Progress—to the Point of Being Done!

By dinner time Saturday, I was 12 inches on. By bed time, another 3 inches! So I started Sunday with 15 inches, and I liked the look—in effect, a 3 x 5 ratio--(a golden ratio) So I thought, well a few more rows, since the cotton is likely to shrink (row wise) and stretch width wise when it get washed, and I will be done.

So I measured a half dozen rows later, and—It was still 15 inches. Impossible, yet very common—every knitter has experienced it. Phantom progress. An other half dozen, and it was just shy of 16 inches. This mat is just refusing to add length! I added another half dozen rows and it jumped to almost 18 inches—So I bound off, late Sunday evening.

I still have a lot of the cream yarn left, (the finished mat weights 10 ounces)—So I have been thinking about the next mat—and how to use the remaining cream. I worked the mat using 2 strands held together, so about 5 oz (twice). This leaves 6 ounces—or more than enough to make a double strand mat using cream as one strands. So that is one option.

I might do simple (all cream) stripes with some alternately solid ones. And some tweeds, too. Solid cream, then a tweed of cream and a color, then a solid stripe of a color, and then back to solid cream. Or maybe solid cream, tweed, solid, tweed, solid cream.. And then repeat with a different color.

Taupe for one color, and pink for another, and blue, and magenta, then a green, and maybe a pastel pink and finish off with a chocolate brown---I'll have check my stash and see exactly how much yarn of each color I have.

The next mat will be knit starting with few stitches, (about 15 to 17 inches across) and the stripes will stack up. I'll need more rows, but the stripes will keep me moving along.

I had started out thinking about TEXTURE--A basket weave maybe—or seed stitch—though, I am not sure about a bath mat in seed stitch—that is an awful lot of seed stitch.

I have a knit towel that I did in seed stitch –its hand towel (guest towel size closer) and I remember thinking , as I was knitting it, that it was a lot of seed stitch! The cream and taupe cotton tweed I have is finer than worsted—I might make a pair of hand/guest towels out of that yarn, in a seed stitch. 3 hand knit guest towels will make a nice set.

Well, it something to think about.

Mean while—I never did the socks cast on, so that's the project for today—I might also cast on for Mat 2—It was fun to finish something in a weekend.