Ode to Garter Stitch

I have long shared the opinion of many knitters, that garter stitch is ugly and tedious, best left to beginner's bulky scarves and size 15 needles. I've even looked at the many graphic designs of Hanne Falkenberg and thought: Wow that's nice, but all that garter stitch would drive me crazy. Well, everyone, I've been converted.

This past month I've been working on two projects that rely on garter stitch as their main design element. The first is the Scarf with open and solid diamond lace edging from Weldons, 1904 from Victorian Lace Today (Don't you just love those pithy titles. It's on page 90). I wanted a simple pattern to show of the beauty of the skein of Wagtail 4ply Kid Mohair I picked up at Hill Country Weavers in Austin. I think it was the perfect choice.

This would be a great pattern for someone relatively new to lace knitting. It would be a good introduction to adding a knitted on border, because each border is added differently. You knit the first border, then pick up stitches along the side and knit the body of the scarf. Then you knit on the second border. Fun and beautiful.

I'm using the Modern Quilt Wrap pattern from Folk Style by Mags Kandis to knit a throw using Vanna's Choice (I can't believe it either). I'm actually finding the 100% acrylic yarn nice to work with. It comes in lots of colors, it was on sale, and I was itching to start. I'm glad I took a risk. I'm not sure whether it will be a gift or not and I've decided if I'm not giving the gift to a knitter then it has to be machine washable. Modular knitting really does make long stretches of garter stitch more enjoyable, and it's pretty, see.

I'm knitting the pattern twice as wide as the original, just repeating the pattern twice before I start the next row of blocks.

I made myself a scale drawing of the pattern on graph paper which is much easier to follow then the written list of colors. There is a drawing with the pattern, but it's not exactly to scale so it can't be followed without the instructions. It doesn't take long to make the drawing and it will give you an excuse to play with markers. I'd show you mine, but even though its a free pattern available at the Knitting Daily website, I'm not sure that would be kosher.

I've also completed the Tilted Duster by Norah Gaughan from Interweave Knits Fall 2007. I finished the body of the sweater a while ago, but I ran out of yarn and had to order more. Fortunately it was a perfect match. Check it out.

Pattern: Tilted Duster by Norah Gaughan from Interweave Knits, Fall 2007

Yarn: Berkshire by Valley Yarns, 11 skeins

Needles: size 8 circular Susan Bates

I enjoyed knitting this pattern immensely, but I'm not sure about the yarn. I used a yarn that knits up at a larger gauge than the pattern calls for and while I got gauge it's a little heavier than I would like. Also the alpaca in the blend really stand out to much for my taste. Alpaca always takes up less dye in blends, but against the dark teal of the wool it kind of looks as if I've been rolling around in cat hair. My mother and sister really like it. I may let one of them have it. Of course this goes against the rule I stated earlier of only machine washables for non-knitters. Who says I have to be consistent?