Experiments in Mosaic Knitting

Although there has been radio silence on this blog recently the knitting has continued apace.

Lately I've become interested in mosaic knitting, a technique I believe was invented by Barbara Walker and was written up in her book, Mosaic Knitting. The fabric is created by knitting with one color at a time for two consecutive rows, (the first row is knit and the second can be purled to create a textured look), and then changing to the second color which is also knit and then purled for two consecutive rows. Stitches are slipped in a pattern in order to create the desired design. It is different from stranded knitting in that you are never carrying two yarns at once. To my eye the results are graphic and striking.

Because I am also continuing in my sock craze, I have been experimenting with mosaic knitting as applied to socks. So before starting my latest pair of socks I worked up a sampler to decide upon a design.

Before knitting the sampler I was convinced that this yarn, Classic Elite Alpaca Sox in Carousel, would be gorgeous in the flower pattern with a grey background. However, as you can see it just laid there with no pop at all. I then tried white which did allow the flower design to come to the fore but the color combination just seemed boring to me. The pattern was also much too "fiddly" for me to tolerate for the duration of two socks.

I then decided to try out a mosaic pattern used by Charlene Schurch in her Sensational Knitted Socks: Caesar's Check. It's a very striking pattern and works well with the mosaic knitting technique. Here it is paired with black.

As an aside, I feel compelled to mention that that rhythm of this pattern, Caesar's Check, is in sevens. There are seven stitches in each section and seven rows to complete each part of the pattern. I followed this through by knitting seven repeats of the pattern so there would be continuity. This kind of pattern rhythm is something I've noticed that occurs in knitting. It isn't visible to the naked eye per se, but is a notable part of the experience in creating the fabric.

And, without further delay, here are the socks themselves:

Please excuse the blindingly white winter skin! Also, the wide black area near the toe on the right sock was done intentionally to widen the sock at that point. I thought it would be an interesting touch, but once the sock was done it just looked like a mistake.

Overall, I am satisfied with the results. The mosaic (garter stitch) legs of the socks are soft, flexible and comfortable. The feet fit me perfectly and I like the vertical stripes (as opposed to the horizontal stripes called for in the pattern).

Specifications:

Completed: March 27, 2010

Yarns: Classic Elite Alpaca Sox in Carousel and Malabrigo in Black

Pattern: Caesar's Check by Charlene Schurch in Sensational Knitted Socks

I've already  moved on to more experimentation with mosaics in black and white. Working as a professional in an urban area on the East Coast means wearing lots of black. So, I've been attempting to come up with a sock design in black and white that could pass muster in an office setting. Here's what I have so far.

Not sure how well this works. Stay tuned...

Colorplay with Ingrid's Blues

Not long ago I fell in love with the colorway, Ingrid's Blues, from Claudia Hand Painted yarns, so I purchased four skeins from a fellow Raveler. The yarn made the trip from Minnesota to Boston twice (which is another story) and when I finally got it in my hot little hands I decided to make the basket check socks featured on the cover of Little Box of Socks by Charlene Schurch and Beth Parrott. Here they are:

(The sock on the left has not yet been washed & blocked so the color is brighter.)

And here's a close-up up the bird's eye slip-stitch heel.

And, a comparison of the skein and the knitted fabrics.

My reaction to the final product was only tepid as the colors seemed muddy to my eye. So, for a little fun, I decided to do some swatching to see if I could come up with a color combination that enhanced the colorway once it was knitted up. Here's what I have so far (shown during a rare moment of sunlight).

In the picture below it is combined with Gold Dynasty cashmere yarn from Zen Yarn Garden. The bottom is plain gold, the next section shows the two yarns held together, next is a section of alternating rows of gold and Ingrid's Blues, and finally, a section of just Ingrid's Blues alone. To me, the addition of the gold causes Ingrid's Blues to lose its essential color qualities that make it so appealing in the skein.

I also tried adding a brown, Autumn Leaves from Destination Yarn. I like the brown by itself, but combined with Ingrid's Blues it makes the colorway even less eye-catching.

