Entrelac obsession

You can probably guess that lately I've been obsessed with entrelac knitting. I have a pile of entrelac cubes and variations that I'm going to bring to the next knit night at Knit/Purl. I spent tonight doodling different variations on cubes, trying to figure out if various stair-step knitting shapes will form cubes, and my conclusion is: yes, they will. Sometimes one of them per cube, sometimes more. Pictures to come. I also figured out the general case of how you can do a continuous spiral from the center of entrelac squares. You can start with one square and keep adding squares around it to form a larger square of 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, ...., etc. units. You can start with two squares and keep adding squares around those two to form an ever-larger 2x1 rectangle, and so forth and so on. ANY starting point of any number of squares forming any type of rectangle can be increased to ANY size (well, whole-number multiples of the original number of squares.) I need to upload some pictures to explain.

2x1 entrelac endless rectangle

2x1 entrelac endless rectangle, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

You can knit a 2x1 entrelac rectangle as an endless spiral, stopping at 2, 8, 18, 32, etc. (Two times a square number.)

endless entrelac spiral

endless entrelac spiral, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

Better than the previous one. Start in the middle, then stop at 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, etc. entrelac modules to form as large a square as you like.

Entrelac square as large as you want

Entrelac square as large as you want, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

Shows a method of working an entrelac square from the center out, which can be extended as far as you want.

Entrelac Star

Copyright (c) 2008 Jay F. Petersen, all rights reserved.

Materials and tools: small quantity of yarn, with circular needle to suit. Eight-inch (20-cm.) piece of contrasting-color yarn. Base number: any odd number n >= 7. Example uses 11 for n. Right Twist (RT): Knit 2 together, leaving stitches on left needle, then knit the first stitch again and drop the two stitches off the left needle.

Unit 1:

Cast on 12 (n+1) stitches. Row 1: (Right side) *YO, RT, K2 ([n-7]/2), K2tog, rep from *. Row 2: Lay contrasting piece of yarn from back to front over working yarn, purl to end of row. Rows 3, 5, ..., 21 (2n-1): Repeat row 1. Rows 4, 6, ..., 20 (2n-2): Repeat row 2. Sanity check: there are 11 (n) lace eyelet holes going up the center of the unit. There are 10 (n-1) loops being held by the contrasting-color yarn. Leave the last row on the right needle.

Units 2-4:

Place loops held by contrasting yarn onto left needle, from previous unit's left edge, starting from the bottom edge of the unit to top. (These loops are worked into the current unit's first row of stitches.) Remove contrasting yarn, and use it while knitting this unit. Row 1: (Right side) *YO, RT, K3 ([n-7]/2 +1), rep from *. Work rows 2-21 (2n-1) as for unit 1. Leave the last row on the right needle.

Unit 5:

Unpick the cast-on and place the freed-up loops on the left needle, so that the right side of the first unit is facing you. There should be 11 (n) loops on the needle. Then place loops held by contrasting yarn on the left needle. There should now be 21 (2n-1) loops on the left needle. Row 1: YO, RT, K3 ([n-7]/2 +1), YO, RT, K2, SSK, turn. Row 2: Purl. Row 3: YO, RT, K2 ([n-7]/2), K2tog, YO, RT, K2 ([n-7]/2), Sl2K1PSSO, Rows 4, 6, ... 20 (2n-2): Repeat row 2. Rows 5, 7... 21 (2n-1): Repeat row 3. Leave the last row on the right needle.

Finishing:

Crochet *chain 1, single-crochet in a stitch or loop, repeat from * in each loop or stitch around the star. When you get to the inner corners, gather three loops/stitches together into one sc. Finish with a slip stitch into the first single crochet.

Entrelac Star with crocheted edging

Entrelac Star with crocheted edging, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

I decided to finish this off with a crocheted edge: sc, ch1, in each stitch around the piece except, when I remembered to, I worked 3 loops together on the inside corners.

Entrelac star

Entrelac star, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

Honestly, I finished this star before I realized how Christmasy it is. I was just trying out a new entrelac idea, really!

One-piece entrelac cube and Helen

One-piece entrelac cube and Helen, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

I have achieved minimalism! One zig-zag (or stair-step, really) piece of knitting that is joined to itself in 3 different ways:

1. Entrelac joins (pick up stitches from side edge, join side edge to live stitches.)
2. Sliding-loop join from Rick Mondragon.
3. Grafting.

So, you can knit a cube with only one piece and with no seams… well, no sewn seams. Grafting is sewing, I guess, but it’s pretty flexible.

entrelac cube variation 4 diagram

entrelac cube variation 4 diagram, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

Entrelac cube variation 4

Entrelac cube variation 4, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

Video of the cube variation 4.

