Subtle Decrease diagram

Subtle Decrease diagram, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

This is a sketch of a diagram to show the structure of the "subtle decrease" I uploaded earlier. The pink-highlighted section shows what is formed by the loop that is pulled through the decreased stitches.

Row 0: cast on 6.

Row 1: Purl 6.

Row 2: Knit 2, pull loop through 2 stitches. Enlarge the loop. Using loop yarn, knit 2.

Row 3: Using loop yarn, purl 2. drop loop yarn, pull free end of yarn to tighten loop. Purl 2.

Row 4: Knit 4.

Menger sponge entrelac 144 squares

Menger sponge entrelac 144 squares, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

Finished!

Annotated Hound's-tooth Entrelac

Annotated Hound's-tooth Entrelac, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

I used Skitch to show the boundaries between pieces in this entrelac fabric and to show the order of working the pieces.

The stuffing knocked out of me

72 of 144, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

I'm done knitting all the squares for this project. (This photo shows the halfway point.)

Now I need to buy more stuffing. I've run out of the bag that I've been carrying around for years. I've been knitting a lot of stuffed entrelac in the last few months.

I need to get to a crafts store by public transportation tomorrow without melting in the process, since it's so freaking hot during the day the last few days.

I didn't move to Portland to be assaulted by 100-plus-degree temperatures... oh, well. Other people have it worse.

Knitted Entrelac Ball

Knitted Entrelac Ball, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

Oh happy day! Somebody else (MonikaZ on Ravelry) has knitted this ball!

Subtle decrease, knit side

Subtle decrease, knit side, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

This is a decrease that looks like an upside-down increase.

I thought you guys might like it. I don’t know what you’d use it for, but it has the virtue of being flat, and symmetrical, though it makes a hole.

It’s done by pulling a loop through two stitches and enlarging and using that loop to knit to the end of the row and purl back to the decreased stitches, then picking up the yarn again, and tightening the loop, to complete the second row.

If you’ve done any sliding-loop intarsia, this uses a similar technique.

144-square entrelac Menger sponge

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144 Entrelac Menger Sponge.pdf (77 KB)

This is my magnum opus (so far) of entrelac designs. You can knit an entrelac Menger sponge with squares that lie "on the bias". This will make the sponge less "lumpy" and a little more mysterious!

The first entrelac Menger sponge was made of 72 squares. This new sponge is a "dual" of the original square, in a way. Take each square in the original shape, draw in its diagonals, and erase its edges. The new squares (twice as many) use the former squares' diagonals (well, half-diagonals) as their edges. It's a fun puzzle to figure out how to graph the squares in such a way that I can understand the path the yarn will take to complete the shape. In this case I had to us a lot of distortion to be able to show a complicated 3-d shape on the flat page. The shape is made up of 144 squares that are joined together as you go. The knitted squares are not always shown square on the graph. That's a casualty of the complicated shape... I need to be able to show, most of all, how the squares are connected. There are 8 places on this shape where 6 squares come together to create a complicated corner. This is very hard to show on a diagram! The shape obeys the contstraints I have set for myself for these shapes:

• It is knitted with a continuous thread of yarn.
• There are no sewn seams, and only one grafted seam at the very end.
• Since there are no seams, it is strong and flexible.

While creating the shape I found another constraint I had been using unconsciously:

• Each square has a side that's worked together with a previous square, either through picking up stitches or by joining a selvedge.

I had to abandon this constraint with this shape. Square number 18 is "hanging out in space" when it's done--there are no edges attached to previous squares, just the thread that joins it to square 17. This loosey-goosey state of affairs only lasts until square 19, which joins 17 and 18 to itself.

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64-square entrelac torus

IMG_3260, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

I like this doughnut because the squares lie "on the bias" and the resulting torus is not as lumpy as the other version, where the squares are aligned with the edges of the cubes that make up the torus.

Here's the diagram:

Entrelac Menger Sponge

Entrelac Menger Sponge, originally uploaded by fuzzyjay.

