Delve Swatch Scarf - finished

When I started making my scarf, I wrote exactly what I did, so I could put the pattern on my blog. The general plan was to use the Delve stitch pattern for the ends, with a stocking stitch section in the middle. The only reason it wouldn't be perfectly symmetrical was because the chart pattern would continue in the same order.

The reality was different. Somehow the two ends ended up being sufficiently different they would be suitable for a spot-the-difference competition.


There are 3 stitches of garter stitch at the sides, to stop stocking stitch curl. Due to the limited quantity of yarn available, I wanted pointed ends: squared off ends can look rather chunky.

Here are selected notes from my pattern file: more a recipe for adaption then a pattern.

Delve Swatch Scarf: Extended recipe:

Triangular end of scarf

Put a loop on your needle and knit into the front and back of it to have two stitches. (Fudge this however you like.)

Kfb, K1
Kfb, K2
Kfb, K to end of row
Repeat this row until you have 7 stitches on your needle. This is the equavalent of a 3-stitch border, a pattern area (currently one stitch) and another 3 stitch border. However in one row a stitch from each border is 'borrowed' to form part of a K2tog stitch.

Next row - wrong side
Kfb K1 P2 K3
Kfb K1 K3 K3
Kfb K1 P4 K3

(Row 11 of Delve chart) Kfb K1 K1 YO K3tog YO K1 K3

Carry on increasing at the beginning of each row while simultaneously including more of the chart stitches, until you have 29 stitches in total.
(If I was making it again, I'd stick to 27 stitches, with several rows borrowing from the border.)

Keep going until you have used about two thirds of the skein. At this point change the pattern to go into a stocking stitch section: keep the side diamonds, but have the central section in plain stocking stitch.

Around here, I made a section with 5 yarn-over holes, so that I'd know later that I used 5mm needles. This is the first time I've tried this technique: using purl bumps isn't effective.

Stocking Stitch to the end of the skein, plus a little bit further.

The start of the next section was where I got muddled. I knew what I wanted to do: make the stocking-stitch-to-pattern section as a mirror image of the pattern-to-stocking-stitch section, but continue with the chart in the same direction. In my mind it was straightforward, but in actuality I couldn't do it: my mind doesn't work that way. I can picture most of it, it was just translating from what the pattern showed to the actual knitting. After I had got part way through, I had the right number of stitches, and it looked OK, but it wasn't a mirror image. So I decided to leave it as it was.

I carried on with the Delve part until I got to the place where I had to start decreasing at the sides. This section ended one pattern repeat shorter then the other side.

The end section:

starting with a row 7:
K2tog K2tog YO K5
K1 K2tog P22 K3

Decrease one stitch at the start of each row, continuing with the pattern
until you have 8 stitches left.

Final section:

K1 K2tog P3 K3
K2tog K6
K1 K2tog P1 K3
K1 K2tog K3
K1 K2tog K2
K1 K2tog K1
K3tog
Finish off remaining stitch (by passing thread through it).

Sew in ends.
Wear scarf.

Sheep, Knitting and Photos

My route to the Open University tutorials passes a church which sometimes has sheep in the churchyard. I have often thought about stopping and taking some photos, and finally did so on Saturday.



The Delve Swatch Scarf was at the halfway point (finished one skein out of two). I'd taken that along with the intention of photographing it somewhere. So while the camera was out, I dangled it from the fence and snapped away.



I crossed the road back to the car, and it was here that the Stranger stopped me. He seemed to accept it as a not-insane thing to do, and suggested that the village's Millenium Stone might also be a good backdrop. But there was no pavement, and I had enough photos.

The other place I'd stopped was Wallingford. It is on my route, and has a quilt shop. I also wanted lunch.

Wallingford town centre has an unusual layout, and it would be interesting to know how it developed. There are effectively two sides to a very wide street or market oblong, but I get the impression that someone plunked a church into this area, and then someone else built some shops at the end of the churchyard. I took this photo on the pavement of one side of one street, looking across the street on my side, the churchyard, and over the other street to the shops on the far side of the road.



Village Fabics is at the south end of town. It is very large for a British quilt shop, with about six or seven "rooms". At the back is a sizable workshop, and possibly another one upstairs. There was a very small selection of knitting wool, a few balls of Rowan and Katia. It was hard to get a feel for how much fabric they had, because it was all so spread out.

