Kitsch
Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating tomorrow!
I actually started this project several times back in late August-September. I made so many mistakes I finally frogged it and put it aside. An opportunity to try again finally came when I was in a lull between projects.
I hope I’m not causing any bad ’70s flashbacks with this color combination! I used these two colors partly because I was fairly sure the recipient would like them, and because their official names are Paprika and Thyme, quite appropriate for kitchen use.
It’s a fun pattern, simple but interesting at the same time. It’s also a bit challenging because the Gingham stitch pattern uses an odd-numbered row repeat before changing colors. I’ve done this before with other projects, but for some reason, I had a serious block with this project. I kept frogging or tinking back needlessly, or making too many errors. Things went much more smoothly after taking a break.
I made one modification to the second Grid section (the two-color section before the cast-off edge). I added in two contrast-color transition rows after the Gingham section (to prevent slipping stitches of both colors in the first row of the Grid section). I knit one row with the green, and then on the WS, *K1, S1 wyib*, and ended with K2. With these two extra rows, the borders seemed more balanced.
I couldn’t get the double-knit and crocheted handle given in the pattern to turn out properly. After ripping out several attempts, I tried a few new approaches until I finally settled on the reversible, uni-color version you see in the photos. I decreased the needle size to US 2.5 (3 mm) for a firm fabric. I liked how it looks, so I’m including the instructions here for future reference
accessories, decor, knitting | 19 stitches