Minimal, perhaps. Two segments. First I knit a zigzag in lighter yarn, attaching the zigzag to itself as I went. This formed half of the cube: 3/4 of 3 faces and 1/4 of 3 other faces: (3 * 3/4 face) + (3 * 1/4 face) = 3 faces, or half of a cube (6 faces). Then I knit a zigzag in darker yarn, attaching the darker zigzag to the lighter colored zigzag and to itself as I went. At the very end, I had to graft together half of one edge of the cube.

Entrelac cube variation 4

Entrelac cube variation 4, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay. Minimal knitted entrelac cube? Only two pieces, both of which join to themselves through the regular entrelac means (by picking up stitches from previously-knit side edges and by knitting new side edges together with live stitches held in reserve), and with Rick Mondragon's sliding-loop technique.

Entrelac cube variation

Entrelac cube variation, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

This is the cube knitted from the previous entry's diagram.

Self-joining motif entrelac cube

Self-joining motif entrelac cube, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

So I’ve been experimenting with entrelac cubes that feature motifs that are not square, but are still in the spirit of entrelac. The lighter-colored patches of this cube are in the shape of zig-zags, but each zig-zag is attached to itself along some of its edges. It makes a nice symmetry on the faces of the cube.

Entrelac cube variation 3

Entrelac cube variation 3, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

Cut 2 squares out of opposite corners of every face of a cube. Another of the entrelac knitted cube variations.

Entrelac cube variation 2

Entrelac cube variation 2, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

Entrelac cube variation

Entrelac cube variation, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

Knitted with "Vanna's Choice" acrylic yarn. I think I'll do the next one in wool. I'm going to throw this in the washing machine and dryer and see if it evens out the shape. Right now, it's a little under-stuffed and lumpish.

entrelac cube variation

entrelac cube variation, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

Take a six-square entrelac cube and cut out a square out of the corner of each of the original squares. This is one way to do it. I have knitted an example of this one.

Mosaic pattern diagram

Mosaic pattern diagram, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

Mosaic knitting patterns that can be knitted from four directions can also be enlarged to 3x size. Here you see that you can have 16 copies of the original placed around the enlarged and color-reversed copy.

yarnover on ravelry

yarnover on ravelry, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

Using the font I created on FontStruct. Writers of western European languages will find in this font most of the characters they need to write stuff in mosaic knitting. There are 189 different characters, most of which will probably never see the light of day as knitting!

Mosaic knitting alphabet font

I created a font on FontStruct. It's a mosaic knitting alphabet, plus other characters, which you can play with on line or download and add to your computer and type with. Print it out at a huge font size and you can actually knit from it.

Here's the link: Mosaic4way.

And here it is embedded:

"sphi" in mosaic knitting

"sphi" in mosaic knitting, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

"sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow!" beginning

Minimal continous cable.

minimal continuous cables, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

This is one configuration of the smallest possible thing you can knit with entrelac where the cables appear to be continuous loops. The starts and ends of the cables are hidden under the cable crossings. The picture is my attempt to show a 3-d object as a diagram. The four squares in the center (marked 1-4) are the only ones that are actually knit. The others just serve to show how the 4 are connected on their other sides. When I work this up as a diagram in a computer program I will make that more obvious. There have to be four squares, because there must be one cable crossing to hide the start and end of the cables. But it is possible (I think) to make the four squares form a double-thick rectangle where there is only one continuous loop (this one has two.) I'm going to knit this up tomorrow. It should go quickly. What this could be used for, I dunno. A pillow?

complicated entrelac cable

complicated entrelac cable, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

This knotty thing is theoretically knit-able and it would be possible to knit it in the round, which freaks me out to think about, and there is also a way to decrease in the less dense parts, so I guess it could be a bulky hat-thing.

I don't know, I was obsessed with figuring this out, and now I'm not so sure I want to knit it.

Apart and together

Apart and together, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

I knitted the baby shape, then the Menger Sponge, before it dawned on me that they are complementary shapes. Here's how they fit together. The baby shape is over stuffed, so it's a tight fit. The entrelac squares are knit the same on each one though, 7 stitches and 14-16 rows.

Entrelac Menger Sponge (Cube)

Entrelac Menger Sponge (Cube), originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

Well, it's finally done. Seventy-two squares, knitted together as you go, no seams and only one length of yarn. Only one edge was grafted together. Every other edge of each square is either attached with decreases to another square's live stitches held in reserve, or picked up from the side edge of a previous square.