Most quilt shops seem to be arranged by colour, but Village Fabrics is arranged by theme. For instance there is a "Christmas room", which has a selection of Christmas themed fabrics and books. Other themes I noticed were Japanese fabrics, '30s reproductions and (USA) civil war reproductions. This probably suits some people, but I'm much more likely to decide to make a purple quilt then a '30s quilt, and it would be difficult to assemble a collection of possible purples.

I bought a small selection of fat quarters and a copy of Australian Patchwork and Quilting. I'll be going back again, partly because it doesn't involve a detour.

Discussion with a stranger

"Excuse me" said the total stranger, "I've been walking across the fields, wondering why you are taking photos of knitting?"

"Ah", I say "have you heard of blogs?"

Magknits - gone

Well, its just as well I printed out the pattern for Judith. The people who own Magknits, the free knitting pattern site, took it down with practically no warning. They didn't even tell the designers of most of the patterns.

Snow! and the summer tweed

OK, I'm not the first to post, but it snowed last night. DH took some photos of the snow before I was up, in case it melted before I had a chance. I particularly like this one, which is looking across some of our neighbours' gardens.



Now for the knitting.

Several years ago, I came across a pattern in Knitting magazine for a gorgeous tunic, with crossed cables which echoed the lines of the v-neck opening. It was utterly lovely, but as the pattern required 9 skein of Rowan summer tweed for the smallest size, it seemed somewhat extravagant. Then last year I came across a half-price sale, and now I felt I could get the necessary yarn. And some extra balls in other colours, as one does, to get the free postage.

I swatched and very quickly discovered that the designers guage for the tunic bore no resemblance to the manufacturers guage. When I had another look at the pictures, it became clear the tunic didn't actually fit the model particularly well, and the guage given by the pattern was ... well, not the same guage as the tunic was knitted in.

I still wanted to make it so I had a go at recharting the pattern. Then I started knitting, and I can't remember why, but it didn't work. So I had another go at charting the pattern and it still didn't work. So I put the whole lot in the naughty corner, and went onto other things.



A week or so ago, I decided to have another go at using the yarn. Looking at other patterns, nine skeins of summer tweed was plenty for a sweater, and there were two possibilities: Delve, from Rowan 43, or Judith from Magknits. I decided I liked Judith more, but it needed 5.5mm circular needles and I didn't have any. So that was a delay, and in the end I bought two from different places.

On Friday, I started knitting, without a guage swatch. First time of casting on, I was on my third row of stocking stitch before I realised the first row should have been purled, not knitted. So I started again, and I was on my third row before I decided my cast-on was much too tight and I ought to use a different one. I started for a third time, and got to the increase row. The pattern said it needed to have a tension of 14 stitches to 10cm after aggressive blocking. I was getting it before blocking.



I was getting very frustrated, because this feels lovely to handle, and I really want to use it.

Then I had a brainwave: introducing the Delve Satch Scarf. The ends will use the lace pattern for Delve, and the middle will be plain stocking stitch. When finished, I'll have a new scarf (which I wanted) and a tension rectangle for both Delve and stocking stitch.

Thoughts on Messy Tuesday

I am conflicted about the idea of messy Tuesday.


On the one hand, mess can say things are going on here



Possibly quite interesting things.



On the other hand, mess can say they have better things to do then clear up.



The difficulty I see is that even the interesting things



have to be dealt with by someone eventually



no matter how unpleasant.



I've got my own stuff to do.



The End.

Star in the Darkness

This is another teeny tiny star. The square in the centre of the star is 1 inch across. I made up the block pattern myself, although obviously it is based on friendship star. It still needs trimming. The blues of the background are more similar in real life.


It took huge amounts of pfaffing, until I realised that rather then try sewing 1.5 inch strips to 1.5 inch rectangles, I could sew 3 7/8 inch squares (which were already cut out) to 4 inch strips and then trim down. More planned wastage, less accidental wastage.

Update

Recent finishes: a funky fur hat (two weeks from start to finish) and a pink crochet bag (4 months from start to finish). I've also done some crochet squares.

Recent starts: entralac bag from Yarn Forward. If you're thinking about doing it, the pattern has a lot of errors. And you can't refer back to the article on entralac immediately preceding the pattern, because the article doesn't use quite the same method.

