Zig! Zag!

I was interested in the Summit Shawl in Knitty because it looks so unusual, so I cast on just to see how it worked. It is an interesting idea, but it didn't turn out to be so interesting to knit -- too many short strips for my taste. So I didn't get too far, and ended up just ripping it out. Life is too short to knit something that isn't intriguing.

If you look at the picture, the pattern is worked from right to left, vertically, end to end, however you want to say it. I wondered if it couldn't be knit bottom to top, horizontally.

This scarf is my proof-of-principle attempt, done on large needles with one of my magic balls.

I certainly managed the general shape! I didn't try to copy the exact look, since I wanted a scarf and wanted it quick. I did it in garter instead of stockinette so it would be reversible, and I only did a few ridges between the interesting rows.

Here is a closer look.

 

Essentially, I case on a multiple of 18, and then knit several ridges. Then I knit 6, wrapping each stitch twice, cast off six, knit 6 double-wrapped stitches, cast on 6 stitches, repeat from the beginning. On the next row, drop the extra wraps so you have long stitches, and then knit several more ridges.

It worked fine, except I should have realized that it would grow at the ends, so on the second wrapping row, I had to start and end with 12 wrapped stitches, and on the third, I had 18 wrapped stitches. That actually worked out for a scarf, but it was something to keep in mind.

Because of using the magic balls, each end looked a bit different, but the scarf is so long that the gradual color change doesn't really show up very well.

Here are the two ends so you can see the difference.

A nice diversion, and I think I'll try it again, maybe just wrapping one extra time instead of two.

Cleaned out a Closet, Found the Past

Yes, I found some photos from back when I first started to get serious about knitting. Back before 'blog' was a word!

Kaffe Fassett changed my life. The top right swatch was the one that started it all -- before that, I was a simple scarf knitter, with an occasional crocheted afghan. Simple stuff.

After I became enchanted with the leopard print in one of his books, borrowed from the library, I took several colors of Red Heart yarn (not much money at the time, and well before Colinette or Noro yarn) and tried it.

It was lovely. And it changed everything. At that point, I knew I could make amazing things, and all that was left to do was, you know, actually make them.

I went through lace periods, too. Marianne Kinzel and German patterns ruled!

And I made socks.

One couldn't get yarns as wonderful as those available now. I wonder if I would have leaped into color intoxication without Noro and Colinette?

But Kaffe led the way.

How To Know When a Craft is Right For You

My quick answer is, when you don't mind the 'chores' very much. I used to paint, but I didn't like setting the palette and cleaning up. In comparison, I actually rather like untangling yarn.

There are the positives of why knitting works for me, of course, which essentially are how knitting fits my personality and the tempo of my life. I very much like being able to pick up my knitting at any moment I'm home and knit for a few stitches, or for a few hours. I like being able to put it down at any moment, and I like that I can work on it during trips. I like that it offers so much variety: I can do cables, lace, colorwork, entrelac, socks, blankets, circles, mosaics. I can start one kind of thing and it can grow. I like the flexibility -- my 'conditional knitting.' I love that I can do designs that require me to look at what I'm knitting, but not requiring me to follow a pattern, and that I can do all sorts of things with color, but I'm not forced to use multistranded layers.

And I love the wonderful yarn that is currently available. When I started knitting seriously, about 15 or so years ago, multicolored yarn was rare, and Noro hadn't shown up yet.

Knitting as a craft is right for me. Here is proof from back in my early days, when my head was full of Kaffe Fassett and his knitting designs.

Each cable is made up of two colors, with 4 stitches between each cable. The colors shaded in the cables from the outside to the middle, and so did the stitches between the cables. I count 44 different colors, and at the top, there were something like 84 separate balls hanging from the knitting as I worked across. The colors changed every 4 stitches, too, for the entire piece.

It took forever to put the colors in the proper sequences, then to make the small balls to knit from, and then to disentangle at regular intervals. I started from the bottom point, so I could learn to manage it as it grew.

Eighty-four balls which had to be changed every 4 stitches; and I didn't mind a bit. If that doesn't prove that knitting is right for me, then nothing will.