Saturday 4 August 2012

Teresa asked a very good question - Can you reproduce stitch patterns when working from the top down?
This is a leaf pattern which is knit from the Bottom Up. The two leaves hang down.

When you follow the exact same written instructions for the stitch pattern, working from the Top Down, the leaves will be pointing up when you wear the garment. To change the leaves so that they point down when your top down is worn would take some engineering and understanding of lace principles.

I would strongly suggest that the easiest way to tackle choosing lace patterns to be inserted into a top down garment is to hold your stitch dictionary upside down.
That way the pattern you are attracted to is oriented in the way it will be seen when your top down garment is worn. Try it. The patterns all look a little different from that perspective. Different patterns will catch your eye. It's fun, especially in a public place where people will look at you oddly!
-Deb

3 comments:

  1. My answer to Teresa is that yes, with some patterns it is possible to engineer the stitch pattern so that it works in reverse. I recently did this with a simple horseshoe cable pattern. However, I agree with you, Deb, that in general it's easier to look at your stitch dictionary upside down.

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  2. and with knitting in the round ? Other than simple cables,a celtic cable or lace seems more work to figure out than it would be to actually knit it! t_a

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  3. We already get odd looks for knitting in public. What's a few more? LOL

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