I have been a member of the Knit Along for Sampler M at Yahoo for some weeks now. We are re-creating a knitting sampler made by “M” at the beginning of the 20th century. Many of the notes are posted in Dutch, and while I don’t speak Dutch, I find that Bablefish, common sense, and some occasional helpful notes in English suffice. I’ve been collecting the patterns as they have been introduced (even though some are very familiar to me) and copying the photos for my own use later. The other day it dawned on me that it was time to start this sampler. So I’ve been working on it. I pinned out what I’ve done so that you can see it. Some of these stitches probably ought to be dressed a little more to make them look better.
The sampler starts with a hemmed edge at the top which wasn’t new to me. The original was a stocking sampler, so it’s appropriate to start with a stocking top, although I’ve corrupted that since I started it. Mine is not a stocking sampler. It’s a pattern sampler. I think I made my daughter a little dress once that had that very picot edge on the hem. If not, then it was a baby set that I once made and which has long since disappeared. It’s a nice edge to know, though, so to refresh my memory I did it again.
Then came the problem of the inital M which the sampler had on it. Now, M is one of my initials, but I never use it. I’d rather have the G, so I found a cross stitch graph for a chart of letters, and I transcribed the G, using the same methodology that the M had used. I found this was great fun, and it looks mighty like a G to me!
I’ve gone on with the other designs in the sampler. Above are patterns 2, 3, and 4. Each one is a bit different. The top one is the Snowdrop pattern, which I’ve done before, and then the fourth one is one that I’ve worked as the Razor Shell pattern. I love the neat appearance of the stitches in that pattern. So some I’ve used many times, some I haven’t seen before. It’s amazing how much fun you can have doing a sampler.
The stitch at the top of this sample section is one I got from one of Barbara Walker’s books, A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. It’s called Shower Stitch, and it’s on p. 236. It isn’t stretched out to show it off at best advantage in this shot, but I wanted to try it. I soon discovered, though, why I never see it in lace shawls, etc. It has a purl 3 together through the back loop in it as well as a purl 3 together. That slows a person down on two rows of the pattern. Walker does tell you to do a P2tog, put the resulting stitch back on the left needle, and move the next stitch on the left needle over it; then transfer the resulting stitch to the right needle. It seemed to me that that wasn’t really the same as P3tog-b, although it was easier to do. I found the best way for me to P3tog-b: If you twist each of those three stitches (coming at them from the back left side) and put them on the right needle one at a time, and then put them all back on the left so that they remain twisted, you can do a P3tog and have them twisted as if they were done from the back. At least, it looks right to me. Although it’s a lovely pattern, it’s tedious to stitch however you go at it.
Following that pattern are patterns 5, 6, and 7. I’m caught up now and waiting on more to be posted.
When I started this, I thought I’d use some teeny tiny needles (size 0000) I have and some size 8 perle cotton, but I found that my poor eyes didn’t want to cooperate. So I backed off, ripped out what little I’d done, and I switched to size 10 cotton thread and a larger sized needles. I believe they’re size zero or one. I find that this I can see well, and now, I’m not fighting the yarn and needles all the time. I know that I have a problem seeing, but it’s awfully difficult to adjust my thinking to accomodate it. At any rate, I have settled on a yarn and needle that I can use easily.
I will knit along on this using whatever designs come up in the Yahoo group and whatever designs I find elsewhere in my reading that I want to include. I am not going for the “looks” of the sampler as much as the fact that I want to try the designs. This is a purely functional sampler.
The Reports of My Death Are Greatly Exaggerated
I was looking for something on Google this morning, and I ran across some notes which were exchanged last year on one of the embroidery lists. Some of my close friends informed me of the notes when they were posted, and I cleared away the fog in the poster’s mind right away, but it was disconcerting, and I thought I’d mention it here. Someone mentioned my name on a list, and someone else volunteered that I’d died some time ago! Well, like Twain, I was surprised. I’d have sworn I was still alive.
I really think the poster was thinking of another embroidery digitizer who had passed on. At the time, I’d merely closed my business of about thirteen years because of my failing eyesight. I was having great difficulty with my eyes right then, and I had no idea whether I’d have any vision remaining for long at all; it seemed prudent to close shop. I had difficulty looking at a computer screen for even a short while. (I’d rather close it myself than leave it to my husband to do when I could no longer see.) As it happened, my eye settled down, and it has been stable now for over a year. But today, there it was, that thoughtless post was still out there on the web, likely making other people think I’m dead. So I thought I’d state categorically that at the moment, at least, I’m still kicking. My vision is imperfect, and sometimes it gives me problems, but I still see, and I’m still doing creative things. I don’t digitize much any longer, but contrary to what the internet says, I am alive!