Chapter Two: Solid Fabrics: Knife Pleating

Well, here we go!

You might have noticed that I'm starting this with Chapter Two. For those of you who aren't familiar with the book, as with many other knitting books out there, Mary Thomas starts with the basic properties of knit fabrics in her first chapter, The A.B.C. of Design. If you do happen to have the book, and haven't read it yet, I think it's always fun to read knitting experts' wonderment at the properties of knit fabric--the perfect complementary qualities of knit and purl, the way different stitches behave and why... I think the longer I knit and the more I know and understand about knitting, the more in awe I become of the basic beauty and perfect symmetry of knitted fabric. I would venture to say that Mary Thomas expresses it with great expertise, and is worth the ten minutes of reading if you feel the same way.

The swatching thus begins in Chapter Two: Solid Fabrics. I said in my last post that I'd skip most of this chapter, but the more time I spend in it, the more I want to swatch it. I am, however skipping the first couple of pages, which includes stocking stitch, ribbed patterns (in which she charts out one and one, two and two, three and three, five and five even ribs and one and two, three and two, five and three uneven ribs), and purl fabrics. I suppose I can assume, reader, that if you're reading this, you will probably agree with me that knitting a swatch of stockinette or purl fabric just to see what it looks like won't really be necessary for someone who already knows how to knit. 

Of the beginning pages of Solid Fabrics, the only swatch that I want to do that I don't plan to do right now is double knitting, which Mrs. Thomas introduces directly after Stocking Stitch. I am going to save that for a rainy day. I find it interesting that she would introduce it so early in the book, as it does seem to be a more complex technique than, say, ribbing or purling, which comes afterward. But anyway, I can see where she's coming from--what's two layers of stockinette as opposed to one?! 

Thus the first swatch from the book that I have is Knife Pleating, page 14. She includes a photograph of it, but the quality of the photo and the printing don't really lend themselves to seeing the dimensions of the pleating very well. And it just sounded so much fun! 

For the meantime, I should also mention that I'll be swatching in Hamanaka Medium-Fine Pure Wool. It's a great, Japanese 100% wool which I'm using with 3 mm needles. 

Mrs. Thomas categorizes Knife Pleating under Ribbed Pleating and Uneven Ribs. What I love the most about this fabric is that it takes the simple property of knitted fabric to curl and uses it as an asset rather than a curse. By strategically placing a few one and one ribs it forces the fabric to lie flat and allows the larger three and five ribbing to roll over the one and one. It's so delightful it makes me shiver! And it has so much body! You can't really see how bouncy and buoyant the pleats are in Mrs. Thomas's picture, but I think mine might give you a sense of how round it really is. And just in case, here's the side view:

I haven't seen this stitch pattern being used recently. There are only two patterns that came up on Ravelry, though there may be others out there using it in a larger context. I really like the way Debbie Bliss uses the pleats in her Riding Jacket, with the main feature of the pattern the pleated hem. This pattern might also be interesting as a knitted skirt hem, or the edging on a bulky shawl. I think I'd like to swatch it again sandwiched between regular stockinette to see how it would behave. Some patterns double the stitch count to create ruched fabric, as in AnneLena Mattison's Ruched Yoke Tee from Interweave Spring 2011 (so cute!), but I wonder if this kind of pleating could emulate that. It'd be fun to play with and I think I'll test it out in the near future.

Mary Thomas & Me

I've been knitting for a pretty long time, and I don't think it'd be too pompous for me to say I'm not a bad knitter. I love lace and as of late have focused most of my knitting on lace shawls. I've also been keeping myself occupied with a number of sweaters, some socks, two vests, a jacket, and some Christmas ornaments. I'm a multi-project knitter. But I'm sure we'll have plenty of chances to talk about that later....
So, I'm a good knitter, but I'm a horrible swatcher. I have always pretty much thought of swatching as a necessary evil. It's a small waste of time--and waste of yarn--that you have to do to make sure that your bigger, more important project turns out right. I don't think I'm alone in that camp. But lately, I've been thinking about swatching as something quite different. It's a compass in a way, letting you visualize what the stitches are going to do and what the properties of the final garment will be. But I think it's also a learning tool. It's a sketchbook. It's a blank canvas, tiny enough just to doodle some ideas out--or someone else's.
I suppose that's why I'm starting this blog. I want to become a better swatcher. And I want to honor the work and the legacy that Mary Thomas left in her book Mary Thomas's Book of Knitting Patterns. I've had this book for a long time, and I would occasionally glance through it and I've read bits of it, but, compared to Barbara Walker's Treasury and Elizabeth Zimmerman's library of great knitting advice, Mary Thomas, who wrote Knitting Patterns in 1943, is not quite as accessible. Her chart notation is less familiar to the present-day knitter, and her directions occasionally seem rather inscrutable. And though there are charts and written directions, there are few photographs of the individual patterns, which makes it all the more inaccessible to knitters today who take for granted glossy magazines, Ravelry, YouTube, and so many other awesome uses of technology that allow everything to be scrutinized, zoomed in on, and figured out before we ever pick up the needles.
This adventure is going to be about exploring a lot of stitch patterns that aren't seen so often in patterns being drafted today. Just glancing through Knitting Patterns, there are some interesting and unusual slip stitch patterns, lace medallions and tons of other "Fancy Lace Stitches" as she calls them. There are tons of little patterns and variations tucked in its pages, and I hope to both create a visual compendium of (most of) the book, and improve my own ability to understand pattern construction in hopes of becoming a better and more creative knitwear designer with a greater arsenal of knowledge to draw from.
I do not intend to knit every single pattern in the book--I've already decided to skip most of the first chapter, which includes stockinette, reverse stockinette, garter stitch, and ribbing. Though I will do a few interesting ribs and welts (as MT calls them--patterns with a horizontal or garter rib) found in that chapter.
More on this in the next post!