Support thread from Arts & Crafts for the blankets

[tribpot]

We've been talking quite a lot on the main thread about getting the stitches right for a particular square with a lovely heart design in it. You need to be registered on Ravelry to see it here or with the designer's website (also free) to see it here.

The race is on to see whether any of us can complete it without going completely insane at the difficulty of some of the patterns, so we are having a (supportive) 'heart-off' this weekend to try and get it done without flooding the main thread with messages about it.

On the cast list so far are: GleamingHeels, MinnieBar and me, but all are welcome - beware though, you have to supply your own valium.

I've just recharted it to get it down to a size that will knit out to (about) 6", so have chopped out 4 rows of border from the bottom, 2 stitches of border from the sides and 2 stitches of the plain bit between the outer and inner border. So I'm starting with 29 stitches. I'd prob prefer to have 3 rows of border and 3 side stitches of border too, but as the square is going to be put into a larger blanket (unless rejected by our Blanket Mistresses Pistey and Knotty) I thought a slightly scrappy border would probably be okay.

Oh my, I had forgotten how badly hangovers and small children mix?

Having said that, I got quite a lot done tonight and I'm on the top moss-stitch border, still with the right number of stitches, and what's more my once-random vertical holes have magically transformed into a nice squiggly pattern. Huzzah!

But I have concluded I really, really don't like yarn overs (even single). They just seem too sloppy for my liking - possibly because I'm quite a loose knitter. I much prefer how my knitting looks on smaller needles and the yarn overs aren't quite neat enough?!

The baby jacket is stunning. Love the yarn too.

Right, hold my hand, I'm going in to the heart. Only done 4 x moss stitch rows so far. Tomorrow is the Lower Border of Doom I guess .

37 stitches on 3.75mm needles seems to give me just under 6" by the way. Does that make me tight?

Barbara, I think it makes you toned to perfection :) Whereas my efforts remain dismally flabby!

Good luck with the heart, don't be afraid to embrace the Alternative Lower Border of Doom if you dare!

Chip your heart looks fab!
Minnie You're almost there and sounds like it's going really well
Barbara - deep breaths - let us know how the Border of Doom - original or alternative version

Hilariously, I've managed to duff up the Upper Border of Doom by not charting the original instructions properly, ooops! So I've got a slightly odd featurette in the top left corner of my inner square but I'm thinking about cunningly disguising it to make it look intentional.

Slightly Odd Featurettes a.k.a. Original Touches

Hello! Thought I'd pop in here instead of cluttering up the other thread with my beginners warblings!

I've just finished my 4th square. I knitted that one on the diagonal (I'm sure there is a techy term for it, but I dont' know what that is!).

I'm looking for inspiration to do a plainish square using only a knit stitch. I have 2 colours or wool. Any suggestions?

Oh and they have to be in plain English, I have no idea what a yo or psso are. :o

I wonder if anyone can give me any idea as to what I'm doing wrong. I have had to unravel my Care Bear twice. I am fine so long as I work with one colour but when I start knitting with more than one I find my work all bunches together in the centre. You can see what happens if you look at the dragonfly square on my profile. I'm sure I used to knit in different colours without this happening. Any ideas?

Hi Glaikit have you had a look at Ravelry? You do need to sign up, but it's full of lots of ideas - knit and striped squares are lovely, but I do understand the desire to do something different - clearly you can increase and decrease at the beginning and ends of rows - so you have already translated K2tog and whatever the jargon is for knit twice into one stitch.

chip the bunching is usually caused by the colour you're 'carrying along' getting too tight - for some people that's caused by not weaving* the 'carried wool' in - so you end up with a straight section of wool that's not quite as long as the stitches you have knitted with your other colour - knitted stitches are much more stretchy than straight wool - if you don't weave your 'carried' wool in and just leave it straight, stick a couple of fingers behind it before you knit with it again - it'll seem too loose, but will work out OK.

For other people the problem in weaving in your 'carried' wool too many times - it's still caused by knitted stitches being more stretchy than straight wool - in this case try weaving in in alternate stitches, or every four stitches, spreading out the knitting before doing so

*weaving - this is not a technical term - I just mean looping the wool you're knitting with round the one you're 'carrying' as you knit

I am making this sound much harder than it is... is it making any sense at all? Tell me what doesn't make sense and what you do with the colour you're not using whilst knitting with the other one and I'll try and narrow down the advice - also trib might be along soon to give us a hand

Gleaming, I think that's it, I hadn't been joining the two colours together. I was ending up with a very skinny Care Bear. My chart and the actual knitting were like Slimming World Before and After pictures!

