Conundrum....

I'm back to coupled writing! After a break for the holidays, my writing partner and I have again begun giving each other words for posts. My word is "conundrum," taken from the latest book by Malcolm Gladwell, Talking to Strangers - more on the book later.

I love conundrum. It sounds like the bumbling fools we are, when we're trying to work out the answer to a problem. In fact, I was faced with a number of conundra (It also has Latin roots - what's not to love.) over the last few weeks. I have been re-knitting some of my patterns for shawls and scarves in DK weight yarn, which is a little heavier than the fine lace weight I originally used.

Well, all knitting is different and the same knitting worked, say ten years apart and in different yarn is still very different. Here were some of my problems.

1. Ten years ago I had knit Blossom using a rayon yarn and a small lace flower stitch, called Quatrefoil.  I used the stitch as shown in a stitch dictionary and knit it like this. (A)

                                                                                             0 /
                                                                                        \ 0     0 /
                                                                                              0 /

Well, while knitting a scarf, headband and matching mittlets (fingerless mittens) ten years later, I realized that the stitch could also be worked as follows: (B)

                                                                                             \ 0
                                                                                        \ 0      0 /
                                                                                             \ 0

or like this. (C)

                                                                                            \ 0
                                                                                        \ 0     0 /
                                                                                              0 /

Now which one to use, was the conundrum.

Actually both A & B worked well for the scarf because one side of the scarf could be worked as A and the other side of the scarf could be worked as B. This would keep the "0"s aligned, when the stitches shift for the second half of the scarf - some people who knit actually have PHDs in math, engineering and/or political science. I've never trusted the poly-sci ones, though :)

I used C for the headband and mittlets because they needed to be balanced, unlike myself ;) So you have it!! Conundrum for a lace motif, solved.

Have a problem free day!!

PS I have finished 3 other lace sets, each with its own special conundra. More on them later.