#needleworkmonday :: A Knitted Red Table Mat for Practice
Happy #NeedleWorkMonday everyone!
Last week, I was using a cheap red yarn as stuffing for my little handsewn hexy pincushion. This week, I wanted to practice my continental knitting and purling and decided to use the cheap red yarn for this purpose. I think there is nothing to lose if the knitting and purling didn't work considering the yarn is cheap.
My challenge with continental knitting so far was tension. I have tried several times doing this style of knitting and my fingers were unable to control the tension well, resulting in holes in the middle of the knitting and purling.
At one point, I was knitting using continental style but purling using English style.
In case you are wondering, here is a video on the difference between continental style and English style knitting and purling. I wrote a bit about the difference between this two styles last year too.
I chose a pattern that was meant for a dish cloth but I wanted to finish off the yarn which was why it became a table mat instead :D. The pattern was from weefolkart and it was very easy to work.
First, I cast on 34 stitches and knitted the first 7 rows:
Then, the pattern began with:
Row 1 - Knit 4, Purl 26, Knit 4 (and all odd rows)
Row 2 - Knit all the way (and all even rows)
until the last inch where I knitted 7 rows again to complete the border.
This was suppose to be a square wash cloth but I wanted to finish off the yarn, so I continued knitting the pattern longer before I ended with the 7 rows of knit.
And I could keep going because there was a difference in texture on the project which gave a variation instead of a mundane knit:
I liked how the red accentuates the pattern:
The border is really cool:
As I worked the pattern, I really liked the texture of the pattern and the way the stitches created a border for the piece. I kept working until I finished the red yarn.
I realised that this cheap red yarn that I didn't quite like was pretty alright for this project. I liked how red it turned out and how neat the stitches turned out too.
I began to get the hang of the tension and I am liking continental style knitting and purling. The method is much faster than English style, now that I am getting used to it. It needed my fingers to get used to the method and I had to sharpen my motor skills which was quite rusted.
Quite frankly, I can't believe I completed this project using continental style, no cheating at all! It looked really nice on my table and the cool thing is that both sides can be used :)
Plus, easy to wash and dry too! :)
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Here's wishing everyone a good week ahead and
Happy #NeedleWorkMonday! Take care everyone!
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I do like that really like that red
And what a great job you did with it
I am sure it will be part of many family gatherings :D
Thank you @kaerpediem! I like the red too.
How have you been? How are things looking over at your end?
Stay safe, stay well there my friend. Looks like MCO is slowly being lifted.
Thanks for sharing your creative and inspirational post on HIVE!
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Thank you, thank you @diyhub!
Gracias por compartir.
Gracias por su visita :)
It looks like a Valentines Day Decoration to me!
Looks perfect for adding felt hearts or felt christmas trees ...
Great work, love your straight stitches.
Thank you @metzli! Now that you remind me, it does look like a Valentine's Day decor :)
Your tension looks so good, it seems you really are into continental knitting now (not that’s it important to be fast... but I understand the wish :-DDD I also always want to be fast :-D) I still have problems with the purl stitch indifferent the style, it is always looser... Also I find that cheap yarn can really look nice with knitting (much better than in crochet) On the other hand I have one expensive yarn I treasure (not clever, I should use it) from Noro and I absolutely dislike its knitted appearance, but in crochet its lovely (in my eyes).
And I am looking forward what you will knit next. You know, your nearly made a sweater front :-DDD garter stitch works wonderfully as a ribbing or a buttonband :-D
Hehe.. I am still not that fast but it is better than before. My challenge now is that my left fingers get tired from the strain. Keep telling myself to relax, especially the area between the thumb and the index finger.
But I am liking this method, now that I am able to control the tension better.
You are right, these cheap yarns do look good in knitting. Crochet, they look messy. But it could be that the way I crochet was messy :D
Aawww.. thank you for the motivation. Sweater, is in my wish list for some time to come. Hehe.. But guess what, I have just frogged this table mat to knit something else bigger by combining with other cheap yarn :D
Thank you for your lovely comment always <3