A new Experiment!

Domino Knitting!

I've heard of this and there was no particular reason I decided to have a go at it besides the fact that I have a few balls of left-over sock yarn in my wool room and the plain truth that the other thing I was knitting was in a heavier gauge of yarn and I liked the idea of something delicate...like 4 ply. I mean, it's not like I have any lack of sources of sock yarn to fall back on!

Anyway, I found a really helpful tutorial on Pinterest on a blog called Loose Threads all about how to do it to produce beauties like this!

But I didn't like the jagged edge. I wanted a straight edge. So after reading about half the instructions and quickly flicking through the pictures I grabbed the top ball of left-overs, a 2mm circular needle (a really short one!) and dove in!

First I knit the four on the right and worked out how the placements of the decreases worked. I really like the way the slip 2, knit 1, pass 2slsts over knit st make a really neat line in the centre. But I still had a fair amount of yarn left so I decided I'd make a square twice the size to sit next to the smaller ones. I quite liked how that looked and decided to surround this rectangle as I went around.

I mean, how hard could it be?

See? Isn't it pretty? And a nice predictable pattern developing too. Always a large square beside the 4 smaller squares.  I really quite liked this kind of joining as you go along and with the fine yarn it's not too hot to do while it's uncomfortable warm either!  Okay, moving on...

All going along really well although it's hard to know whether to try and match the colours better but I decided in the end to just go with whatever I grabbed next.

And right here! Right here I suddenly realized I may have outsmarted myself. I had discovered earlier that there had to be an order in how you knitted each square or else the line down the middle could end up pointing the wrong way but I didn't thing it would really be a problem...until I started trying to go down the right side of the centre rectangle. To do the little squares with the line going in the right direction I had to some how join THREE sides instead of the usual two.

Pause...Think...Grind Teeth! (buggerbuggerbugger!!)

So I decided that I'd just have to come up with a way of doing that. Not that it was difficult, just a little fiddly! And now I know why there aren't any examples of small and large squares in a straight edged blanket like this!

So, using a single double point 2mm needle I picked up 15sts on the third side and every back row I knit together the first st on the working needle with one from the third side. It works pretty well. It's not quite as smooth a join as the normal one used through out the pattern but it functions and for that I'm prepared to be thankful!

Of course all this is still in progress and my aim at the moment is to finish the large square I'm doing and make a cushion cover with it. And then I'll sit back and contemplate the wonders now at my fingertips of greater and larger things... Like maybe a sock yarn blanket myself. Yes, that might be nice...

Well, one day maybe anyway :)

Anyone else ever experimented with domino or modular knitting?

See you later!
Dx

Family Photo Shoot

Let me just say one thing up front...
I hate having final responsibility for anything.
Anything at all!
I will happily be your second man (or woman, whatever!) your lieutenant, Beta to someone else's Alpha. Perfectly comfortable in this role.
Just don't make me the final authority because I will either run, throw-up or quietly melt-down as I panic about something going wrong and it being ALL MY FAULT!

Okay, little disclaimer done, now onto the story.

I organised our family's latest photo shoot...largely on my own!

And several times I really wanted to die...for a day or two at least.

It's difficult getting all our family together now the kids are all adults. Because of Hubbie's work, we move about every two years or so and at the moment are in the western Australian wheatbelt. Our daughter's partner is an officer in the Army and they're based in Brisbane, Qld. And the two boys both house share together in Perth. Even with 4/5ths of us in the same state, it still isn't the easiest thing in the world!

Finding a photography place that would make us look like a family as opposed to 5 strangers who just walked off the street was hard enough. I wanted some place where they would make us look good and no-one would be able to escape! And I had to get it done while daughter was over here for a friends wedding and her yearly visit. So a kind of tight time frame, really...(panic,panic, sweat!!)

I found Exclusive Photography and they sounded like they ticked all my boxes and were really lovely. I had to make a date to go and then tell everyone what was expected and what to bring, (hyperventilating a little, panic, panic!!) and then meet up in Perth.

And...it kind of worked!

Brianna getting the pretty treatment!

And then my turn...

...While the boys went out clothes shopping because Jordan had worn his favourite clothes to shreds and couldn't understand why his father wasn't going to let him get photos like that...Ben didn't really help by wanting to get done in his boardies and ugg boots! But they managed while we girls were made look lovely.

It was great fun. It really was and the only fly in the ointment was how much it cost but that's just because any numbers with a $ in front of it makes me immediately break out in a sweat and want to throw up! But all things put together it was pretty reasonable and fortunately they organised a really easy payment plan spread out over the year. And now I have over 50 gorgeous photos of my three adult children, all vibrant and lively, in their various degrees of development together with their father and I.

After it all, I can breath!

I'm a little pleased with myself...just a bit. I'm sure that something will come along and cloud my confidence, but for the moment I'm quietly relieved that everything is over and it didn't blow up in my face...

...I'm proud of my family...

That's all.

See you later.

Dx