test knitting

I'm pretty excited to be a part of the test knit team for Alicia Plummer's new hat design! The pattern called for a DK weight yarn, so I knew right away that I wanted to try Swans Island Washable Wool Collection. Hand-dyed in small batches in Maine, this 100% organic merino wool is completely machine washable. Unlike traditional superwash yarns, which are stripped through a chemical process and coated with a plastic polymer that prevents felting in the washing machine, Swans Island coats their fibers in a certified organic compound using the Eco-Wash process. You get the ease of machine-washable wool without the guilty feeling. 

Before my Sunday morning coffee was finished, I knocked out a small swatch in the larger needles, just to make sure I met the pattern gauge, which is 20 stitches x 24 rows = 4" in stockinette. I cast on 24 stitches, and knit the first two rows and the first/last two stitches of each row. This way, I had 20 stitches in between the garter border. Once I knit 24 rows, I finished off the swatch in a couple of garter rows. This gave me a nice, crisp measurement markers, both row and stitch-wise. Pre-blocking, my stitch gauge was spot on, however, my row gauge was a little short. Into the bath it went!

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Post soak, I lightly blocked the square to measurements:

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Pattern gauge was met! The whole process took about half an hour from start to finish, which is pretty awesome considering how much time goes into knitting a piece. It makes me feel confident that the finished garment will fit just right. 

Off we go!

simple stitches.

I was pretty excited this past week when my new book, Barbara G. Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns arrived on my doorstep. It's been in my Amazon cart for about a year now, I finally decided to check it out! The evening it arrived, I tucked myself into bed and started paging through each of the sections, making notes of the stitch patterns I wanted to try.

On Saturday morning, I grabbed a cup of coffee and some red cotton yarn from my stash, then eased into the day with a simple knit/purl stitch, the Roman Rib stitch:   

I love having something simple on the needles, especially when I'm also working on something that requires a little more concentration. It's nice to have something that you can pick up, knit a few stitches or rows, then put it back down without having to remember where you are in the pattern. 

On Sunday, I decided to try something a little different, the Double Mock Ribbing stitch, this time in navy cotton. While the Roman Rib resulted in a springy fabric, the structure of this stitch pattern resulted in a very flat textile with very little give. I probably wouldn't use this stitch in a garment—it's much better suited for household items such as pillow covers, table runners, or placemats. 

Here's the reverse side:

I cast on 32 stitches for each square, knitting a few rows of garter stitch at the beginning and end of the swatch, as well as the first and last three stitches of each row. This way, these simple cotton swatches can be repurposed as dishcloths for the kitchen! 

Hope you're having a lovely week...