some squares

Thank you all for the kind wishes and welcome backs in response to the last post. You have inspired me to forge ahead --- with---the Learn to Knit Afghan!

Actually, I did these squares a few weeks ago when I started on the slip stitch section of the book. The front side of the Woven Tweed square is on the left, and the back side is on the right. I have used this stitch before for manly sweaters and scarves. It makes a firm, inelastic fabric something like woven cloth. I never noticed the wrong side before, though, until Barbara Walker called my attention to it. I was so impressed that I started playing around with design ideas for it, but nothing came of it.

This hexagon pattern is the first I have knit where the same stitches are slipped over more than two rows. The repeated slipping of the same stitches distorts the fabric in an interesting way. This square is blocked, but the unblocked version, which I didn't photograph, is even more striking. It makes a fluffy, dimensional fabric that would make a great scarf. This square is in my favorite color combination of azure and dark purple, which I never expected to like so much when I started the project.

Here is the last square of this post - not as appealing to me as the others. It looks nice in its photo, but note that some of the slipped stitches are wrapped twice and then dropped to form lines across the front of the square. In the photo on the right, I stuck a needle through the lines so you can see that they just lay across the fabric in a cheesy way. I don't like dropped stitch patterns. That is why it took me so long to make the Clapotis.

I am trying your patience with so much Barbara Walker. I do have a slightly ambitious finished object to show in the next post. Meanwhile, do you know about MetaPostModern Knitting? If you haven't seen it, click the link immediately. This is a stylish online knitting magazine with free patterns of clever knit designs the likes of which you won't see anywhere else. It is edited by Robin Dodge and produced by her group of knitting librarians who work in a Los Angeles school of fashion design. The fashion trend section of the magazine is the best imaginable exposition of design trends and how they get translated by designers, retailers, and potentially, knitters. If you have any interest in fashion design, this section is a must. After I leave here, I am going over to click their PayPal link.