More like guidelines, really.

I’ve given up on writing the pattern (in the traditional sense) for the baby blanket that I designed. Instead, I've got some guidelines:
NOTE: What follows are the guidelines for how I made THIS blanket. Underneath I've written other guidelines should I do it again. You might want to check those before you cast on.

Cast on 102 stitches using the provisional method. (Even though the pattern calls for multiples of 4, plus 1. I added an extra stitch so that I could slip one on each side to make it easier to picking up stitches along the edge later.)
Knit using the center pattern Heatherbee's Honeycomb pattern for a lot of rows (probably 200).
Pick up stitches around the blanket such that you end up with 101 stitches on each side.
Knit 40 rounds, at the edges yo, knit, yo.
Ending with 181 stitches on each side. Don’t end at a corner. I ended 72 stitches in from the corner.

Cast on 17 stitches using the provisional method on a different needle. Knit the edging perpendicular to the blanket. For every one stitch on the blanket edge knit two rows of the edging.

WARNING THE FOLLOWING HAS NOT BEEN TESTED SINCE I WROTE IT OUT SO PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK

The edging (based on No. 3. For Grace McGregor):
1 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k
2 :sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
3 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k 2
4 :sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
5 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k4, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k 3
6 :sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
7 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k 4
8 :bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
9 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k6, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k
10:sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
11:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k, yo, k2
12:sl 1, p7, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
13:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k 3
14:sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
15:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k 4
16:bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
17:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k4, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k
18:sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
19:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, ssk, k6, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k 2
20:sl 1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
21:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 12, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k, yo, k3
22:sl1, p8, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
23:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 13, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k4
24:bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
25:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 14, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k
26:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
27:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 11, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k2
28:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
29:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 10, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k3
30:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
31:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 9, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k, yo, k4
32:bind off 4, p 6, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
33:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k8, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k
34:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
35:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k7, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k 5, yo, k, yo, k2
36:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
37:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 8, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
38:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
39:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 9, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2tog, yo, yo, ssk, k, yo, ssk, yo, k4
40:bind off 4, p 6, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
41:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 10, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k1
42:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
43:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 11, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
44:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
45:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k13, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
46:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
47:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k12, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
48:bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
49:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k11, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k2tog, yo, k
50:sl1, p6, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
51:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, ssk, k5, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
52:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
53:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k3, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
54:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
55:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k4
56:bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
57:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k
58:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
59:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, ssk, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k2to,yo, k2
60:sl1, p7, k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
61:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 5, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
62:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
63:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k 4, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k4
64:bind off 4, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
65:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k
66:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
67:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
68:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
69:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
70:sl1, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket
71:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k2tog, yo, k4
72:bind off 4, p6,k, p to last 3 sts, yo, k2tog tbl, purl to blanket

Except for the corners. I created a corner pattern to fit in with the edging.

SAME WARNING AS ABOVE.

The Corner pattern (based on No. 3. For Grace McGregor):
1 :yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k
2 :sl 1, p 13, w/t, (you should have 3 sts on the right needle)
3 :sl 1, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k2
4 :sl1, p 15, w/t, (4 sts left on needle)
5 :sl 1, k 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k3
6 :sl 1, p 16, w/t
7 :sl 1, k 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k4
8 :bind off 4, k 14, w/t
9 :sl 1, p 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k
10:sl1, p 13, w/t
11:sl 1, k 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k2
12:sl 1, p 15, w/t
13:sl 1, k 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k3
14:sl 1, p 16, w/t
15:sl 1, k 3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2tog, yo, yo, ssk, yo, k, yo, k4
16:bind off 4, p 6, k, p 6 w/t
17:sl 1, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k
18:sl1, p 13, w/t
19:sl1, k2, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k, yo, k2
20:sl1, p 16, pick up wrap and knit,
21:k, k2tog, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
22:sl 1, p 16, pick up and knit,
23:k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, k, yo, k2tog, yo, k4
24:bind off 4, p 6, k, p 6, pick up and knit,
25:k, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k,
26:sl1, p 13, pickup and k,
27:k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
28:sl1, p 15, pick up and knit,
29:k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
30:sl1, p 16, pickup and knit
31:k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k4
32:bind off 4, p 13, pick up and knit
33:k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k1
34:sl1, p 14, pick up and knit
35:k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
36:sl1, p 15, pick up and knit,
37:yo, k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k5, yo, k2tog, yo, k3
38:sl1, p 17, yo, k2tog, k into blanket edge stitch,
39:yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo,k4
40:bind off 4, p 5, k, p 7, yo, k2tog, purl into blanket

When I got back to where I started on the edging, I grafted the two ends together.

