I have need for a fabric that has a different "thickness" depending on the angle you are looking at it. For example, if the fabric is let to drape vertically, the number of threads you look through when looking up at the fabric is greater than the number of threads you look through when looking down from above. What I require is a stitch that has an effect similar to half drawn venetian blinds.
Does anyone know if such a stitch exists ?
Thanks, Pete.
Presuming you mean horizontal venetian blinds and not the vertical ones...
How about garter stitching say three rows and stocking stitch 8 rows or a combination to get the amount you width for each pleat you need, as this is what it would look like but the garter rows would show too much, especially if you did them on smaller needles and thus the tension would be smaller...
You'd have to play about to get it right.
I assume you want the thicker part uppermost, so it's solid looking down but lacy looking up? Some of the "bell" shaped decorative stitches might have that effect. They're usually done as an edging but can be done as an allover stitch. Most stitch dictionaries have one version or another of it.
=Tamar
Tamar I must say i could SEE what she had in mind ,, must think about it a bit more , it sounds more like a woven cloth to me than a knitted one !!! mirjam
That's what I thought, too.
Thanks for all the replies.
The fabric I would like to make is like a horizontal venetian blind which is near to translucent when looking down at the fabric but is opaque when viewed from below.
Following up Tamar's suggestion, I had a look for online stitch dictionaries that mention a bell stitch. Unfortunately I could not find it. Is there a definitive stitch dictionary I should be looking at?
Could you explain why ? As a novice to this subject, I assumed that if this cloth does exist, it would be knitted. This is because I read that knitting has greatest potential for variety of shapes.
Having looked at some of the most common stitches, they all seem to be vertically symmetrical in cross section. The =93venetian blind=94 fabric would have a vertical asymmetry in the cross section. This discourages me as to the likelihood that such a stitch exists.
Thanks for any further comments.
Pete
It sounds like what you want to make is something on the line of a honeycomb blind in that it is three-dimensional.
The site I use for information about stitches is at:
Because you speak of Vertical and horizontal `stitches that cross` each other , it Reads to me woven Warp and weft , which Cross each other ,. knitted stitches LOOP one on top of each other and one beside each other. When you weave=3Dcross the warp & weft , you can controll how many threads you have under and how many on top , and thus have a Different look from each angle. mirjam
Ah, I had it upside down. So in essence what you want would be like a curtain for an upstairs window that would let in light from above but block the view from below. Like roofing tiles to shed the rain only aimed up instead of down.
It took me a while to find it; I seem to have been over-optimistic. The pattern I was thinking of is "Embossed Bell Motif" on page 138 of _A Treasury of Knitting Patterns_ by Barbara Walker; it's the first "treasury" of her series of books, which are readily available (I think Schoolhouse Press is reprinting them now). However, "Bells and Bell-Ropes" on the same page may be more useful. Both of them have the openings downward and the fabric would have to be used as if knitted top-down so as to have the openings upward.
Both of the above are fairly heavy patterns. If you want a lighter fabric, there is another stitch in the same book that may be more like what you want. On page 130 "Coral Knot Stitch" has a relatively flat row, then a slight ridge, and right next to the ridge is a row of small eyelets. Again, it would have to be used with the stitch pattern knitted downward to have the slight ridge block the small eyelets from the looking-upward direction.
If these don't work, you may want to look into crochet, to get a thicker ridge and then pick up some more open stitches from slightly below the edge to make the ridge project outward and block the openings. It would be possible to do that with knitting but much easier and faster with crochet.
=Tamar
I knitted a Bamboe shawl in knit 4,*k2 tog. loop on needle , repeat from * next row p, next row knit 3, * k2 tog, loop on needle , reapeat from
That's very much like the Coral Knot stitch; on a multiple of 3, plus 1:
The stitches picked up in row 2 are essentially the same as the yarnovers ("loop on needle") in your pattern, Mirjam. The Coral Knot stitch has three simple rows between pattern rows instead of only one, and the holes are in straight rows instead of staggered in a diamond pattern.
=Tamar
Thank you Tamar , i don`t know the name of that pattern , but i thought about Pete`s request of a knitting that will have a `closed look` effect on one side and an `open effect` on the other ,,, And this fits the request , mirjam
Thank you to both Tamar and Mirjam for your help.
I have ordered a copy of the book and it Iooks like I will have to learn to knit!
One last question, are there knitting machines that are flexible enough to be programmed with the stitches you are suggesting ?
Pete.
Sorry i am not an expert on knitting machines , even though my late ,other owned one , But if you look at commercial knits you see almost All the patterns one can make by hand. Even if you want to knit on a Machine , it would be a good start to learn & understand how to make each stitch by hand ... And last not least Guague and Samplers are your best TEACHERS ,, mirjam
Good advice Mirjam
That probably depends on how much you want to spend. I'm not a machine knitter but I have the general impression that a fairly ordinary flatbed machine can speed up those patterns. Probably the $8,000 ones can be programmed but the hand-adjusted ones still add speed. What you would do is knit a row, hand-move the stitches to make the equivalent of a "knit two together" and run the machine to knit the next row, and I think that will automatically create the yarnover effect. Then you just run it to knit the plain row (or three plain rows, depending on which pattern you choose).
If you are considering buying a knitting machine for one item, maybe you would do better to find a machine knitter who will knit it for you! That would save you the learning curve and time, especially since the patterns suggested may not give the exact effect you're looking for. On the other hand, they might, and you might find that you really enjoy the new hobby.
There are machine knitting groups that can help you with it if you do get one. Good luck!
=Tamar
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