I also tried adding Baby Ull in Lagoon and that seemed to really pop the colorway! You can see the alternating rows on the bottom and then the two-tone lattice stitch as described in Margaret Radcliffe's Essential Guide to Color Knitting (a really useful resource).

Maybe it's just because blue happens to be my favorite color that I like this particular color combination, but I do think I like it better than Ingrid's Blues alone. What do you think?

I'm not sure if I can bring myself to frog the socks and make them again with the Lagoon -- I'm not much of a frogger. I might make a second pair of the socks using these two yarns, but more than likely I will be moving on to other projects that are calling my name!

 

Watching Knitwear in the Movies

You know you're a knitting geek when all you can do during a gripping, white knuckle film about four mountain climbers whose lives hang in the balance is to...look at the knitwear. As in, a climber is hanging from a single rope 3,000 feet up and may fall to his death at any moment and I'm thinking "Wow, his gray handknit knee socks are really nice!"

Okay, I'm exaggerating. The film was "North Face" and it is a German (2008) film set in pre-war Germany before the 1936 Olympics when there was (among other things) a national frenzy for climbers to scale the vertical North face of the Eiger. The movie is very well done and it subtly examines many of the relevant social issues of the time while documenting (somewhat loosely) a particular climb that took place in July, 1936.

But, whoever did the costumes for the movie selected several vintage handknits for the actors. Of particular mention, the lead actress wears a beautiful aqua pullover with lovely cables down the front and back and later wears a gray scarf all done in seed stitch. The actors who play the climbers wear the aformentioned gray knee socks with very nice cabling. They also wear handknit headbands and mittens, but those items are more run-of-the-mill. It was a little distracting to focus so much on the clothing, but it actually added to my enjoyment of the film.

Is it just me or do you do this too? :-)

2009: A Summing Up

I am not a numbers person. I've never liked math primarily because I'm not good at it. But, I do like data. For some reason, for me, expressing certain things quantitatively has a certain definitiveness to it; a certain elegance; a certain je ne sais quoi. That's why I keep track of some things by adding them up at the end of the year. For example, I know that I conducted 750 therapy sessions in 2009. I don't know how many hours I spent on paperwork or on the phone because it would be much less satisfying to tally up those kinds of things. I guess I mostly like to keep data on things that feel like accomplishments. This definitely applies to my leisure activities. I have lots of data on the things I do on my own time.

In 2009 I swam 64,475 yards. This is a somewhat pathetic amount of yardage, but I only really swam consistently for about 6 months this year, so from that perspective it's not so bad.

In 2009 I read 30 books for fun (not including professional reading). That's 12,238 pages. In this case, it may be more meaningful to list titles rather than just the data.

1.  World Without End, by Ken Follet
2.  Dreams from My Father, by Barack Obama
3.  Georgiana - Duchess of Devonshire, by Amanda Foreman
4-7  The Twilight Series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn), by Stephanie Meyer - because I work with teens ... sometimes
8.  Devil Water, by Anya Seton
9.  The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton
10.  The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John Le Carre
11.  Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, by John Le Carre
12.  The Housekeeper and the Professor, by Yoko Ogawa (excellent!)
13. Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks
14. People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks
15. March, by Geraldine Brooks
16. The World Over, by Julia Glass
17. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark
18. Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult (distressing)
19. "T" is for Trespass, by Sue Grafton
20. Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger (intense)
21. Await Your Reply, by Dan Chaon (dark)
22. Behind the Scenes at the Museum, by Kate Atkinson (excellent)
23. Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson
24. One Good Turn, by Kate Atkinson
25. When Will There Be Good News?, by Kate Atkinson
26. 1066: The Hidden History of the Bayeux Tapestry, by Andrew Bridgeford
27. The Bayeux Tapestry, by Carola Hicks
28. The Needle in the Blood, by Sarah Bower
29. "U" is for Undertow, by Sue Grafton (great!)
30. Mistress of the Monarchy, by Alison Weir

 A rather motley collection, I must say. I often set literary goals for myself, but this past year I read whatever came to hand or struck me as potentially interesting. I also went on reading jags with particular authors I was enjoying at the time.

