The Moth and Moonlight Shawl Wrap was one of the first designs suggested by the dawning possibilities of number knitting. At the beginning of this small adventure, there seemed to be no answer to the question, “What is a knitted square?” since measurement and count could not agree. But once answered, the possibilities of what fascination might be projected into knitting design swooped outward like wings. If the would-be number knitter doubts it, let her take a four color pencil and outline the Moth and Moonlight on graph paper-and on at least a dozen pages-and then break up each design into blocks of contrasting color. Let her remember cross tension, so that one unit will pull against another unit; let her remember that there is such a thing as color balance; let her try to express her own sense of line design without inhibitions.

The Moth and Moonlight design comes, then, at the end of this section on flat design, when it is one of the first few in the original small notebook of num­ber knitting. Because of its apparent difficulty from the standpoint of knitters, it was tried out by an expert knitter who was one of the first and most generous enthusiasts for number knitting. The wrap is now several years old, has hung on many a wall and been exhibited often, stuffed into bags, mislaid and forgotten, yet it appears to have been completed within the last hour. The knitter had no directions beyond the Moth, outlined on graph paper, with unit designs in color. The order of knitting these units she worked out. All she knew beyond that was the number of stitches and ridges to a box on the chart.

This triumph of knitting by someone who had never before seen or learned the process, proves how easily the eye can become accustomed to pictured knitting directions. Once the alphabet of units has been learned, the knitter quickly be­comes aware that the straight line always means straight knitting, and the diagonal line a perfectly regular succession of decreases ( or increases). Other directions become confusing and unnecessary. The next step is for the knitter to make her own order for knitting the units. The final step is when she prefers pencil and blank graph paper and the excitement of creating her own designs.

Yarn: A-; superfine; weight 9 oz.: 6 yellow; 3 gray.

Needles: number 10 or 11

Gauge: 4 stitches to one inch

Chart: one box = 8 stitches and 8 ridges.

To knit: Follow chart.

Knitted by Julia van den Bogaerde of New York, from chart only, without lessons.