Monday, August 2, 2010

Do you detect a theme? Part II


I know I'm not the only fan of Feather & Fan stitch (or Old Shale), judging from the comments on the original post. Looking back over my projects, I found 2 more variants by the wonderful lace knitting designer Eugen Beugler (love, love his patterns). The first is a variation called Ostrich Plumes; for this shawl featured in Knitter's Magazine issue #42, one uses a provisional cast-on so the 2 halves will be symmetric. Eugen Beugler notes that Ostrich Plumes stitch makes the halves symmetric whereas Feather & Fan knit from a provisional cast-on won't (I'll take his word on it). It has picot edging to emphasize the scallops at the ends. Worked in Madil Kid Seta on a size 4 needles, it was my first adventure in real lace knitting nearly 15 years ago. It is a more complicated than F&F, with 16 stitches and 32 rows to each repeat of the pattern. If you want to explore this stitch further, you can find on page 278 of Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. The Beugler pattern for Lace Dreams can also be found (with the pattern charted) in The Best of Knitter's Shawls and Scarves.

Eugen Beugler also contributed a neat F&F variation for the Great American Afghan, first published in Knitter's #46. In this one, the YO sets alternate with K2tog in the midst of which are lodged faggoted cables.

The example I knitted of Bernat Berella 4 Ombré, which I made into a pillow, shows you that this stitch pattern was constructed like Lace Dreams, starting with a provisional cast-on so that the 2 halves are knitted in opposite directions. The final product reminds me so much of an old-fashioned counterpane. I'd use this for one of the baby blankets I need to make, except that I think it might be too lacy (I recall EZ writing that little fingers and toes get caught in the little holes). Also, it has a bit of a feminine look to me, and I need to hedge my bets on what the babies will be. DD#1 (who married in March) claims she's only having girls, so perhaps I'll make it when that day comes. Out of Peaches & Creme Strawberry Ombré, no less!

Version 2 of the spa set is in full swing.
spa set v2
I like this version of the F&F in the round much more than version 1, and I like this yarn, Peaches & Creme much more than the ecru Sugar n Cream I used before; P&C is softer than SnC when you work with it. Please excuse my pathetic I-cord loop; I am not good at doing I-cord and was too lazy to get my crochet hook out.
spa set v1
I've been using version 1 of the bath mitt and I can say that I like it (though I'm hardly an unbiased user of the product!). I'll post the free pattern on Ravelry and the link at left when all the kinks have been sorted out.

I am halfway done with the rainbow blanket and done with the first baby blanket. Feels good to finish 1 largish project. Photos coming soon. And Rocky is on the road to recovery, though he sometimes thinks he's arrived.

3 comments:

fleegle said...

Love the contrasting colors! And the pillow is cute! F&F is an amazing set of patterns--it looks so different with such minor variations.

fleegle said...

Actually, my specialty started out with T4, moved to adenovirus, and then segued into human genetics. No yeast for me, except for breadmaking...

Hey, there's another idea! Ferment your sourdough and bake it on the back step--no oven necessary!

Henya said...

I love the F&F variations. Got to get me all the treasuries.
And I like the second bath mitt better. But I am biased because it is purple.