Eureka . . .darn
Posted by Lanea on Friday, October 26th, 2007
After a lot of experimenting, I found the magic edging that will control the curling on the edges of the blanket, look nice, and not break my brain or hurt my hands by requiring me to crochet. And the magic edging is (Insert an imagined Drum-roll) . . .
A four-stitch applied i-cord edging worked sunwise, followed by a 4-stitch applied i-cord edging worked widdershins, which is then sewn delicately to the back of the blanket to keep everything uncurled. Brilliant. I’ve asked Boogie to dye me up just the right crowning touch, and am working away on the base round.
Unfortunately, this wonderful solution requires really a lot of stitches. 67 stitches on the outer edge of each block on the short edge of the blanket, each picked up twice, and then each stitched eight times before being finally bound off, and that’s multiplied by seven for the blocks on that end, multiplied by two, since there are two short sides on the rectangle, and 13 blocks per long side . . .
This is where I should stop doing the math and get back to my knitting. But no, let me rip off the band aid and know what I’m about to do.
9,380 stitches for the short sides plus 17,420 for the long sides equals 26,800 for the edging. But you know what, that’s not so bad, right? Considering that there are 13 rows of 7 blocks and 12 rows of six blocks, for 163 total, and in each block there are 761 stitches, so I’ve already made . . .
124,043 stitches, and only (ONLY!) 26,800 to go. And really, I’ve already done a bunch of those since a couple of the already have their first round of i-cord.
Still, I’m going to need more tea. And coffee. And maybe a Marconi or two.
Filed in knitting | 5 responses so far
Janeon 26 Oct 2007 at 6:19 pm 1Math can be dangerous!
Ruth from Virginiaon 29 Oct 2007 at 11:03 am 2That way lies madness. I do not recommend counting total stitches until you are done and want to impress people, especially if you are giving it away. “Honey, do you know that there are 58,000 stitches in that scarf that you just dragged through the mud?”
Stephanieon 29 Oct 2007 at 10:21 pm 3Holy cow.. I just got a little woozy from the numbers. I gotta lie down.
Rachelon 30 Oct 2007 at 11:22 am 4I think a little brain matter just splattered on my computer monitor.
Junoon 31 Oct 2007 at 8:27 am 5Really, I think that falls into the category of better not to know. Just do it.
Though I would like some kind of visual on the technique development process.