Pattern Sampler Blocks

I know I've been pretty negligent about keeping you up to date on current projects. Partially, that's because I haven't been doing much. But also, once I've started a project and not talked about it for awhile, at some point it just makes sense to wait until it is finished before saying anything. So I will make a nice long post today on something I have been working on since November and just finished up.

After I finished the blanket I was making for our little NEB, I wanted a project that a) was also for the baby, b) wasn't a particular size, c) they wouldn't need right away, in case I didn't finish before they were born, and d) didn't require much thought. I decided to make a squishy toy, but shaping an animal or person doll would require a pattern - too much thought for distracted, pregnant me.

I ended up deciding to make squishy blocks. Cubes wouldn't require much shaping, and I could make as many or as few as I wanted (I ended up making 3, but 1 1/2 were completed after NEB was born). I could make them all garter stitch or stockinette, but that was a little too easy for me, and I thought I would get bored.

So - pattern sampler blocks. This is mostly my own design. Each one started with a 25 stitch cast on size 3 needles. I would do two rows of knit, followed by a pattern of 21 stitches (with two knit stitches on either side). I would continue the pattern until I had a square, then finish with two more rows of knit. I would then switch to another color, and make a similar square with a different pattern. After I had finished 4 squares like that, I would cast off.

Then, because I don't like sewing, I picked up 25 stitches along one side and made another square. On the edges of the square I would pick up stitches along the sides, but I could just have easily seamed it later.

When I had six squares, I stuffed it with wool and sewed it up (a foam cube would probably have been better, but I have a lot of crummy wool available for stuffing). After it was stuffed, I attempted to felt the wool with a hot bath followed by a cold bath. I don't know if it did anything - I was mostly just hoping to make it a little more cube-like.

Well, I'm probably not describing it very well. Here's a picture.

One block, after soaking.

So that's the block part. Onto the sampler part. Across the 3 blocks I had a total of 12 patterns - 3 on the first two and 6 on the third. Incidentally, the yarn for these blocks were some leftovers that my mother-in-law gave me from a pair of dresses she made for my little nieces. It's acrylic and I have 5 colors - white, blue, green, pink, and lavender. Because I started this before I knew the sex of the baby, and I didn't want it to seem too gendered, I made one block in boy's colors (green, blue, and white); one in girl's colors (pink, lavender, and white) and one with all of the colors (two white panels and one, each, of all of the others).

I had two requirements for the sampler patterns: 1) nothing fancy, since I didn't want it to bunch up weirdly - only knits and purls; and 2) it had to look good in 21 stitches. To the patterns!

Block #1 - "boy's colors"

Green was a simple basket weave:

Block #1, green basket weave - picture taken before stuffing

The pattern went as follows:
===vvv===vvv
===vvv===vvv
===vvv===vvv
vvv===vvv===
vvv===vvv===
vvv===vvv===

with v meaning a knit on the right side and a purl on the wrong side, and = meaning a purl on the right side and a knit on the wrong side.

White was a diagonal rib:

Block #1, white diagonal rib- picture taken before stuffing

This pattern was:

==vv==vv==vv==vv
v==vv==vv==vv==v
vv==vv==vv==vv==
=vv==vv==vv==vv=

And finally, blue was a messed up pattern from Barbara Walker (my mistake, not hers':

Block #1, blue something-or-other - picture taken before stuffing

And pattern (as I ended up doing it):
vvvvvvvvvvv
=v=v=v=v=v=
v=v=v=v=v=v 
vvvvvvvvvvv
v=v=v=v=v=v
=v=v=v=v=v=
vvvvvvvvvvv
vvvvvvvvvvv

Next was Block #2 - "girl's colors":

Pink was a  slanted basket weave:

Block #2, pink slanted basket weave - picture taken before washing

Pattern:

vvv===vvv===vvv
=vvv===vvv===vv
==vvv===vvv===v
===vvv===vvv===
vvv===vvv===vvv
=vvv===vvv===vv
==vvv===vvv===v
===vvv===vvv===

Purple was a rib, but reversed after an arbitrary number of rows:

Block #2, purple rib-like thing - picture taken before washing

 pattern is pretty simple:

===vvv===vvv
===vvv===vvv
===vvv===vvv
===vvv===vvv
===vvv===vvv
vvv===vvv===
vvv===vvv===
vvv===vvv=== 
vvv===vvv===

And white was a simple garter stitch:

Block #2, white garter stitch - picture taken before washing

 I don't think you need the pattern, but here it is anyhow:

vvvvvvvv
=======
vvvvvvvv
=======

Block #3 - all the colors:

Two whites - a simple rib and a "sideways rib":

Block #3, white rib- picture taken before washing

Block #3, white sideways rib- picture taken before washing

  The rib pattern is:

==vv==vv==
==vv==vv==
==vv==vv==
==vv==vv==
==vv==vv==
==vv==vv==

and the sideways rib is:

===========
===========
===========
vvvvvvvvvvvvv
vvvvvvvvvvvvv 
vvvvvvvvvvvvv
===========
===========
===========

Purple was a slanted pattern of my own design:

Block #3, purple slant - picture taken before washing

 pattern:

=====v======v===
======v======v==
v======v======v=
=v======v======v
==v======v======
===vvvv===vvvv===

Pink was a type of moss stitch

Block #3, pink moss stitch - picture taken before washing

pattern:

v=v=v=v=
v=v=v=v=
=v=v=v=v
=v=v=v=v

Blue was a broken basket weave:

Block #3, blue broken basket - picture taken before washing

pattern:

vvv===vvv 
vvv===vvv 
vvv===vvv
=========
vvvvvvvvvv
=========
vvvvvvvvvv
===vvv=== 
===vvv=== 
===vvv===
=========
vvvvvvvvvv
=========
vvvvvvvvvv

And finally, green was a zig-zag pattern:

Block #3, green zig-zags - picture taken before washing

Pattern:

vvvvv==vvvvv
vvvv==vvvvv=
vvv==vvvvv==
vv==vvvvv==v
v==vvvvv==vv
vv==vvvvv==v
vvv==vvvvv==
vvvv==vvvvv=
vvvvv==vvvvv

Whew! That was quite a lot of patterns. Maybe I should have updated while I was working on the project rather than at the end. Oh well, I hope you were inspired to explore more of what knits and purls can do.

Next time I hope to update you on my spinning, or maybe the scarf made from handspun for my hubby.