Two Swatches

I've always loved these richly textured all over stitch patterns in the Barbara Walker books. This one is easy - 16 stitches and 16 rows and it's nothing but ribs broken with garter stitch bands. And it's beautiful. I want scrunch it in my fingers to bite into it.   In my InnerDesignEye I can see this in a sleeve - I can almost see it in a pullover sweater body. My only concern is that it is a lot of knitting and purling. Lots of opportunities to make mistakes if I have to stay alert while knitting the approximately 60K stitches that go into a long sleeved pullover. Easy to fix, yes, but I don't think this will be brainless knitting. And to make sure it didn't ride up in front I would have to make it slightly oversized. Big Knitting in somewhat Big Yarn on a slightly Big Body? Maybe. Maybe not. But oh la! I love this stitch pattern.

Then there is this pretty cable. Running down both sides of a button band or perhaps centered with a little twisted stitch cable on either side of it - perhaps a twin running down the center back - it would be just enough to make a plain sweater interesting. A plain, almost brainless project that could be toted around. Something it would be easy to add short row bust darts to. 

The stockinette stitch and row gauge comes in at an estimated 4.5 stitches and 6.5 rows per inch - though I would block the swatch first before I cast on. The cable takes a smidge more than 7 stitches per inch. Not that it would matter much if I'm only putting in a few of them.   

So. Here I am. Still undecided. My PracticalBrain says "Oh go with the cable, silly" My FancyNancy Brain says "All over stitch pattern!" 

PB says "You'll get tired of having to concentrate and won't finish it"

FNB says "You'll always yearn for the pretty one"

PB says "You'll look like a mack truck walking down the streetn"

FNB says "You will look Celtic! and it matches your new skirt."

Ah well. There it is. My tweed yarn did NOT come in. It has 2 more days to make me happy but again - if it doesn't come in by Saturday I can always bring down the winter clothes on my Monday Holiday. 

Decisions decisions. 

It's a matter of Scale - a knitting post

¹scale

 noun \ˈskāl\

Definition of SCALE

1

a : either pan or tray of a balanceb : a beam that is supported freely in the center and has two pans of equal weight suspended from its ends —usually used in plural

2

: an instrument or machine for weighing

Origin of SCALE

Middle English scole, scale bowl, scale of a balance, from Old Norse skāl; akin to Old Norse skel shell — more at shell

First Known Use: 14th century

That's what I'm dealing with - Cashmerino Aran's scale. Every time I pick a stitch pattern to swatch I'm shocked at how big it becomes. that 41 stitch lacy cable? It spreads more than half way across my chest. Cut it almost in half to a 24 stitch closed ring cable - you can hardly see the design for the breadth of it. Drop back to 12 stitches and it's still huge. Shrink the needle size to a 7 and it's still big big big. No wonder I'm having such a tough time picking something to knit this gorgeous yarn into.

You see - it's all about scale. And not just the scale of the stitch patterns - of how a design looks in the yarn. There's the the way it looks on my body. So I'm actually trying to mesh 3 factors - me, my yarn, and the stitch pattern in that yarn. Only two are constant - the yarn and my body. The area of choice is the stitch pattern and the more I work with this yarn, the more I believe it will have to be something very simple. A calm 3x3 cable or if I must have something fancier (and I probably do) a single 12 stitch rope traveling down the center - perhaps on either side of a button band.

I am working on a seed stitch/stockinette wishbone type cable, maxing out at my 12 stitch limit. I'll post a swatch photo tomorrow - but I must warn you - New Yarn is winging its way to my mailbox as we speak. Narrower, lighter weight New Yarn in a woolly tweed. Yarn that may supplant this delicious Cashmerino yarn if it doesn't play nicely with my design aesthetics very soon. 


It just may be this yarn is banished once again to the Great Bin Of Stash Yarn in the Attic.