Ah, but now for the knitting. This was by far my most productive year with respect to creating knitwear. I attribute this to Ravelry. Before Ravelry (or BR) I would knit one, or possibly two, things a year. Many years went by when I didn't knit anything at all. After Ravelry (or AR), I have knit significantly more. There's something so inspiring about seeing things others have knit, accumulating patterns and yarn, queueing the projects, etc., that creates a much higher level of inspiration and productivity. So, now for the data. I knit exactly one dozen projects. "Projects" may have involved more than one item (e.g., a baby sweater, romper, and cap). When counted individually the tally was as follows: 2 sweaters for myself, 2 baby sweaters, 3 pairs of baby pants, 2 baby bonnets, 2 jumpers for my niece, 1 shrug for my niece, a smoke ring (or cowl) for my mother, a scarf (unblogged so far) for me, and a pair of socks (there were actually three) for my DH.  Okay, so I'm a slow knitter. But I had a blast doing it!

If I were more techno-savvy I would include a photo collage of these items, but alas I am clueless as to how to do this.

You may have noticed that I did not include the number of knitting books I acquired or how much yarn I purchased. Like I said, I only keep data on things that feel like accomplishments and don't involve guilt.

As for my resolutions in the New Year: No new yarn! Knit down the stash in 2010.

Images of Ancient Greece - Part 2

After knitting three of these socks, I finally had a pair to present to my husband on Christmas day. Here are some action shots of his modeling efforts.

They are close to being a matching pair apart from the fact that I was experimenting with "Judy's Magic Cast-on" and as a result the toe on the last sock was a bit longer than that on the first.

I also added 12 stitches after the ankle shaping so that I would have 82 for the stranded portion of the socks. This created extra "black space" up the back of the calf area, so I added in some embellishments to reduce the long floats that needed to be carried across the back.

The entire project took nearly a month (for three socks). I mostly enjoyed the process and learned a lot about sock construction. I also discovered that I really like mosaic knitting (incorporated into this design in the three Greek keys on each sock). I also enjoyed using toe-up construction but have more to learn about how to do it properly.

PATTERN REVIEW: B+

Overall, the pattern was very well-written and gets big points for creativity. However, there were a couple issues that I had to grapple with that could have been solved within the pattern which, BTW, is an expensive one ($8.00). If you are thinking of knitting up this pattern, keep reading. If not, this part will be pretty boring.

First, as mentioned above, the stranded portion includes some very long float areas. For me this was exacerbated by the fact that I increased by 12 stitches after the ankle-shaping to ensure that the sock could be pulled on over the heel. I think added design elements up the back of the calf would have helped ameliorate this. Speaking of the calf portion of these socks, it is not made clear in the pattern how to position the stranded portion on the leg. It is useful to think about this before beginning that part of the pattern. I chose to center the two faces of the main characters on the shin area. Speaking of the "back of the calf" part of the design -- the chart for this is inexplicably split in half. I am not sure why it was done this way. This caused me untold grief until I got smart and physically cut and pasted the pattern so that I could read across the chart more easily. I also wondered about making the design up the back of the legs in a matching pattern, but didn't think of it until after the socks were completed.

Second, it is important to realize that the stranded portion involves counted stranding. Now I know most people will find this to be patently obvious, but it may be worth emphasizing to someone who is considering knitting this pattern. There is no memorizing of the pattern for stranding -- you have to count every stitch! That being said, it was a lot of fun to watch the figures develop slowly as I knit up the leg of each sock.

My husband was inordinately worried that the socks would slide down, so I added 3/4 " of 2x2 ribbing above the final Greek key portion. As it turned out this was unnecessary and they would have stayed up just fine without it. The mosaic knitting hugs the leg and foot and renders ribbing redundant. This is another great feature of the pattern.

