2020-03-06

Began charting for Moose and Squirrel - Moose Hero.

“Moose Hero” was easy to chart and was finished in one day.

2020-03-07

“Squirrel Buddy” is proving much more difficult to chart. I started with a typical squirrel outline in Version 1, but had trouble rendering the helmet and eyes. Eventually, I saved Version 1 for a woodland squirrel design.

For Version 2, I began working with a flying squirrel outline. The helmet and eyes continued to be a challenge. I was trying for a comic effect to pair “Squirrel Buddy” with “Moose Hero.”

Update 2020-03-12: Continuing to work on “Squirrel Buddy,” trying for a happier-looking flying squirrel.

2020-03-09

Cast on for “Moose Hero” using Liat Gat’s “Chinese Waitress Cast-on” tutorial: https://knitfreedom.com/blog/chinese-waitress-cast-on/ with a U.S. 6 (4.0 mm) needle.

My original chart used a 72% height-to-width cell aspect ratio, from a previous design project. By the time I finished Row 36, I realized that “Moose Hero’s” feet were much wider than I had charted them to be. They looked like boats! After reviewing gauge for some previous mosaic-knitting projects, I realized with embarrassment that I should have used something closer to a 100% aspect ratio for the grid.

The grid, however, is not the same as the stitch-to-row ratio. “Moose Hero’s” actual stitch to row ratio is closer to 50%. Similarly, my Shore Lunch Cloth garter-stitch mosaic-knitting project’s pattern gauge was 22 stitches and 42 rows = 4 inches.

22/42 = 52.4% stitch-to-row ratio.

Each grid on a garter-stitch mosaic-knitting chart represents approximately one stitch horizontally and two rows vertically. Rows are counted with even numbers on the right of the charts and with odd numbers on the left. Thinking in this framework, the aspect ratio is 22 stitches and 21 double-rows = 4 inches.

22/21 = 104.8% stitch-to-row ratio.

It’s just simpler to use a 100% stitch-to-row ratio square grid and tolerate the 5% margin of error between the charted and actual aspect ratios.

Textured-knitting based on garter-stitch can use the same square design grid but, in reality, stockinette-stitch areas reduce the row-gauge.

mamafri’s designs have been knitted as both textured-knitting and as double-knitting using the same square-gridded charts. It seems that a tradition has developed among German knitters to flexibly interpret square-gridded charts in either textured-knitting or double-knitting techniques.

36/200 = 18% complete.

2020-03-10

Pressing on to finish the sample. Even though the image is taller and narrower than I had expected from my chart, the towel seems likely to be at least acceptable as a finished object.

Finished Row 96, at the brim of the top hat.

96/200 = 48% complete.

2020-03-11

Although I pushed to finish the sample, I was only able to knit 48 more rows to reach Row 144.

144/200 = 72% complete.

2020-03-12

Wrote copy for pattern. Prepared chart pdf.

Worked on row counts. DH helped to proof the counts.

154/200 = 77% complete.

2020-03-13

200/200 = 100% complete.
(except for bind-off and finishing)

I’ve decided to call this project complete after test-knitting “Moose Hero.” There is still work to be done to chart “Squirrel Buddy” and, since I actually want to test-knit the pair in dk-weight yarn, I plan to open another project for that test-knit. Words of Moose and Squirrel may come before the test-knit in dk-weight and I would rather show this project as complete while working on “Words.”

2020-03-14

Bound off with Ann Kingstone’s “Obsessive Double-Chain Bind-off.”
https://annkingstone.com/obsessive-cast-off/

I need to remember to use a smaller needle size for the bind-off.