Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Progress report on the current doily
Friday, March 21, 2025
The First Doily of Spring 2025 and other blatherings
I started a new doily today. It's an FdA pattern that doesn't seem to be on Ravelry, not that it matters. It has a chart and a bit of a description, all in French. I think the original publication had a text version of the pattern but only rounds 45-59 are preserved in the copy I have. That's OK -- a chart is easier to work from.
This is almost certainly a Herbert Niebling pattern. It starts with hex mesh, so there are already rounds that begin and end with yarnovers by round 7. Soon it starts getting into crossed stitches, k5tog, make-10, and other fun stuff. Well, I think it's fun.
The motifs are ones I've seen in other Niebling patterns. In addition to hex mesh that begins and ends with yarnovers, there are a couple of rings of a flower-like motif, and then a leaf motif and some fans. I've seen all of these motifs in other patterns that are explicitly credited to Niebling.
It's a bit more than 100 rounds. I'm already somewhere in the 30s, so maybe 1/10 done or so. I found a full ball of DMC Cebelia #30 in my stash so that's what I'm using. I should have enough to do the whole doily, I hope. One never knows, though.
Here's a picture of another doily that I knit with a different ball of DMC Cebelia #30. This pattern is not much more than 100 rounds, but I used almost all of the thread, yikes!
This is Lavori 11/35. It's in the Ravelry database as Stern (star) since apparently it was called that in an earlier publication, Neue Mode Sonderheft 5601: Kunststricken. I used the chart and Italian-language instructions in Lavori 11.
Although this is a pretty doily, it was not as much fun to knit as I had hoped. For one thing, it has a LOT of stitches per round. Lots and lots. Way more than seemed necessary at the time. That's part of why the doily ended up blocking out so big -- if stitches can't spread out horizontally, they will spread out vertically. I was kind of sweating by the end, hoping that I'd have enough thread to finish.
Also, I don't know how to describe it, but it seemed kind of blah as I was knitting. It's well-designed, but, well, it felt ordinary. No delightful (or aggravating) surprises. Just elegant leaf motifs and stacked increases and decreases amid plenty of hex mesh.
I don't believe it's a Herbert Niebling design. It's not attributed to anyone in particular, but it doesn't have the chart quirks that I find characteristic of Niebling's charts. Yes, doily chart forensics... In particular, the hex mesh area never starts and ends with a yarnover and no further information. Instead, the two yarnovers hang out together at the end of the round, and one is given explicit instructions on moving one of those stitches at the end of the intermediate round. Also, the crochet-ing off is more complex than Niebling usually calls for.
I don't regret making this beautiful design, but I have no desire to knit it again. I'd love to know who designed it, though, and also what else he/she designed.
Lavori 11 is a fun publication. I was lucky enough to be able to get it when it was published, and I've never regretted doing so. It's a mix of patterns by a variety of designers. I've made at least 9 patterns from it so far and will undoubtedly make more. A lot of the patterns appear in other publications, often German-language ones such as some of the Sonderheft issues.
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And because I feel like it, and this blog is just for me, I want to dither about doilies for a few paragraphs.
There's another old French-language pattern I'd like to do, but it's text only, no chart. Also, some of the leftmost abbreviations are cut off in the copy I have. It's a cute pattern, very Niebling-esque, with typical leaves and flowers and hex mesh. It looks like it binds a bit in the outer rounds, which deforms the stitches in a way I find attractive. Also, it has one do a crochet cast-off in the middle, and then pick up stitches and do an outer motif. It's possible that the motifs wouldn't bind if they were allowed to be round or scalloped instead.
Dunno if it would be a fun experience or not. I could also chart out the pattern, though that too might or might not be fun.
I'm also considering some of the patterns in Lavori 7. I've done a few so far, but there are some larger ones that are intriguing. I'd need to make sure I had enough thread, though. And enough ambition/stamina if I choose one of the larger designs.
There are some other FdA patterns I'd like to do, too.
I do keep a list of doily patterns I'd like to make, organized in size from smallest to largest. Some things drop out as my tastes change. New things get added. When I'm not seduced by an unexpectedly alluring pattern, I look at my list for inspiration. I've knit a lot of doilies from that list over the years.
That's enough about doilies for the moment. Other knitting is occurring but nothing is particularly photogenic or worthy of blogging about yet.
Back to the k5-togs! The crossed stitches are calling!
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Giant wool/mohair frisbee (aka unfelted cat bed) is accepted by the local felines
Friday, March 14, 2025
Précieuse Dentelle post-blocking pics and another bonus doily pic (Viola)
Here's the bad post-blocking pic. It's cute, in spite of the aggravation and all my mistakes and not terribly careful blocking.
Here's a close-up of the hex-mesh-substitute texture stitches.
The upper part of the photo shows where I was doing slip 2, knit 2, pass the 2 slipped stitches over, which were done over the double yarnover of the previous round. (Actually, the double yarnover plus 1 of the 2 stitches of the s2-k2-p2sso couplets of the previous round.)
The lower part of the photo shows the other texture stitch, in the columns inside the petal/leaf/whatever motifs. For this, one round has a double yarnover between two double-decreases (A OO A). Above it, on the next round, is a k-tbl, yo, crossed-stitch, yo, ktbl.
Was it worth the hassle? Eh.
I'm still glad I knit this, since it's been on my list for years. What can I say? I'm attracted to a certain kind of oddball doily. I can check it off my list and move on to the next doily that intrigues me.
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Here's a pic of the Viola doily, knit many years ago. I don't know if I've talked about this on this blog. It's from Kunstbreien B39, pattern No. 5905.
There are charts for square and oval doilies using this motif, but I preferred the round one. I did this one after the tulip doily in Leszner (which does have a pic on this blog from way back when), so it was not my first time wrapping stitches.
I'm not really doing doily dithering about the Next Doily, but I'm not not dithering. I can't do much until I see what's in the thread stash and estimate how far I expect each batch will go. Much of the current thread stash consists of thrift store finds of vintage thread, mostly purchased as single balls and often as partial rather than full balls. I have found, though, that the thread color (white and off-white, mostly) is surprisingly consistent over the years.
Also, I have other things I want to do. Doilies may have to wait their turn.
Thursday, March 13, 2025
Waiting to dry
It is Filices (pattern Nr 5913). It is 80 rounds (plus cast-off), 11 pattern repeats per round. There are a few chart errors, but the pattern is so symmetric that they were easy to spot and fix.
Filices is a reference to ferns. The doily was straightforward and enjoyable to knit. I liked the symmetry and the way the motif was in strict wedges that didn't really interact with the other pattern repeats. It might well be a Herbert Niebling pattern, but whether or not it is, it is well designed and attractive.
Friday, March 7, 2025
Mistakes, oddities, patience, and other musings
Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Précieuse Dentelle and other topics
The background mesh in the middle section consists of alternating double yarnovers and a stitch pattern that is slip 2, knit 2, pass the slipped stitches over. That has to be done carefully or the slipped stitches will slip over and off the needles, with chaos ensuing all around.