It’s all About the Pretty Pictures

Who doesn’t love a good movie, book with maps/diagrams and a photography coffee book? Well, I’ve become a lover of chart only patterns. Shocking, I know! When I first looked at knitting patterns, written and charts, and freaked out. How could I EVER decipher the code, knit, remember the code and make it look like the one picture to gauge if I’m making a pot holder or shrug?! It was stressful, but scarves in garter and purl got old REAL quick. I plunged into the written and got the hang of it quickly.

Chart vs. Word -either way looks awesome

For a while, it was word only patterns, then I dabbled in word and charts and only looked at the words. Entering the world of lace, I soon realized that the charts helped me see if I was knitting the pattern correctly, or screwing it up. “Well, what a helpful aid, I shall check it once in a while to ensure I’m not making a crooked tangle of yo’s.” But building my game to intermediate/advance lace, the patterns get complicated and sometimes are only charts. I was stressed out, it looked way overwhelming, couldn’t it just tell me in words? I got through it and my Springtime Bandit series took you through that journey. Next lace project I settled back into a 16 row lace pattern for a scarf, word only. And I have to say, I’m annoyed. I find I make more mistakes with word only then with chart. I determined it’s because it’s easier to fumble up the line/knit word you’re on than the rows. You can highlight the row, easier, you can see what it’s supposed to look like faster, you can even count cheat (where you just do, not worry about the exact number because you know the pattern visually).

I now prefer the pictures, the words are a helpful aid. It’s sort of funny how we evolve as children – hating peanut butter as a child, then craving it as an adult – and as “big people” even in the little parts of our lives. Check this out:

My road map to glory

This looks SO scary but it excites me! I think I might be an adrenaline junkie – maybe that’s what this really is all about. I see this crazy set of four charts and I can’t wait to tackle it. I feel like a conquerer having a battle map and I know that from my plan of attack, lace victory will be MINE!!!!! *Looks around, hears crickets* No? Anyone? The lady in the back! YES! Someone gets me!

Back to simultaneous lace project knitting,
-Stacy

Giveaway and the Springtime Bandit Finale!

The time has come my knitting peeps, to talk of many things – but I’m done on the Springtime Bandit! Almost. This is the last installment about this pattern and my adventures in advanced lace knitting.

Let me start off by pointing out the edge chart shows both RS and WS rows, which means you have to pay attention to EACH row. (Really, you get the hang of it after a couple of WS rows. Just don’t  get lazy!) The reading of the pattern is still the right side only before you have to go “backward” once you get to the middle (green) square. Let’s take a look at the chart, shall we?

The mighty third and ending chart

Doesn’t look intimidating AT ALL. I decided from the beginning of this chart to show it who’s boss and I took some strategy methods to make this crazy chart portion one of the least mistake and problem sections of this project. How did I do this? So glad you asked.

First, I wrote on every row of the chart and marked the K stitches so I wouldn’t count incorrectly in the “moment” of the row. Look closely at the first few rows (you can click on it for a closer look):

“Write” out the pattern

You will see that I wrote a number in the center of the K stitches and ran a line through the rest. This helped me know that I had to do so many K stitches before moving on to the next type of stitch. When you do this, be sure to use a non-black ink pen (pencil runs when highlighted and is hard to see), ensuring you don’t confusion your K shorthand with the actual pattern. Then, I wrote on the side of the main chart how many stitches are in each section before and after the pattern repeat (sill 14 stitches for repeat). This helped me know when I was getting to the end of repeating and needed to have enough stitches for the last portion of the row. I did all of these notations before I even started this chart because I knew I would get overwhelmed and wouldn’t want to start and stop between knitting rows.

Another helpful tip was to use a two color highlighter system. I highlighted the row I was on alternating colors making sure I didn’t confuse what row I was on by accidentally looking at the one below. One color was for the RS and one was for the WS. Of course after I did this chart I found out about a new discovery – highlighter tape. I was floored! You can put down this piece of tape, then pick it up and move it up a line. I really want to try this for next time.

To finish out, I steam ironed it which worked wonders with the cotton. I’ve washed it since I’ve ironed it and it really maintained its shape. Look in awe at the end result!

FINISHED!

The Prize

(GIVEAWAY!) To celebrate the end and for my loyal readers, I have a giveaway! I’m giving away a large skein of Lily Cotton, Sugar ‘n Cream Twists. This skein is 603 yards of cotton possibilities and with this size you can make a shawlette or scarf and still have enough left over for a washcloth! This giveaway is open until July 9, 2012, at 11:59 p.m. To enter leave a comment telling me your favorite lace pattern and whether you love or hate lace. For extra entries, follow me on twitter or retweet a post (leave another comment letting me know your Twitter handle). I will announce the winner on July 10, 2012.

Loving my lace fever,
-Stacy C.

Tackling Lace (and the Springtime Bandit) Part 2

Hello again boys and girls,

I hope my last post helped you with basic lace chart knowledge and/or the tricky Springtime Bandit. In this post I’m going to cover the second chart (aka body chart). This is where the fun happens and where it starts to get a little harder. (How could it get harder?! It does, simmer down, you can do this.) I will say, for a three charter, at least it gets incrementally tougher and not all in your face at once.

At this point, I suggest placing a stitch marker after the green square (halfway point of the row). This let me know if I had properly done the row to that point. There’s nothing more frustrating than pulling out 100+ stitches when you get to the end of a row verses 50. Another way to help with pulling out stitches is a lifeline. There’s a lot of different ways to use/place a lifeline and this video from verypinkknits and article from knittingdaily.com should help. I’m not a big fan for many reasons and prefer the stitch marker method; but I offer all options to my readers to keep down murder rates of  lace and/or others with needles.

Look at the progress!

The body chart starts off with 67 stitches and repeat the chart (12 rows) four times. Once again, this chart reads right side only, go backward at the mid-row point, and only shows RS rows. The first round of the chart is simple because there isn’t a pattern repeat. When you get to the 14 stitch repeat portion, you will read it this way:

Row 1: k2, yo, *k5, vov, k5, sk2togp, repeat from * until the last 12 stitches, this brings you to the midpoint. Going “backward”, yo, k5, vov, k5, *sk2togp, k5, vov, k5, repeat from * until the last 2 stitches

Remember, as you are doing this chart, you will increase the number of repeats for each pattern round. By the time you get to the last chart repeat you will be doing the pattern repeat five times before you continue to the middle stitch. This is the way it’s supposed to work because it needs to grow to fan out for the triangle shape.

One other thing, If you look at the left-hand side of the picture, you can see my chart is marked up. It might seem overwhelming, but it really helps you keep on task. As I (and another reader) found out, going over the chart with this kind of intense care helps you see where you might be reading the chart wrong. I never like to mark things up, books, handouts, worksheets, etc. (I know, that’s what they’re there for, duh!). I like to keep my stuff look nice and new for as long as possible; however, I decided this was for the greater good. Once I marked the pattern in my own secret code, it was as if the pattern came alive and took root in my brain! Using a charts only pattern really leaves a lot of room for the reader to skim over the right way to read the project or misread a key element. An extra “tip,” if you’re working from a book, take a photocopy and mark the duplicate up. Your book still stays nice and spiffy – ta da! (Geeky, I know.)

At the end of this section you should have 167 stitches – no arguments. It’s a requirement to go to the next phase.

Finishing up the Father’s Day Gifts,
-Stacy C.