Tuesday, December 15, 2009

#2 Mariner's Compass is Complete!


This square, although it looks rather simple, really gave me fits! The designer calls her pattern a shape within a shape within a shape and so on... she says she has a degree in math and likes geometric shapes! Go figure! I think this block resembles a Mariner's Compass design like you seen in quilts sometimes. There is a square in the center. To make the bottom and top side of the square, you have to bind off stitches and then pick up and knit stitches in the same place when you return to the bound off stitches on the following row. The instructions got me goofed up. The instructions say "bind of 16 stitches, following special instructions". I thought this meant to bind off the 16 stitches USING the special instructions. But the instructions would have been more clear if it said, "bind of 16 stiches THEN follow the special instructions for the next stitch". It was also a goofy pattern because the cable stitch instructions have different instructions for the cables depending upon whether or not you are on a wrong side row or a right side row. Needless to say, I am constantly becoming more and MORE proficient at unknitting rows! Also, when I picked up and knitted the stitches to make the bottom and top of the square in the center, I don't think I picked up the stitches in the correct bumps so I don't think my ridges are as prominent as they were supposed to be. But I am settling for good enough!

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