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.