Then wash,

I like to use Soak, but any no rinse wool-wash will do.

block,

I got to use my blocking wires!

and take an artistic picture BEFORE you give it away. (It's really easy to forget the last part.)

I remembered to take this picture 15 minutes before I was supposed to give it away.

If I were to make this blanket again, I’d make the center square smaller and the stockinette part larger. I’d cast on 82 (20 repeats, plus 1, with an extra so that you can slip a stitch on each edge).
Knit the heatherbee’s honeycomb pattern for 160 rows.
Pick up 81 stitches per side, (a total of 324).
Increase using yo, k, yo on each corner until I got 181, 50 rounds, and do the edging pattern again.

I may eventually come up with charts. I've got them written out, but I haven't found the right charting program yet. If/when I should do so, then I'll think of a name for the pattern. For now it will just be "The baby blanket I designed."

I have decided to call the style: Modern Vintage. It is a style I'm interested in pursuing.

Turning a corner

The finished swatch of the lace edging.

I think it turned out well.

I went with the stockinette rather than the original garter. The garter hid the pattern too much. I had to redo the chart a third time; there was a mistake I didn’t catch until I got to the tenth row.

Five repeats of the lace edging per side should add enough lace, without overdoing it. The math is easy enough: 72 rows per repeat divided by 2 (you only attach the edging every other row for it to lay flat), multiplied by 5 repeats equals 180 stitches per side. But then there are the corners. I’ve never turned a corner in knitting before, and designing my own was quite a challenge.

I know of two ways to turn a knitted corner*, easing the boarder** or a short row turn***. The math required to figure out how to ease the pattern worried me. But you only need one extra stitch for a short row corner. I liked that math.

So, I picked up 101 stitches per side around the blanket. I had to fudge a bit, but not much. Then I knit around, and around, and around, yarning over twice per corner until I had 181 stitches per side. Easy, and rather repetitive. Designing the lace corners were neither. Getting your knitting to turn 90 degrees, while keeping the style of the edge, is not the easiest thing in the world.

Working on both projects kept me from going crazy from either. When the lace became too much, I switched to the relaxing stockinette. When the stockinette became too mindless, I worked on getting the corner right (pun intended). I tried out four different corner swatches and charted out at least five other possible corners.

This is the whole lace edging swatch with the four different attempts at a corner.

I finally decided on this one.

It's the closest to the image I had in my head.

I’ve finished the center stockinette, and started the boarder. I'll post pictures of the whole thing once it is done, and given away.

Next time: There is a fabulous LYS in Houston.

*I’m sure there are more.
**When you ease a boarder, instead of picking up a stitch on the center every other row, you pick up the same stitch three times on one side of the corner, four times in the middle, and three times on the other side. Or at least I think that’s how you do it.
*** When working short rows you knit a row and turn before you get to the end. Then you knit back and forth in the center, eventually going back to knitting the whole row. You end up with a section of knitting that has more knitting in the center than at the edges. This can be used for toes and heals in socks, and also for including more space in sweaters for bustier ladies. Here’s a better explanation of short rows by Cat Bordhi.

Living on the edge

When I first started this baby blanket journey, I went searching for lace centers. I came across quite a few edgings that I thought were pretty but I was focused on the center. Now that I’ve found the center and finished it, I’ve been indulging in lace edgings. This is putting the cart before the horse because I want to do a bit in between the center and the edge, but I figured that I’d need to know how many stitches to end the middle bit on.

So I scoured the internet for lace edgings, and boy did I find them. I was drawn to the older patterns. I wanted the traditional look of lace in the nontraditional color I’d picked. I found a great collection in the knitting section of the Antique Pattern Library. I spent quite a while reading old patterns but the Knitted Laces by Lillius Hilt (Needlecraft Vol. XI, No. 1) caught my eye. And of those No. 3 for Grace McGregor, seemed like what I was looking for. But I decided to try out other ones first.

First I tried out the English Wide Lace:

Garter on the left, stockinette on the right.

I did it in both garter stitch and stockinette and adding three garter stitches at the end. The end garter stitches didn’t work out, but I think that the stockinette showed the lace off better.

Then I decided to string all the different possible edgings together.

From right to left: Perfection Leaf Lace, Betsy’s Rose Leaf Lace, Grandmother’s Edging and the last three are variations of Rule 58

I found Rule 58 Lace Edging in Trimmings: A Sample from Piecework on the KnittingDaily site. It wasn’t written out using modern terms. There was "n" for narrow, instead of "k2tog" for knit two together. So, I decided I’d try my hand at interpreting and charting. This was my first foray into creating my own charts.  I may have gone a bit mad, but hey, we're all mad here. Since the style was old, I charted Rule 58 out first including the knit stitches:

The knit stitches are the 'l's.

But I couldn’t see the design very well so I took them out.