Entrelac Menger sponge version 2

Entrelac Menger sponge version 2, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

This replaces my earlier attempt which could not be knitted with the constraints I've been working with (continuous piece of yarn and only one grafted edge). Alas, it's less symmetrical.

entrelac menger sponge

entrelac menger sponge, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

The torus wasn't complicated enough! This is a diagram of the first iteration of the Menger Sponge modeled in entrelac. Of course, the usual constraints apply to the knitting: one continuous piece of yarn, no seams except one grafted edge at the very end. Lots of provisional cast-ons.

entrelac torus diagram

entrelac torus diagram, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

Leafy branch

Leafy branch, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

An experiment in adding compound leaves together to form a larger branch. This in turn could be a branch off a bigger branch.

entrelac at a higher resolution2a

entrelac at a higher resolution2a, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

This is a more detailed diagram than the other one.

Entrelac sketch. Red is provisional cast-on

Finished Fiber Object

It's done, it's done it's done. The Greek Key Scarf I was making for David the Red Anderson. Yay! I worked in the ends. I just have to wash it to remove the innumerable bits of catnip that adhered to it after Helen the White Cat broke into my backpack and busted open the packet of catnip that was secreted within, spilling catnip all over the contents of the backpack and strewing catnip around the living room. Then, I'll take a picture of the handsome man with his new accessory.

The bloom is off the bamboo

I was interested in bamboo as a fiber until I realized it’s just rayon.

I guess as a source of cellulose, bamboo is as good or better than others. Wood pulp is better used as paper, I suppose. But I was feeling all sexy about the fiber. Same with “soy silk”… you can make rayon out of any source of cellulose. Hey, wouldn’t it be nice if you could make it from animal products? Then you could have a “pork silk” purse made out of a sow’s ear.

30-square entrelac cube from corner... all over but the shouting

From 30-square entrelac cube from corner

Entrelac cube update

I'm at square 28 in a 30-square entrelac cube knitted from the corner. My mantra going into this was "keep it simple," so I'm knitting it in stockinette, and not attempting anything fancy. Of course, I'm great at complicating things, so I have tried different ways of connecting the squares, and instead of leaving stitches on holders and stuff, I'm using a very long (48") size 1 needle to hold the stitches, and also to hold the wrap at the end of every row, which I'm using as the points to pick up new stitches. Next one is going to be slip the first stitch on every row. Simpler. Still not sure what I'm going to use to hold the live stitches of the squares that are not going to be joined to other squares immediately.

Instructions for "12-square entrelac cube with cable crossings from face"

12-square entrelac cube with cables from face

This one's better.

Here's another iteration of the entrelac cube idea.

SEO

Woo hoo! My illustration is the first hit for Google Image Search with the query "heirloom knitting".

Cube is gaining on scarf

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12-square entrelac cube with cables (garter stitch)

This cube is knitted in one piece. Each square has a cable going across it diagonally, and the squares and the cables are joined to each other as you knit. There are no seams in the finished cube... well, I lied: there is one grafted seam at the very end.

24-square entrelac cube from corner with cable crossings (3, 6, 6, 6, 3)

24-square entrelac cube from corner with cable crossings, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

30-square entrelac cube from corner (3, 6, 12, 6, 3)

Plan B for world entrelac domination

From Knitting Diag...

This one is more symmetrical... and it keeps squares that touch on the corners in vertical alignment... does that make sense? I really have to knit this to establish world entrelac peace and prosperity. Sixty squares (4, 4, 4, 12, 12, 12, 4, 4, 4).

12-square entrelac cube starting from a face

12-square entrelac cube starting from an edge.

30-square entrelac cube starting from an edge

This is a model of a cube where the entrelac squares lie askew of the cube's edges. I have colored it in such a way that you could knit it with an interesting pattern. The knitting starts at the center and goes outward: 2 blue squares, then a ring of 8 orange squares, then a ring of 10 green squares, 8 orange squares and 2 blue squares (2-8-10-8-2). Each "ring" can be knitted with a single length of yarn. The darker lines on the squares show the grain of the knitting. Alas, it turns out that this is impossible to knit with the constraints I have been using for 3-d entrelac, that is, only one "seam" at the very end (where you have to graft the top of a square to a previously knitted square's side). After thinking about this some more, I realize that this cube could be knitted with two pieces of yarn, knitting half the squares with one and half with the other. Knitting with 2 pieces of yarn avoids the problem mentioned above, and enables knitting this with only one of the grafted seams.

monster entrelac plan

monster entrelac plan, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

OK, here I got a little crazy. This is the diagram for a 3-D entrelac shape I knitted for my first nephew. It knits up to be the shape of a cube surrounded by six other cubes. That shape has 5 time 6 equals 30 faces. Each face is made up of 4 half-squares, which gives a total of 60 squares.

