March 2015

Just imagine how much easier it would make shopping trips and commuting to work and day trips and holidays. Yeah, get on that science.

28/03/2015

Daffodowndillys

I've done a lot of flowers in stocking stitch, which looks smooth but has a tendency to curl up at the edges. I've just about gotten away with it where the petals are small and/or overlap but daffodils are a bit... pointier. So I was trying to decide on a new stitch when I stopped to consider my latest project using the double-knitting technique.

(Yes, I have more than one project on the go. I always have more than one project on the go.)

The double knitting technique creates a fabric that looks like right-side stocking-stitch on both sides. The technique itself is very like single rib using two colours. That got me thinking. Single rib looks very like stocking stitch when it is unstretched so could I get away with knitting my flower petals in rib, or would they look too ridged?

It turns out than for my daffodil the edge-side increasing on the petals squishes the stitches together enough that the ribbed sections look like stocking-stitch. You can see the ribbing on the trumpet, but I kind of like it. Altogether I'm pretty happy with the result, and the finished flower isn't curling up on itself.

In other news, it's lambing time! The typical Romney Marsh sheep is white faced with a white coat, but I've spotted some interlopers in the local field. There were at least two black lambs and a couple of furry footed brown jobs that I don't recognise.

It's surprisingly difficult to find local wool considering what a history of sheep farming the area has. If anyone knows where to find Romney Marsh Wool (preferably in different colours) let me know!

20/03/2015

Fact Checking

Here are a couple of very (very) quick daffodil sketches to plan out my structures.

I'm pretty familiar with daffodils so I didn't draw them from life, however I did have a look at some reference photos to fact check. That's an important thing to do when you're drawing/crafting a specific something that actually exists because it stops you making a prat of yourself.

(As much. I'm sure I've made silly mistakes in a lot of designs. PLEASE DON'T POINT THEM OUT TO ME!)

I know this because despite being pretty familiar with daffodils, despite seeing bunches and rows and fields of them every spring, I have been convinced for most of my life that they have a trumpet and five petals.

You will notice that the ones in the sketch have a trumpet and six flat petals.

Even though I'd seen a lot of daffodils I'd never paid enough attention to them. It only takes a moment of looking to go one-two-three-four-five-six-oh! and I had never done it. Lesson learned.

Slightly off topic but, you know what else has six sides? Snowflakes. Every winter I see snowflake designs with eight sides instead of six and every year it irritates me how wide spread it is. Yes I know they're easier to draw that way. Yes I know they're still recognisable as snowflakes. Still, if I have to struggle through life, folding my paper into 12 equal sections, everyone else should have to struggle too.

16/03/2015

Top Ten

Interesting Fact: Since detailed records began (aka October) the top ten most visited ODDknit knitting patterns are...

1. Gerbera Daisy
2. Tulip
3. Pansy
4. Rose
5. Elm Leaf
6. Blossom
7. Heart Banner
8. Carnation
9. Oak Leaf
10. Conker

My keen scientific mind tells me that there's a pattern here.

After some careful investigation and in depth research (aka counting) I have concluded that people like plants.

Since people of the interwebs seem to enjoy this sort of thing I'm going to do another flower pattern, specifically the daffodil. Partly because there's lots of them around, but mostly because I already designed the trumpet last year and never got round to doing the rest of the petals.

04/03/2015

Multi-Tasking

Despite a huge push to finish my blanket in February I didn't quite make it. I'm nearly done now though, partially thanks to discovering I can read ebooks on screen while I garter stitch. Bliss.

February's wool softening experiments have dried out and I'm happy to report that both the vinegar and hair conditioned patches are both considerably less scratchy. They're also neater since I effectively blocked them.

The hair conditioner method was probably my favourite to do. Damp wool + hair conditioner smells lovely, whereas damp wool + vinegar smells awful. I have to admit that since they dried out both patches smell pleasant enough but during the doing there was a sharp contrast. Final results wise the patches feel equally soft, though there seems to be a slight residue on the hair-conditioner patch. I'm giving it a second rinse and checking back, possibly with an impartial tester.