Finally, on the negative side, there are a couple of typos in the pattern. In the Foot section, for the medium/large size, there should be 34 (not 43) stitches on the heel needle. Similarly, in the first half of the Turn Heel section there will be 16 (not 14) stitches left unwrapped in the middle. These are not huge problems as one will immediately recognize the mistakes.

Project Specifications:

Pattern: Theseus and the Minotaur by Gryphon Perkins of Sanguine Gryphon Fiber Arts

Yarn: Bugga! yarn was unavailable so I substituted Malbrigo sock yarn in negro and Zen Garden serenity sock yarn in gold dynasty (absolutely fabulous yarn!)

Needles: US size 1 (2.5 mm) and US size 0 (for the ribbing)

Modifications: increased from 70 to 82 stitches after ankle shaping, used doubled yarn on heel, added 3/4" of 2x2 ribbing at cuff.

Duration: One month - 11/21/09 - 12/23/09

Theseus has slain the Minotaur and this chapter can now be closed.

Kali Nikta!

Images of Ancient Greece

I lived in Athens, Greece during my early elementary school years and my mother (who had majored in art history) was fond of dragging my sister, brother and me to various art museums and ancient ruins. Given our tender years we didn't fully appreciate the experience at the time. However, the beauty of the classical images must have been absorbed at an unconscious level because I now find them to be quite compelling.

Flash forward to many, many years later when my husband and I traveled to Greece (Athens, Santorini, Crete) for our honeymoon and toured the Parthenon and the Temple of Knossos to name just a few sites.

So, when I saw these socks about a year ago on Ravelry, designed by Gryphon Perkins of the Sanguine Gryphon (www.SanguineGryphon.com),I was immediately struck by the elegance of translating a classic Greek vase design to a sock and I vowed to make them for my husband for our 9th wedding anniversary.

I was finally able to obtain the pattern a week ago and diligently knitted away on the first sock that incorporates that image of Theseus killing the Minotaur.

This side shows the Minotaur:

Here is a close-up of the Theseus side. I love the bird silhouette between his legs.

I was careful to get gauge and followed the pattern instructions slavishly. But, I am sad to report, the sock is not wearable. It is not possible to pull the sock on over the heel and ankle area -- a prerequisite for well-fitting socks. I think the issue is that I was so careful to weave in the floats so as not to be caught by an errant toe, that there is not enough flexibility and give in the stranded part of the sock. If it were only possible to put it on, I think it would fit okay but that's simply not possible. Here you can see it on a sock blocker (size medium).

Well, I guess it could be used as a Christmas stocking ...

Those of you who have followed my blog over the past year know by now that I don't give up easily. I have already started on the second sock which will have a number of improvements. First, I was fortunate to have purchased Wendy Johnson's sock book which includes several great toe-up cast-ons. I am delighted with the perfection of casting on in such a way so as to not have to sew up the toe. Yay! One great advance already. Second, I plan to shorten up the length of the foot, eliminate the slip stitch from the bottom of the heel area (my own misguided addition), and I plan to increase the number of stitches in the stranded leg area.

Finally, I just wanted to mention that this is not the first pair of socks I've made. Hardly! It's the SECOND pair. The first pair I made (also for my husband) a year ago were a perfect fit. Witness below. I guess it was beginner's luck and then I went and got all cocky about it.

May All Your Knits Be Both Beautiful and Interesting ...

When choosing a project to knit for myself I always experience a certain tension between a design that (I hope) will be flattering to wear but also interesting to knit.

It is often difficult to obtain both attributes in one project. My latest project, a Gedifra design (#1443 from Highlights 092), is an example of the former concern -- I am hoping for a flattering and attractive look.

However, endless rows of rib stitch is not the most fascinating thing in the world to knit. Here is the back -- all 25 inches of it.

The yarn is Samina which is a very unusual fiber. It is made of wool that is inserted into a nylon mesh sheath. It is soft to the touch and the knitted fabric holds its shape well, but it snags very easily. My hands are not as soft and smooth as they should be and my rough cuticles tend to catch on this yarn and snag it. I am hoping that these small snags will not be too noticeable in the finished garment.