chip Slimming World Before and After pictures! fantastic imagery

What do you mean by 'joining the two colours together'? Here's another go at how I think you should do it

no weaving in method this is fine if there are onnly a few stitches between first and second use of the same colour; so if you, for example,need to:

knit 5 in colour A, knit 4 in colour B, knit 5 in colour A
Start the row with colour A, knit 5 stitches, then start using colour B to knit 4 stitches without cutting the colour A wool (which is the right thing to do)
Then you knit start to knit with colour A again - that's the danger point and time to make sure that the bit of colour A behind the stitches in colour B is nice and loose

weaving in method this is more important if there's a lot of stitches between colour A's first and next use
for around every third or fourth stitch - when you're about to put the wool over the needle to knit the next stitch, make sure the other colour is twisted once round the wool, not too tightly, so it's carried along

Yikes... I'm sure there are loads of YouTube videos that would help.. however I think the too tight 'carried' colour is pretty definitely the problem - so the answer is, however you do it, to keep it loose. Do let us know if things improve

LOL chip, poor old Care Bear. You can either carry the wool as Gleaming says, or have two lots of the background colour on two small balls, one for each side of Mr Bear. I had forgotten this as well when I started on my recent elephant escapade and spent some time Googling - this video may help and I am still having a look back through my history to see if I have any other. It's not great but this is the back of one my elephant squares.

Glaikit, a few Ravelry ideas: Mitred square or Chinese waves. Elsewhere (although I mostly got these through Ravelry): Lacy mock cable (we can talk you through the abbreviations). Ripple block or some nice textured ones here.

Ah, I missed out the several balls of wool (intarsia) idea - it never really works for me with small designs, I get holes where the joins are and have to sew them all in when I sew the interminable pesky ends in so I am just not qualified to advise - where as I have the carrying wool along thing pretty much sussed... even with multiple colours [preens a little bit] and there are fewer ends - guess it's horses for courses

PS trib's elephants are fantastic - if they're the ones on her profile - I still wouldn't have used the separatw ball of wool for them, but that's just me... not proper knitting advice!

Agreed, Gleaming, I'd carry the wool as well. Here's an explanation from the Dummies site.

Glaikit since you have already knit some squares, so probably know approximately how many stitches per row (though of course this varies a bit if you use different stitches), looking at some stitch libraries might help with ideas, as trib says, we'll help if the abbreviations start doing your head in!

craft cookie kniitng stitch
knitting on the net

Oh yes and the elephants would have been nigh on impossible to do with separate balls of wool, I needed to retain some vestige of sanity for the heart square. Speaking of which ... ... Heart Square with Revised Border But Glaringly Obvious Mistake. I pinned it out to show (hopefully) that the holes are more evenly sized in this version .

I think my typo rate per 100 characters has hit an all time high tonight

Trib!! It looks lovely - yes I can see the wee mistake, but the borders are so much better balanced. You are V. V. V. Clever
[these are flowers thrown onto the stage as you take your well deserved bow]

Why thank you Gleaming - I couldn't have done it without Team Heart so really I owe it all to you, Minnie and our new friends . I think I will embroider a T for Tribpot (also my ds' name starts with T) to fill the space in and .. er .. hide the fact I completely duffed it up. The bottom left border shows what I meant to do, i.e. there is one extra stitch but it doesn't stand out.

Ok this doesn't look to complicated. 34/35 stitches makes a 6" square for me. I read this as Knit a row, the knit first stitch of next row then slip the 2nd stitch of row 1 on to the right needle, knit one, slip one until the end of row 2 the knit row 3, knit 2 stitches, slip stitch 3 of row 3. I don't know what the "until 3 stitches remains" means.

Cast on 45 stitches (Any odd number of stitches will do.)

Row 1: Knit across (this is the right side)
Row 2: K1, Slip 1 repeat between * across, ending K1.
Row 3: Knit across
Row 4: K2, Slip 1, K1 repeat between * until 3 stitches remain, Slip 1, K2.

Keep working in pattern until piece is square, finishing with a wrong side row. Bind off in knitting on the right side.

I usually slip the slipped stitches as if to purl. But you can also slip as if to knit, which twists the stitch when you knit it on the next row, making a slightly tighter fabric.

Anyone care to translate for me please??

Minnie is the founder really isn't she, but I am proud to be a member of Team Heart - the 'T' is a really nice personal touch - and all the inheritors of the blanket will wonder what it means...

Hi Glaikit
Firstly until 3 stitches remain means is keep doing the bit between the asterisks i.e. K1, Slip1 again and again until there are only three stitches on your left needle, and then for the last three stitches, slip one and knit 2

I would slip as if to knit - but now you mention it the 'as if to purl' might be right, it would be easier to understand if you could give us a link to the pattern - so we can check the effect of one or the other

The row 2 instruction seems a bit odd - I think it probably means K1, Slip one to last stitch, knit the last stitch

Glaikit give me a minute and I will knit your instructions and check the 'as if to purl/knit bit' - link would still be good though

Thanks gleaming its the Chinese waves trib linked to up there^^^