Sunday, February 19, 2012

Week 26...of the Super Stitches Knitting Project

This post is a bit late because I had some difficulty with some of the stitch patterns.

This week's patterns were:
1) Risotto Stitch (reversible)
2) Waffle Stitch
3) Clam Stitch

SWATCH 1: Risotto Stitch
This is a cute little stitch pattern. You can probably tell where I made some mistakes in this swatch; it isn't very difficult to tell where you are in the pattern but I found that when I did make a mistake it was difficult to fix. 
Risotto Stitch Swatch, RS
I wouldn't call this stitch reversible, because while it does look similar on both sides, one is clearly the purl side.
Risotto Stitch Swatch, WS
 In addition, it curls quite a bit and had to be blocked aggressively to get these flat pictures taken.

SWATCH 2: Waffle Stitch
From this swatch, I learned that sometimes you just have to trust that you are doing the right thing, keep knitting until you have an inch or two and THEN compare it to the picture. After my first attempt (only 2 rows) I was sure I was doing it wrong and put it aside for another day, when I swore I would look it up on the internet.
It turns out that all the videos I found for "Waffle Stitch" were demonstrating a different stitch pattern entirely. So I went back to work at it, and sure enough when I got an inch or so done the pattern was obvious.
Waffle Stitch Swatch, RS

I love this swatch. I like how it looks like stockinette, but doesn't curl as much. I liked how easy it was to see what row I was on, and how it was an 8 row repeat but felt like a 4 row repeat. It is incredibly stretchy, and when stretched I can see all the interlinking chains and it makes me feel clever.
Waffle Stitch Swatch, WS
 The only thing I don't like about it is that I cast on too many stitches and bound off before it was a complete square.



SWATCH 3: Clam Stitch
This swatch was a disaster.
NOT Clam Stitch Swatch
As you can see, I gave up early on. Somewhere in the instruction "*K1, sl5 to RHN dropping extra loops, pass 5 sts back to LHN, (yfrn, K1, yfrn, P1, yonK1) twice) into the same 5 sts tog, rep from * to last, K1" I just got lost. Probably in the "into the same 5 sts tog" bit. I have never done that before and it wasn't clear to me what the author meant. I decided to look for help elsewhere.
 After looking on youtube to no avail, I finally searched on Ravelry and found this forum from 2 years ago. In post 8, rav user Bookcase Hat puts forth a wonderful photo tutorial. I will try this stitch out again another day, because for now I am just sick of looking at it. :(

In my search to find out how to make this stitch, however, I did find a cute cardigan. You can see it here.


Better luck next week, I suppose, with:
1) Overlapping Leaves
2) Bamboo Stitch
3) Woven Ladder Stitch

Of which Overlapping Leaves looks the most impressive and cute.

If I take forever to get the post up, just know that it's likely because I am having difficulty rather than because I am a slacker..... Hopefully.

8 comments:

  1. I love the waffle stitch, too. I can just imagine how cozy it must feel to wear.

    ReplyDelete
  2. i hope you saw that knitting daily has episodes for sale now for 10 cents (with a code)!? i thought you may want to check it out :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think the 'waffle' stitch you did is better known as a honeycomb brioche:
    http://briochestitch.com/brioche/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=38&Itemid=33

    (searching under that name might make it easier to find vids)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the stitches, do you share the pattern for them somewhere?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These stitch patterns can all be found in the book Super Stitches Knitting by Karen Hemingway

      Delete
  5. Thanks! I'll seek it out. Your swatches have inspired me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you for this! I am trying to do the waffle stitch and I just can't get over how wrong it feels right now. I will push through :)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for commenting ♥