Week 18....of the Super Stitches Knitting Project

This week my three swatches were:
1) Cable and Eyelet Rib
2) Spiral Rib
3) Diagonal Rib

Week 18 Swatches

Swatch 1: Cable and Eyelet Rib
This swatch turned out very nice, indeed.

Cable and Eyelet Rib

It's not as stretchy as a normal rib, but it makes a very pretty design for a hat and since it lies flat I think it could even be incorporated into the lower cuff of a sweater. Knitting this pattern was quite simple, but the way it was written was confusing.
For one thing, the authors of this book use 3 different abbreviations for a yarn over.
They are:
Yfrn, which means yarn forward and around needle. Basically this is just a YO before a purl stitch, meaning you do your yarn over and then bring the yarn around again.
Yfwd, which means yarn forward.
Yon, which means yarn over needle.
I'm not really sure what exactly makes the last 2 different from each other or from a regular YO, so I just did yarn overs as I saw fit and it turned out just like the picture anyhow.
That wasn't all that was confusing.
The 2nd row says "Row 2 and all WS rows:" but then when you get to the 8th row it says "as row 2." Which is just reiterating something that we already know. When I got to row 8 the first time, I almost repeated row 2 twice. It was confusing for a minute but once I figured it out the rib came out very pretty.

Swatch 2: Spiral Rib
This was a simple 4 row repeat, and the WS rows are identical so really you only have to remember the 2 cabling rows. It was very easy to keep track of what row I was on, and it came out ok.

Spiral Rib Swatch

It's really not stretchy at all, though, and I'm not sure I like the resulting fabric. I think I would rather just do a cable if I wanted the spiral effect.

Swatch 3: Diagonal Rib
I've used this pattern before to make legwarmers, a hat and a pair of tube socks, so this one was very easy. Basically, you just do a 2x2 rib and move it over one stitch every second row.

Diagonal Rib Swatch

The book notes that Diagonal patterns tend to stretch on the bias, and I noticed that to be true. Apparently you can minimize this effect by using firmly twisted yarns and by not wringing the fabric while washing.

 That's it for this week!
Stay tuned next week for:
1) Corded Rib
2) Rickrack Rib
3) Twisted Rib

Happy Knitting!

Oh... and I guess Happy Halloween, too. I'm taking my son trick-or-treating tonight- what are your plans?