Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Entrelac with a Twist is complete!





I am not so sure what to make of this block. It turned out much smaller than the others in the GAA and it's a little "wonky" in a crooked/not good way. I am considering adding a border in the green color to make the size more similar to the other blocks. This block looks rather messy on the backside from all the color changes. Also, my technique for picking up and knitting stitches (which is essential in entrelac) needs some refining. I end up with lots of unattractive ridges on the backside. Much to learn. This entrelac pattern is nice since it includes cables in the green blocks. I'll add a photo of the block in progress so you can see how it came together. An interesting note on the construction of this block. After completing the bottom border, you leave three stitches on holders on both the right and left sides. When the entrelac portion is done, you go back to the the three stitches and stitch the sides in garter stitch. At my class the other day, our GAA instructor showed me how I could pick up a fourth stitch from the side and then after turning the work, I knit two together and then knit the two remaining single stitches. This way, I was knitting the border and attaching it at the same time. The instructions specify you should stitch the three stitch garter stitch borders and then sew them on. I was dreading the sewing so I was grateful to have gotten this "no sew" tip! In this next photo, you can see how entrelac looks while in progress. It's a slow, labor intensive process, but fun to learn and very cool to see how it comes together. Whoever dreamed up entrelac was a very bright, creative person!

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