2021-05-10

Long-tail cast-on on size 7 (4.5 mm) Boye 14-inch straight needles.
Worked 32 rows of pattern.

My stitches were very loose on size 7 needles, and the work was very hard to control.

Possible solutions:

• a circular needle
• bamboo needles

I tried continental knitting but my gauge was much tighter so I couldn’t just switch styles in the middle of the project.

2021-05-11

Going to start this project again with some changes.

I wasn’t happy with how difficult the work was on my size 7 (4.5 mm) Boye 14-inch straight needles. My stitches were very loose and too easily slipped off the needles, even though my cloth seemed to be at a good gauge. Also, the length and weight of the needles, usually good for leverage, were working against me.

I also wasn’t happy with the way my cloth’s colors just weren’t as pretty as they look in granmama’s cloth. Finally, I didn’t care for the way the long-tail cast-on looked in the variegated yarn.

I like Patty7737’s Teal Ombre Confetti Dishcloth, with pairs of alternating ombre and solid colors (following a solid-color cast-on), and am following her example today.

Starting over with these changes:

• bamboo needles - size 7 (4.5 mm) Clover 14-inch straight needles
• double-chain cast-on (in solid color), followed by one row of p1, slip 1 wyib (in solid color)
• alternated two rows of solid “Antique Cream” with two rows of variegated “Copper Spice”

Project evaluation - applying what I’ve learned:

I really like how the “Copper Spice” ILTC looks, alternating with “Antique Cream” in linen stitch.

This cloth is 40 stitches wide by 60 rows long. For my next cloth, I want to work on 44 stitches so that the color “pools” appear on the diagonal instead of “stacking,” and I plan to work 66 rows.

Dogs3 noted that the linen stitch shrinks lengthwise with use (see project notes, Dish Cloth Extravaganza), so the finished length needs to be greater than the finished width for a square cloth. I want to compare how my cloth’s dimensions change with use. It may be easiest to avoid trying for a square and make cloths that are obviously rectangles.

2012-05-17 - Update on Color Pooling

trial 1 - 40 stitches - pretty, but trying again

On 40 stitches, there are nice areas of concentrated color in good contrast to the solid background, but I want the pools of color to be diagonally repeated rather than “stacked.”

trial 2 - 44 stitches - ok, but trying again

On 44 stitches, the colors are flecked randomly against the background and are not pooled. This stitch-count eliminated the undesirable vertical stacking but the overall effect is a little muddy.

trial 3 - 42 stitches - yes, I’m happy with this

On 42 stitches, the color pools are not as intense as they were on 40 stitches but, as I had hoped, they repeat diagonally rather than stacking vertically.

2021-05-20 Update - Choosing a Cast-on and Bind-off for Linen Stitch

trial 4 - alternating long-tail cast-on plus single ribbing to begin - single ribbing plus alternating chain bind-off to end

Since a long-tail cast-on (or a double-chain cast-on) is a better match for garter- or stockinette stitch than for the k1, sl 1 wyif first row of Linen Stitch, I tried using an alternating long-tail cast-on followed by two rows of k1, p1 rib.

The alternating long-tail cast-on does look better than either a long-tail or double-chain cast-on, but I’m not happy with how the two rows of k1, p1 rib look. For the next trial I’m going to try following the alternating long-tail cast-on with two rows of seed stitch.

trial 5 - alternating long-tail cast-on plus seed stitch to begin - seed stitch plus alternating simple bind-off to end

This cast-on and bind-off, in a darker color, works the best of all the trials. I used U.S. size 5 (3.75 mm) needles and an alternating long-tail cast-on to begin, followed by three rows of seed stitch (the first row matched knits and purls to the alternating long-tail cast-on). The body of the cloth was knitted on U.S. size 7 (4.50 mm) needles, as before.

For the bind-off, I switched back to U.S. size 5 (3.75 mm) needles to work two rows of seed stitch before binding off with a simple bind-off in pattern (matching knits and purls).

Alternate Edgings for Linen Stitch

Trials 1-4 used the edging from the pattern. This is a pretty edging, with the appearance of a spiral, formed by slipping the last stitch of every row, as if to purl.

Trial 5 used Heidi Gustad’s alternate edging for linen stitch:
https://www.handsoccupied.com/linen-stitch-edges/

This is a chained edging formed by slipping the first stitch of every row and rearranging the yarns on the last stitch on color-change rows.

SusanC0425’s Coasters, from the Tribal Stripe Coasters pattern, uses another chained edging (great project notes!):

Row 1 - slip first stitch purlwise, k1, wyif slip next stitch purlwise, repeat until last stitch, K1 tbl. Row 2 - slip first stitch purlwise,p1, wyib slip next stitch purlwise, repeat until last stitch, K1 tbl.

Notes:

Linen Stitch is called “Fabric Stitch” on pp. 99-100 of Barbara Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns.
see

• Fabric Stitch
• Knitting Stitch Sample Cloths

For some really great examples of how stripes appear in linen stitch see the projects for Tribal Stripe Coasters. Patty7737’s Tribal Drip Catchers are very nice.