It would definitely make more sense with a picture of the finished result. I'll work on that.

Another way to knit a cube in entrelac.

1. Knit the 1st square. End on a wrong-side row. Do not break yarn.
2. Cast on (or knit onto scrap yarn stitches cast onto the left needle) and knit the 2nd square. Attach the left side of the 2nd square to the top of the 1st square as you go. End on a right-side row.
3. Pick up stitches on the left side of the 1st square (from the top down) and knit the 3rd square, attaching the right side to the top of the 2nd square as you go. End on a right-side row.
4. Pick up stitches on the left side of the 3rd square (from the top down) and knit the 4th square, attaching the left side to the bottom of the 1st square as you go. End on a right-side row.
5. Pick up stitches on the right side of the 1st square (from the bottom up) and knit the 5th square, attaching the left side to the bottom of the 2nd square and the right side to the top of the 4th square as you go. End on a right-side row.
6. Pick up stitches on the right side of the 2nd square (from the bottom up) and knit the 6th square, attaching the left side to the top of the 3rd square and the right side to the top of the 5th square as you go. End on a wrong side row, leave a long tail of yarn. Stuff the cube if you like. Graft the top of the 6th square to the right side of the 4th square.

Oops, it looks like I left something off the diagram. I'll have to rework it. The 5th square should have a "ghost" copy of the 2nd square attached to its left side.

How to knit a cube in entrelac from corner to corner

I've been knitting 3-d entrelac for a while, and making all kinds of diagrams. I think I've come up with the minimal diagram here: Explanation:

1. Knit the 1st square. End on a wrong-side row.
2. Pick up stitches on the right side of the 1st square (from the top down) and knit the 2nd square. End on a wrong-side row.
3. Pick up stitches on the right side of the 2nd square (from the top down) and knit the 3rd square. Attach the right side of the 3rd square to the bottom of the 1st square as you go. End on a wrong-side row.
4. Pick up stitches on the left side of the 1st square (from the top down) and knit the 4th square. Attach the left side of the 4th square to the top of the 3rd square as you go. End on a right-side row.
5. Pick up stitches on the left side of the 3rd square (from the top down) and knit the 5th square. Attach the left side of the 5th square to the top of the 3rd square and the right side of the 5th square to the top of the 2nd square. End on a right-side row.
6. Pick up stitches on the left side of the 2nd square (from the top down) and knit the 6th square. Attach the left side of the 6th square to the top of the 1st square and the right side of the 6th square to the top of the 5th square. End on a wrong side row, leave a long tail of yarn. Stuff the cube if you like. Graft the top of the 6th square to the right side of the 4th square.

monster entrelac

monster entrelac, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

This is one of those crazy 3-d entrelacs. When I was done knitting 60 squares, I had a cube with cubes on all faces. Each face was made up of 4 half-squares. I guess you had to be there. I think I'll knit another one. This one was made with 2 colors... I gave it to my nephew and called it a "baby-shape" because you could hold onto it with your little baby hands.

knitted entrelac triangular prism diagram

knitted entrelac triangular prism diagram, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

I'm glad I found this, it's a way to diagram the method of knitting a 3-d entrelac object, in this case a triangular prism. Not quite ready for prime-time, but it gives the idea. Each square represents a knitted square in the final piece.
Each square has a number showing the order it's knitted in. The diagonal arrow show the path the yarn takes into and out of the square.
Each square in the diagram is surrounded by other squares representing knitted squares that already exist (the number is not in parentheses, and it's a lower number) or squares that will be knitted later. The orthogonal arrows show the direction of knitting for each square except for the one you're currently knitting, which you're knitting from bottom to top.
To start each square, you'll either be knitting onto a scrap-yarn provisional cast-on (P. C. O), for example in squares 1, 2, 4, or picking up stitches from the sides of other squares. Picking up stitches is represented by little hatch marks inside the square you're working on.
And for every square after the first square, you'll also be attaching a side of the current square to the live stitches of one square that came before. This is denoted with little hatch marks that go along one of the sides of the square you're working on, but the hatch marks are outside the square. This is done in typical entrelac fashion, by working the first or last stich of a row together with one of the live stitches from another square.
Occasionally, and this is to be avoided whenever possible, you have to attach the live stitches of the square you just knitted to the side of another square previously knitted. This is indicated by a wavy line above the top of the square you just knit. The only way I've figured out how to do this short of grafting is to hold one live stitch available from the previously knitted square. You'll see this with a notation "leave loose." If that stitch is a live stitch when the time comes to attach the later square, you can ladder down that edge stitch and chain it up again, attaching the live stitches as you go.