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.