It was Knitting Group last week, but I didn't want to take the bag. Instead I started a the second glove of a pair I was knitting last year. I got quite a bit done: then I realised at teh end of the evening that last year's glove was all 2x2 ribbing, and I had been doing 1x1 ribbing.

Ferret's Quilt Show II

This is a fuller report of Ferret's quilt show - I didn't have time to write a longer one on Sunday. I did enjoy it immensely.

Edited to add link to Sunday's review.

First the quilts. Photographing quilts can be really hard to get the real effect, and it was quite dark. I only took a very limited number, and then decided that the ones on her portfolio page would be better then anything I could take.

So I'll repeat the photo from before:


I didn't spend as long as I could have looking at the quilts, because I was too busy talking to her friends.

Her cat was on display, and it was extremely effective. There is a textural distinction between the cat and the background. It was almost three dimensional. Another dimensional quilt was 'Autumn', with the leaves that she has shown on her blog. Some of the leaves are stitched down only in part, so they could flap around in a wind. The quilting was excellent too with the shapes of leaves quilted into the background. It's the quilt on the right of the picture.

On the nudes, I'd talk about the effect of "negative space", if I was entirely sure what it meant and it didn't sound too pretentious. But what Ferret has done is take a large background space and not entirely cover it with picture, just enough to have the suggestion of a hand, or a leg.

Her Union Jack Quilt was on display. It was interesting listening to the comments: people recognised it as being punk related, whereas the commentators at the Festival of Quilts where it was on display, didn't get it. (Or at least the retired ones who go on a Friday didn't.)

Ferret has also got some really nice friends. Sometimes you meet someone new and they have done the same sort of things that you have done and like the same sort of things you like. Ferret's friends were like that. We talked about Charles Babbage and zombie attacks and gravitational lenses and Gary Gygax and the Science Museum. And about other things along those lies.

To summarise, I had a really enjoyable evening, and the quilts are worth seeing.

Ferret's Quilt Show

On Friday, I went to the opening night at Ferret's quilt show. It's definitely worth going if you are in the area, the quilts are very different in real life to in photos.



Ferret is the one in black.

Click on the picture to get a full-size image: Ferret is the person on the right, with long dark hair.

Visit to an Oxford College: writing as a distraction

I walk along the High Street in Oxford, regretting that I have no map with me, but knowing I have studied them well enough that a map in my hand would not gave me any more information.

I reach a long, anonymous building which is probably the right place. The windows are above head height. A few steps set in to the wall lead up to a dark oak doorway: a group of people are on the steps, as well as a small noticeboard propped against the side. "Is this Queen's College" I ask and they assent. I push open the small door set into the larger one, and go through.

The porter's window is to my left. I ask the way to my meeting: staircase 4, back quad. I hope I can recognise staircase 4 from staircase 5 and staircase 3, this is all new to me.

I start to go around the quad, under the cloisters. But the woman I know is here, and says to go across the quad. I open a small metal gate: the path leads directly across the square, between two lawns with short, green grass. Between the grass and the path, there is a flowerbed on each side. The effect is symmetrical and controlled: each flower bed contains two rows of small blue-purple cultivated primulas. Elsewhere they would be called primrose, but the use of the Latin name is appropriate for this place.

I walk down the path to the far side, amazed that I have the right to do this. At the end, a single pale pink hyacinth shows between the rows of primulas. It looks out of place, but there is a row of hyacinth plants between the rows of primulas. It is the only flowering hyacinth: I am the only person here.

I walk through the archway to the back quad. Another courtyard, with a number of closed doors set into the walls. Above each door is a number painted on the wall. As quickly as I can, I scan for the number four. Through that door, and the meeting room is obvious. There are people here, I have arrived.

---

Through a window at the back of the building, I see two carved gargoyles chasing along the buttress of the neighbouring building.

---

I leave at twilight. A man wheels a bicycle across the front quad, a scene that could have played out at any time in the last 100 years. His fluorescent yellow jacket glows in the gloaming, seemingly incongruous in this setting but it anchors me to the twenty-first century.

---

I write this to distract me from the knowledge that my first-born is taking his first GCSE exam now: years before most of his age-group, and it is the hard 'triple-science' award.