Mystery swatches

Back in June sometime, which was the last time I worked on the Master Hand-Knitter Level I swatches, I finished swatches 7-12 (3 decrease swatches, 1 yo’s swatch, 2 eyelets swatches) and half of 16 (colorwork swatch).  The trouble is I didn’t wash or label any of them, and apparently thought I would remember what my system of knots and stitch markers meant in terms of which numbered swatch was which.  (stupid. stupid. stupid.)  Now I have to sort out 7-9 and 11-12; the swatches within those two sets look distressingly similar to one another.  Please don’t tell me I have to reknit just to identify them!?!?!

Not finishing enough, and the sock in my purse

I’ve started feeling desperate about not producing enough FO’s (Finished Objects) lately.  So I’ve cast on a lovely bulky red/purple yarn for the Jenny Cloche.  Theoretically this should be a quick knit, but at my crawling pace of late… well, we’ll see.  I plan to knit the style without the big floppy bow (eg. this Raveler’s lovely project), because I am not a big floppy bow sort of person.

 

There is still an ever-present sock in my purse.  It’s possible that the sock is part of the reason I feel so angsty about finishing something. 

Distractions

When I first started this blog, I envisioned being able to regularly update based on only Master-Hand-Knitter discoveries.  As it turns out, my life is not that streamlined.  Other knitting distracts me, and other things distract me.  Therefore, in order to post regularly (which is good blog-keeping etiquette, regardless of whether anyone actually reads this thing), I feel the need to expand my scope a little.

So here are my latest distractions:  I finished a fingerless mitt

A Cabling Conundrum

In order to illustrate the effect of different stitch patterns on row and stitch gauge, the TKGA Level I instructions require a comparison between the top halves of swatch #1 (garter stitch) and #2 (stockinette) with the entire swatch of #3 (seed stitch) and #14 (horseshoe cable).  The comparison of these four swatches means that they all have to be in the same yarn and knit on the same needles.

It might be nerdy, but I found it rather fun calculate the row and stitch gauges and find experimentally what I knew intuitively:  that it takes more rows of garter stitch to achieve the same length fabric as stockinette, or that in terms of stitches per inch a pattern of cable> seed stitch> stockinette> garter stitch.  It really reinforces the importance of making gauge swatches “in pattern”.

After agonizing about the ribbing tension