There’s a famous anecdote of Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, on being asked what he thought the impact of the French Revolution was, replying that it was “too early to tell”. Well, that’s still where I am with regard to my version of the Staithes pattern in this gansey. Sometimes it looks like it might come good in the end and recreate the pattern quite effectively, while at other times it more closely resembles medieval pillow mounds seen from the air. (Actually, that’s a thought – has anyone tried to knit an archaeological site drawing as a pattern before – other than Stonehenge, anyway – and how cool would that be?)
I’ve been debating whether to bail out and turn the pattern into a band across the chest, and switch to another tried and tested pattern for the rest; but I’ve decided that’s the coward’s way out – the gansey equivalent of a loaded revolver in the desk drawer. No, I think the world needs to know how this will turn out, so I’m going to carry on (for now at least). I can wear it on special days when the sun is at a particular angle to show off the pattern just so; or I can position myself nonchalantly under streetlights, in the hopes that someone will take me for a seagoing private detective on a stakeout; or I can lurk by the fridge in the hopes that someone will ask for a pint of milk, so the light will… Well, you get the idea.
I still think the pattern will emerge slightly clearer once it’s been washed and blocked, though it won’t be as definite a pattern as my model, which is a shame. But it should give an interestingly textured feel to the thing, and there’ll be enough of a pattern to get by. The effect I hadn’t anticipated is that, with the extra knit row separating the patterns, the purl stitches appear sunk into the surface of the gansey while the knit stitches seem to stand proud – not the other way round.
Other news – I moved my stuff up to Edinburgh mid-week, hence the lack of progress on the gansey. (Well, I say I moved it – really, of course, it was a couple of guys from the removal company who had the joy of struggling up the 7 flights of stairs with all the boxes and wardrobes, etc., while I mimed having something in my eye and being extremely busy in the kitchen…) As a result, updates to this blog may not happen every week, for the next few months while I flit between two addresses, 400 miles apart – so the next entry will probably be on or around Good Friday, in about 10 days’ time. See you then!
I’d never thought of patterning stitches after archeological sites, but did spend a few seasons photographing the ploughed fields of the Palouse in Eastern Washington from the air with the thought that their swirling, often Nazca-like, lines could inspire a series a tapestries. Of course, I had moved on from tapestry weaving before that actually happened. It would be worth exploring in knitting.
As for what is happening with the Staithes variation, it is most intriguing, and may yet come right in the wash and block. Of course, you could always sw…. Never mind. I didn’t say it. (Blucher!)
Good luck with the worst part of the move (the clean up and wrap up).