Unraveling the Past This story begins with a visit to Mr. Mouse's paternal grandmother, whom we all call Nana. Nana has a nice collection of handmade blankets, tablecloths, and pillows, but none compare to the black and rainbow afghan on the back of the living room couch. From my very first trip, I was utterly fascinated by it. I guess my obsession was pretty obvious, because Nana recently gifted the blanket to me. Not only is it breathtakingly gorgeous, but its construction is also simple, yet mysterious. According to Nana, this blanket was made by a houseguest years ago, and while it is a much-admired piece, no one since has been able to figure out how it was made. I...
Can you spare a square? April brings us to EZ's "mystery" blanket. Contrary to the meaning "mystery" has taken in the fiber arts world, we are not being asked to blindly knit something for which we have incomplete directions and no finished photo. In this case, rather, we are knitting something which should prove "mysterious" to other knitters who examine it. Namely: In which direction was it knitted? (And yes, all knitters who examine this blanket will have to sign an agreement not to dangle any prepositions in front of it!) This is because the squares are knit from the center out, then grafted together. Smaller squares are then knit from the outside in, and borders are picked up and...
Sl1, K1 ad nauseum I'd like to begin by admitting that I probably should not be so hard on this project. If I hadn't already learned this technique, I would have been dazzled and charmed. However, as it happens, I have already used this technique and found it to be largely unnecessary. Double knitting is when you product two "right" sides of knitted fabric at once. The stitches alternate which side they belong to, and working double knit produces a stretchy, cushy, thick piece of fabric. Double knit lends itself particularly well to colorwork, because if you work the two sides of your piece as inverses of each other it virtually eliminates floats. I will admit that while the end...