So much easier to see the pattern.

I had already played with the Grandmother’s trimming, and liked the way it looked. So I changed the over all pattern from garter stitch to stockinette - that way the design is easier to see.

Stockinette on right, garter on left.

It was nice but there was something missing, so I went back to my inspiration boards. I remembered that No. 3 for Grace McGregor was an edging I’d been interested in. And then the charting exploded.

Next time: So many different charts your head will spin - mine did.

Looking for a balanced center.

I’ve been making swatches*. A lot of them. I originally pulled nine different stitch patterns as options for the center of the baby blanket. I just finished my twelfth.

I got a picture of these on the one day it was sunny this week. Pretty, right?

I’m searching for a balance. Balance between how it feels to knit and how it looks, between interesting to knit and not too intricate, between cozy and cool enough for Texas. That's why I've done twelve swatches, but still haven't settled on the right one yet.

Interesting, but it might be a bit much.

Pretty, but the slip stitches would drive me up the wall.

While I was looking up stitch patterns, I came across the KBTH Online Symposium Lace Extravaganza** that suggested one could knit the edging first then decrease to the center. It blew my mind. I’ve been pondering the merits of doing the edging first, and then the center. But I haven’t dug any further since I've a slightly sneaky idea niggling at the back of my head. What if I combine all the swatches and make a lace sampler baby blanket?

I'd need more, but not much.

Since I've finished the first twelve swatches, I’m going to get back to my shawl and let the ideas percolate in my subconscious. By the time I finish another pattern repeat on the shawl, I should have a better idea of what I want to do with the baby blanket. I hope.

This will be huge.

*Knitting up a swatch is what the perfect knitter is supposed to do before a project (not counting scarves). The swatch is a little bit of fabric that tells the perfect knitter if their gauge is correct, if they are using the right needles for the yarn, and if the yarn works with the pattern. That way they don’t end up with a sweater in a yarn that pills and is three sizes too big.
I don't know any perfect knitters. In the real world no knitter I know, myself included, actually wants to do a swatch. Most would prefer to jump right into the pattern, and think of swatching as “that thing I really should have done before I started this #$@%$#@# thing” as they pull out half of a sweater that’s three sizes too big. There are those who do swatch, but most have picked up this habit after ripping out a few too many sweaters.
**It seems to be from 2005 or 2006. I love the internet.

Finished stuff!

This week I finished the Echo flower shawl, made a basket, made a tee-shirt with my sister, and crocheted a birthday gift.
First the shawl:

So close, yet so far.

 I got to the end and did the double stranded bind off using the size 7 needles I'd been working on. I got 44 stitches (out of 247) from the end and ran out of yarn. So I went up two needle sizes, and bound off tightly and ended up with extra yarn. I did the double stranded bind off, a bind off I'd never done before. Basically you find the other end of the yarn, hold it with the working yarn and, leaving a little tail to weave in later, just bind off the way you normally would.  I used one ball of Malabrigo sock yarn, size 7 needles, did 8 pattern repeats and had just enough. For those who don't have a death grip on their needles, I'd recommend size 5s and 7 pattern repeats, or 8 repeats and use beads instead of nupps.  If I were to do it again I'd do the 7 stitch nupps rather than the 9 stitch nupps. I think it would be faster, and eat less yarn.

Here's what it looked like before I blocked it.

Before I blocked it out it was just big enough that I could wrap it around my neck. But I trusted in the magic of blocking and was rewarded.

Pinned out to within an inch of it's life.

All done, isn't it pretty?

Detail!

I am really proud of this shawl. It is proper lace with Estonian flowers and nupps. Nupps are the bumpy bits, you knit a bunch of stitches into one stitch, and on the next row down you purl them all together. They are a pain, but pretty.

A-tisket, a-tasket a purple and white basket:

Ain't it cute?

I made this in a class at Hill Country Weavers. I got to pick the contrast color. I've been in a bit of a purple mood for the past year.

And here's what it looks like from the side.

 It looks pretty good. I'm proud of it, for a first basket. It is a bit wonky, but I love it anyway. I also love finishing a project in a little over three hours rather than three months.

The tee-shirt we made was a spoof on the sorority tee-shirts. GDI is the answer one gives to pushy sorority/fraternity folks. It is short for 'god damn independent'. So we made a Gamma Delta Iota tee-shirt for a friend who was going to a camp where she is the only "independent." Of course we didn't get a picture before we gave it away. But I did get a picture of the back of mine:

A name I was once called. I've felt rather proud of this name for a while.

We didn't get to do the front for mine. It got late and dark, and it was hard to see to spray-paint.

Finally, I made a crocheted gift for a friend, but I'm not going to post a picture until after I give it to her. So pictures later this month.