A lot of my time spinning and knitting is spent doing calculations. Is this familiar to others? How long does it take me to knit X number of rows of a pattern? Extrapolate to guesstimate how long the project will take. How many rows can I knit in today's time slot? Have I got time to knit X number of pattern repeats? How long does one finger width roving take to spin? Extrapolate to guesstimate how long the whole 100g will take....
Today's calculations were all design based. How many stitches do I need to make a pattern that will repeat six tiumes in 19 and a half inches at 8 stitches per inch? Pencil and paper sums show me I need a 26-stitch pattern repeat. I also want it roughly the same depth in rows. I want a star motif. I manipulate the net around it to make the numbers work magically. The pattern is based on one from 'Knitting in the Nordic Tradition'. I've altered the net to widen it (to make a 24 stich repeat into a 26 stitch repeat) and to include a separate square element without a star in it (to make the design more elaborate). And I've nudged the half star designs at top and bottom in a row to make the pattern band shallower. Lilleduck or other Nordic knitters may be able to tell me that this pattern I've 'designed' is in fact already in existence - it is after all just playing with Nordic design techniques.
No comments:
Post a Comment