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When Screwing Up a Stitch Pattern is for the Best - Wilderness


Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits



So, tell me. Have you ever knit the entire back of a sweater before realizing you were DOING IT WRONG?

This is Wilderness, a pattern by Martin Storey from his wonderful new Rowan booklet Pioneer (more on that below).



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, blogged by Dayana Knits



This is basically a ribbed sweater that extrudes the ribbing in bumps down the knit columns. I like to call them 'square bobbles'.  



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits



Normally, bobbles are stitches you knit back and forth on a small amount of stitches to make a little ball. This involves increasing into 1 stitch a bunch of times and then decreasing back to one stitch. I love bobbles and they are often featured on my Knitspiration board on Pinterest.



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, blogged by Dayana Knits
I've made this Anthropolgie sweater, see it here.


Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, blogged by Dayana Knits


Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, blogged by Dayana Knits



These "square bobbles" are really just the same thing, except that you don't increase and decrease at the beginning and end. I suppose that officially they are called 'tucks', but I've decided that all my new stitches should rhyme with wobble. 😅

So now let's try and understand my mistake. As you can see, my bobbles aren't on the knit columns, but the purl columns!



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits


Oops. Instead of pushing the little bobble to the right side while knitting, I let it pucker out while it was facing me on the wrong side. And yes, I did this for the WHOLE BACK and only noticed when I re-checked the photo when it was time to do the front!!



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits


So, why was this a good thing, in the end?  Well, before casting-on the front, I decided to try out the real stitch.



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits



Pros of the correct stitch:

  • Smooth surface
  • Not messy on the edges of the bobble
Cons of the correct stitch:
  • Looks like melting wax
  • Forces reverse stockinette seams instead of smooth stockinette seams
  • KEY DECIDING ISSUE: Bobble protrudes much more than if it is in the purl column
I ran this comparison by my husband and he much preferred my purl bobbles. In fact, the stitch pattern is quite manly really, and both he AND my father said they wanted a sweater just like this!  

(As you may know, my man helps me regularly with my knitting decisions and photography. Well, not all the time.)


Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits


Just a note on the stitch. Whether or not you do the original stitch pattern or my own reversed version, there is an easier way to do it than described. Believe me, you want it to be easier... those bobble rows take foreeeeever to get through.

Pattern to the strip that will have the bobble:


Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits


With the left needle still in place, slip a short small-sized circular needle through the 5 stitches of the strip.


Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits


Let the needle hang (in front or in back, depending on what type of bobble you are doing) while you knit the strip back and forth.



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits


Now, instead of guessing where the stitches "6 rows below" are, just slide you circular needle so the stitches are at the right end of the needle, and knit or purl those stitches together with the stitches on your main left needle.



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits



Voilà!  A much faster bobble experience.



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits


Here is the underside of the pattern, in case you are curious.



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits


The original pattern uses Rowan Creative Focus Worsted, which is a 75% wool, 25% alpaca yarn that has quite a fuzzy halo.



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, blogged by Dayana Knits



I used smooth, marled madelinetosh DK for my sweater, giving it an entirely different texture that I liked a quite a lot.  Without the fuzziness, I decided it should be called the "Stegosaurus Stitch".



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits




Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits


Other than the stitch modification, I did some complicated fiddling around with the sleeve.  First, I knit them top down so I could get a good fit.  I have skinny arms, so I ended up with 40 sts at the wrist instead of 47.

Second, I wanted to keep the bobbles away from the seam for neatness. 



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits


(By the way, a friend of mine has informed me that the instructions on how to add bobbles as you increase the sleeve from the wrist are not clear.  My advice to you bottom-up sleeve knitters: as you increase, continue the k5, p5 pattern, and only add bobbles if there is an entire strip available plus one selvedge stitch.)

Third, I realized I'd have a weird Bobble Bald Spot if I didn't end up having a bobble centered across the seam!  (I tried it and frogged it, I'm sorry I didn't take pictures).  I suppose you could do a half bobble on each side of the flat sleeve, but I don't see how it would ever look right.  

The fix?  Just start knitting circular!  See?  A nice bobble across the seam.



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits


Let's talk a little bit about this amazing new pattern book by Martin Storey, Pioneer.  It is probably my favorite book from this Rowan Autumn/Winter 2013 season.  I rate a book as really worth buying if there are 3 patterns I would seriously consider making.

I would make five out of 16!  (that could be a Dayana record)

Quilt

Blogged by Dayana Knits

Almanac

Blogged by Dayana Knits

Dwell

Blogged by Dayana Knits


And my personal favorite at first glance in the book... Settler.




Blogged by Dayana Knits


Fall photo shoots are always grand fun. I live in Mile End, Montréal.

The great grafitti backdrops under the St-Laurent bridge under the railroad tracks...


Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits



The gritty abandoned containers in railroad parking lots...



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits


Alleys behind brightly painted houses and their shadows...




Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits



All the shadow pictures were done by me with my tripod.


Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits


If you think you can make it through some serious bobble rows, this sweater is totally worth making. I wear it all the time, and it just has this quirky interest you don't see in sweaters off the rack. It grabs the attention and somehow doesn't at the same time.

The only downside (upside?) has been that sometimes, when I'm sitting for a long time, I wonder if I'm on one of these! 😋



Blogged by Dayana Knits


Update: I just received a note from Martin Storey on Facebook: "Beautiful Dayana.  Even better than the original...!  A happy accident.. All the very best.."  /totally starstruck, thanks Martin!!/


My Wilderness, Reversed on Ravelry



Wilderness by Martin Storey in Madelinetosh DK, knit by Dayana Knits

Comments

  1. Like your version better than the original. You own the stegosaurus stitch! Your pictures are the best!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awesome, now that I have your approval, I am SO COPYRIGHTING THIS STITCH. heh heh. Did you see that Martin Storey liked mine better than his, too?! He was probably just being a sweetie, tho.

      Delete
  2. I actually prefer your version too, I also prefer the yarn you used. Great photos

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think if you wouldn't point it out that you did something else as the pattern says I would't recognized it. I like your version pretty much. And interesting color, too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I like both versions of it! I love your subdued colours in the smooth yarn and I also love the fuzziness of the other version. I like what you did with the sleeves in the round which looks very neat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Luckily I did those sleeves top-down and it was way easier to rip and re-do when I saw the problem. Phew!

      Delete
  5. I love the color and pattern! This is a beautiful mistake. Great photos as well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great post, Dayana. I really like your version better. How classy (and sweet) of Martin to say so! And, I love, love the photo of your shadow with the stegasaurus on your shoulder! Give my compliments to your photographer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aha, I win! Guess who the photographer was... yours truly! :) Just me and my tripod.. I actually have a picture of me setting up the camera, I'll add it in, why not.

      Delete
  7. Loving how your Wilderness turned out, what a happy accident and a truly unique sweater!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I really like your version and it's very intersting that you used a yarn with a different composition, and It looks fantastic too ;-)
    Color is awesome, I'm tempting to do this experience with Madelinetosh DK but the bubbles seems to be complicated to knit with 3 needles....maybe in Coquete, I love that color ;-)
    Well done

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a beautiful piece!!! It gives me new inspiration for my knitting, and now I want both your stegosaurus version as well as the original fuzzy version. Looks like they're both fun to knit as well as stylish to wear.
    I'm a new (great) fan of your blog which is just what I've longed for, being a bit a bored in my knitting life 😉
    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad that you enjoy my blog Nova!! This sweater is a must knit, but be prepared to use more yarn than you think. I think it would be FANTASTIC to oversize it in mohair! hmmmmm now i am thinking...

      So nice to meet you!

      Delete

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