Knit with Square Holes Around

It's drafty here. My chair is in the path of a sliding glass door. In Winter it gets pretty cold. I am still looking for a way to weatherstrip it more efficiently. In the meantime, I insulate MYSELF with knitting. The piece at left is a long rectangular wrap that I am making of Paton's Shetland Chunky Tweed in red. It is nearly finished and has used a total of 11 skeins. The center portion of the shawl was knit on size 10 knitting needles and measures approximately 20" x 60" before edging and blocking. The edging, nearly finished, is from Nicky Epstein's book, Knitted Embellishments. I liked it because of the modern, square holes. It was NOT fun to knit because of all the starting, stopping, casting/binding and loose ends. I still like the way it looks. I knit the edging on three sides of the shawl. The fourth (long) side will be plain garter stitch so that I have a solid edge near my neck and shoulders. I have not figured out how to block this thing yet. My house really doesn't have that much quiet real estate. Also, we are having new carpet put down soon. My husband would have a fit if I blocked anything on the new carpet for a while. The entire household is in an uproar as we prepare for some major fixing. I may just have to block this .....I have no idea....

Knit Sushi

Just a little knit sushi that I've been working on. I'm doing this freeform. There is no pattern. It's been fun to look at what other people have done in this area for inspiration. Now I've started pulling cookbooks and restaurant menus into use, too. I'll come back to this project from time to time, until I have a complete set that can go into some sort of fiber-based bento.

BTW, my husband is recuperating form surgery. It's been a long year. At his follow-up visit, we hope to hear that he is cancer-free. Knitting has helped keep me sane. Surprisingly, this last week, when he actually had the surgery, I was too fried to knit much. THAT'S how rattled I was.

Knit Periodic Table: With The New Elements

Here is the finished article. It's about the size of my dining room table, just under 4 x 6 feet. The picture was taken by my husband, who stood on a chair to get most of the piece in the frame.
Once the shawl/afghan was completed, I realized that there is NO way that I'm going to just drape this over a chair anytime soon. My fingers get tired every time I look at it. It's carefully folded (inside out) and on my desk. No cats allowed. In the meantime, I have gotten a few suggestions that I donate this , perhaps to a local science teacher. Admittedly, this is a good idea. My favorite teacher of all time, my chemistry teacher, was a knitter. She's definitely a spiritual part of this project. Here's my dilemma. Most people do not value handcrafts nearly enough. I'm not ready to part with this. Maybe. We'll see. I'll think about it. Put it in writing and I'll get back to you......

Update

Quick update. I'm binding off the edging. It's taking quite some time. Hope to have a photo of the finished project up very soon and then on to the next project(s).

Edging

Nearly done. This is the second try on the edge. Originally, I tried a slip stitch type of ribbing. Unfortunately it did not lie flat. It was wavy and the edges curled. After completing two sides, (one short and one long) I ripped it out and started over. As much as I hated that, it was better to have a decent-looking finish on this project. This time, I picked up about 20-25% fewer stitches on the long edges and worked a simple K1P1 ribbing with mitered corners. It's simple, lies flat and is effective. Each row of the ribbing changes color. Every other row is done in light teal, for consistency. The alternate rows are worked in stripes of all the other colors.. I've worked the ribbing for about 3-4 inches (length of my index finger). In real terms, that means I worked the ribbing until I was sick of it. Since each round had at LEAST 600 stitches......I was unusually patient. I worked 12 rounds......

Knit Periodic Table: The New Elements

This photo shows how I interpreted the elements that have temporary names. That means that most of them have been "discovered" (synthesized) but IUPAC and IUPAP have not verified them or agreed on a two-letter symbol and name. Note that UUS, (atomic number 117) has not been discovered yet.The layout of the three-letter elements is not ideal, but I was happy just to get three letters squeezed into the space originally intended for two letters. As the new elements get permanent names, I have the option of changing the letters. I might also be too lazy to do that.

Rare Earths, done

Progress photo. Rare earths done. The last groups to go in are the newest elements, the halogens and the inert gases.