part of me that wonders why the panels were designed to cross in one direction, when either way works.  If this was a sweater, I might make alternating columns cross stitches in alternate directions. 

The next pattern is going to be much less intricate, more repetitive.  It will be a small pattern more like the first design but a narrow band, like the third.  Or perhaps something completely different.  From a design standpoint, it would be interesting if the next panel was turned, so that a larger pattern, of only two or three repeats in width, runs vertically at this midpoint followed by a nice open horizontal design such as this last.  Lots to think about.



Anyway, this is what it looks like just at the end of panel 4.  It is about half done by my best guess.  If I hold it, arms open wide, it reaches to my far shoulder.

I am sitting here admiring this picture and I just realized something very interesting.  The end panels have a lot of twisted stitches and are more firmly knit. Right about where it hits my shoulders, the pattern is less twisted stitches and more open soft reverse stockinette.

That more open pattern should drape better over my shoulders.  I know that when I chose the second panel, I did think about putting really detailed stuff on the ends but that was more so that I could admire my work.  It never crossed my mind when I picked out that fourth pattern, to think about drape.  

Happy circumstance maybe?  Time will tell when it is worn.    

*I like saying that.  Doppelherz mit Fenster. Doppelherz mit Fenster.  When I say it in my head it takes me back to my childhood, sitting under the table/quilting frame at Grandma's house, and all the moms quilting and chattering in away German.   Doppelherz mit Fenster.



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