My latest shawls use a flower motif on mesh base, evocative in part of filet crochet. This is a detail shot of border and motifs in one
the finished shawl measures 20X80, is knit in a rayon/nylon blend with a metallic very fine filament twisted into the yarn
this is a space dyed version using Denis Brunton Magicolor
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The leaf shawl, finally completed and blocked, 16.5 X 76 inches
am contemplating its sibling in an alternate color
a mulberry version of the vine shawl, 17.5 X 64 inches
both shawls knit using 2/14, 80% alpaca, 20% silk from WEBS
I long ago learned the famous three hour KM sweater was not going to exist for me, I may now be on my way to my first 300 hour MK scarf. Dropped stitches continued in spite of my visually checking each row after transfers. At one point it took well over an hour to try to get back to a row where I could manage a “repair”. When I got a dropped mess in the same spot again I went the route of intentionally taking the knit off the machine, here is the baby (I have to admit I am beginning not to love these leaves so much anymore!).
I decided to go the route of steaming the piece to help set the stitches at the upper edge of the knit before attempting to rehang,
unraveled back to an all knit row, and got the masterpiece back on the machine after checking needles and gatepegs, changing a lone needle of questionable slight bent and here it is back on and “ready to go”
I chose to clip the yarn I unraveled because of the crimp. Back knitting again I noticed more dropped stitches where I could not identify any after lace carriage passes. This pattern at one point requires 16 transfer rows before any knitting takes place. I have used this yarn before, but the dye lot is new. It is alpaca and silk, a bit fuzzier than the previous dye lot and I am beginning to think that what is happening is what sometimes happens when machine knitting mohair. The multiple passes raise the fuzz even more than what is produced in the spinning process, and that is what “catches” at times on knit rows, is not easily visible, and by the time the stitch ‘runs’ the situation is a pretty mess. May have to give waxing the yarn a try…
Follow up: decades ago for a while I decided to make children’s knits. The presumption in part was that they might take less time than adult sweaters but between scaling back motifs, and having a penchant for complicated, I soon found production was not practical in terms of financial returns. I remember at one point a green sweater I made that caused me so much grief I swore off using that color ever again. All knitters experience dropitis: the bliss of having the knitting magically falling off the machine = great fun at row 900+ of DBJ or double bed tuck long scarves and shawls! In the instance of this piece, I have found it actually takes less time to unravel back to knit rows off KM and rehang than to try to correct dropped stitches on the machine. The yarn continues to split and is being a nuisance. Then there are moments intended to keep one humble: after a huge hole cropped up, taking the knit off, rehanging it, knitting 5 more rows of repeats I noticed I had accidentally at some point close to the start of that adventure accidentally pushed into work one of the needles that had been out of work creating the ladder in that location, and off it all had to come again. Whether beginners or experienced, knitters absolutely get the opportunity to play Penelope in knits from time to time. This apple green may be the new color I will avoid for a very long time.
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Leaves are getting more attention from others as well yet again in hand knitting pubs and youtube videos.
As for my own leaf pattern: here is a wrap in progress on my knitting machine. Knitting is slow, with many transfer rows between knit ones. Though I am still using the now-familiar silk alpaca blend it took some fussing with weights and tension to avoid the “deconstructed” lace that was not part of my intended pattern. The added success comes from visually checking transfers each row, and increasing skill at sorting out where to put dropped stitches back onto the needle bed.
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Knitting with one’s arm, an interesting cast on and use of a serenity loom, potholder loops meet finger knitting, and automating part of it super large scale. Project big knit at stitches east.
This is my present HK project, another scarf. Stitch pattern blocks are broken up by rows of solid knit and solid purl alternately, giving the fabric a slightly “pleated” effect, different from the usual square block configurations. The yarn is 60% silk, 40% wool as the last lace HK, all wool would probably have a crisper wave effect. A trial cotton swatch flattened out almost completely.
I am able to get good edges on my HKs, tend to never use the method suggested by some of slipping the first stitch, knitting it only on alternate rows. Such an edging could be added if preferred.
the chart below is the working repeat
My intent is to end the scarf with a partial repeat followed by bind off as seen below
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I have been continuing to experiment with “automating” some versions of the staggered leaf, and have reached a “final” punchcard version. Wanting to add a border on the top and bottom and getting the 2 ends to “match” without a center pivot point led to the resulting fabric below (the swatch is not properly blocked).
The punchcard for the leaf pattern is over 100 rows in length.
I actually had never purchased anything on eBay. The length of the card repeats I want to play with led to my looking for punchcard rolls. “Back in the day” the ones available were clear, and not numbered or marked in any way, a relative “pain” to use. Through an online search, I found this item and purchased it. The order was filled very quickly. The roll is of sturdy stock, with Studio numbering so a bit of added markings are required for use on Brother KMs. I live in an area with no local suppliers for this sort of thing, so buying directly from overseas was an option I had not considered before and proved to be a positive experience for me.
The staggered leaf scarf based on the repeat from the Japanese magazine that originated many of my recent posts is now completed.
The scarf is knit in 60 % silk, 40% wool on number 8 US needles, measures 7.5 X 62 inches after blocking. The design is my personal adaptation. Here is a document including working graph and essential information for your personal use should you wish to attempt hand knitting the project final_leaf_scarf.
Still leaf obsessed, I have punchcard repeats in the works for leaves similar to those in the previous posts. The leaves themselves are not as full as with the hand technique and are more pointed as well. Repeat is 52 rows long, with 10 rows of actual knitting completed per repeat. I was unable to sample in the yarn I had used in previous leaf samples due to stitches “dropping like flies”. Switching to a thinner yarn yielded better results:
this sample has 2 rows knit at the end of each complete repeat
this one has 6 rows knit at the end of the first repeat, then 4 at the end of the second repeat, and varying width ladders
Below is my first try at a staggering leaf repeat, going back to the culprit that began all this. I estimate the punchcard repeat will have to be 120 rows to achieve this. My present supply is low. I found a source for a “brother” punchcard roll online, have it on order, will give the idea an attempt when the roll arrives. It is actually being shipped from Hong Kong. I will share the source here once I see how the “shopping experience” turns out.
Modular knits get lots of attention of late. Most hand knitters are familiar with “domino knitting”. Many have written extensively, below are a single random sample covers from a few authors
Horst Schultz 
Vivian Hoxbro
Iris Schreier 
A pair of pubs by Rosemary Drysdale dedicated solely to entrelacs are shown below 
An excellent article on how to knit entrelac on the machine by Cheryl Brunette is archived here.
Complicated stitch patterns often are more easily managed in simple forms. Laying out shapes in scrumbled knits or ones that emulate quilting blocks get back to math and breaking down larger shapes into smaller ones which makes me think of origami.