I made another Menger Sponge, this time out of sock yarn. I forgot how much nicer wool is to knit than acrylic. I have no excuse for using acrylic other than it's sturdy, but even then it fuzzes like crazy in the washing machine.

This sponge has 5-stitch-10-or-11-row squares. Fiddly! I like the way it looks in the sink here, almost like it's living in a Zen garden.

Entrelac Menger Sponge new way

Here's probably a better view of the diagram mentioned in the previous post. It didn't come out great as a PDF. The largest image size of this on Flickr is a PNG, which has a very small file size.

Entrelac Menger Cube Diagram, New Style With Attachment Lines

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Visio-Entrelac Menger Sponge new way rotated.pdf (2188 KB)

This diagram shows the connections between the squares in my "world-famous" entrelac Menger Sponge.

The Sponge's claim to fame:

1. It is knitted with a continuous thread of yarn.
2. There are no sewn seams, and only one grafted seam at the very end.
3. Since there are no seams, it is strong and flexible.
4. It fits together nicely with the "Baby Shape" which I posted earlier on my blog (fuzzyjay.blogspot.com).
5. No-one else has duplicated it. I've knit it twice. But I would be pleased if somebody else wants to take it up.

The diagram's claim to fame:

1. It's hard to understand. But easy when you know how. I think.
2. I tried to get the diagram to show the connections between the entrelac squares but it's tough with an object that's not convex, and has many holes.

What the diagram's squares mean:

Diagram squares represent knitted squares, numbered in the order they are knit. The diagram square's number show the direction of knitting. Knitting starts from the bottom of the diagram square when you are viewing the number upright.

At the end of the knitting, knitted squares are attached on all four edges to other squares. The attachments of knitted squares is shown by drawing the diagram squares with common edges where possible. Where not possible, the connection is shown by green or blue lines that connect the diagrammed squares.

One knitted square is always connected to the next square and the previous square by corners at least, if not also by its edges. This isn't always obvious on the diagram.

Colored lines connect squares that are joined together in the knitting, but can't be shown adjacent to each other in the diagram. Here's what the colors mean:

1. Green lines represent picking up the first row of a knitted square from the side edge of a previously knit square.
2. Blue lines represent a selvedge that is knitted together with a previous square's starting or finishing row.
3. One red line at the end connects the last row of knitting that must be grafted to a previous selvedge to close the knitted piece.

A knitted square can start one of two ways:

1. The square may be cast on, in which case either:
   • The square's bottom edge shares an edge with a square (with a higher number) that will later be joined to this square, or
   • The bottom edge of the square has a blue line touching it that leads to a square that will later be joined to this one.
2. The square may be picked up from the side of a previous square, in which case either:
   • The square shares an edge with a previous square (with a lower number) that's providing the pickup edge, or
   • The bottom edge of the square wears a green dot with a green line attached that leads to the square that's providing the edge to be picked up.

A knitted square's side edges, right after knitting it, will be either free or attached:

1. The side edge in question will be free, if either:
   • The edge is shared with another square that has a higher number, therefore the other square hasn't been knitted yet, or
   • The edge has a green line attached that you can follow to the later square that will be picked up from it.
2. The side edge in question will be attached, if either:
   • The edge is shared in the diagram with another square that has a lower number. You'll work that square's free(d) stitches with the one you're working, or
   • The edge has a blue dot attached to it. Follow the blue line to an earlier-knit square whose stitches you'll work together with this edge.

A knitted square's top edge ends up in one of three ways:

1. The square's last row's stitches are left on stitch holders, piece of string, or section of the circular needle to be put back on the needles and worked later.
2. The last row of the square is left on the needle and joined together immediately to the next square:
   • The square you’re working and the next square share an edge in the diagram, or
   • The square you’re working and the next-numbered square are connected with a blue line.
3. The last very last row of the knitting will be woven to the side of the square indicated at the end of the red line. That will be the only free side edge left!

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