inspiration and realisation: DIY fashion blog: DIY: MC Escher Sky and Water knitting pattern

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

DIY: MC Escher Sky and Water knitting pattern

MC Escher is one of my favorite artist

So, imagine my happiness when I found that Ioulia shared on FB (and she makes her own cashmere, too!!!!) the way she transformed the image into a knitted pattern: pixelating the image and then adjusting the pattern to be on a 24 stitch repetition!

the first step onto the pixelated image and Ioulia's jacquard swatch

I made a swatch with the jacquard stitch for a sweater I want to make, but the only problem with this punchcard is the long floats on the back.

So I modified it to be knitted in double jacquard: here are the two punchcards side by side:
the pattern for the single jacquard can be handknitted as well.

the PDF files can be downloaded here:
sky and water MC Escher 24 st punchcard single jacquard
sky and water MC Escher 24 st punchcard double jacquard

I punched the double jacquard card, and this was my first attempt to it: I knitted until the last row, alternating the two colors every two rows.
By knitting all the way up there is that UGLY black line that really breaks up the motif.

I ended up rip it up and knitting the last few rows by hand and then bind off with the needle.

And I turned the sample into a neck warmer - which became a "Christmas in May" sort of present for my friend. She won't wear it right away, but I know she will love it in winter.
The whole thing is knitted in a two strands of 2/28 cashmere - so soft and warm!

Next, I tried to understand what was wrong with the punchcard:

I'm using my Brother KH860 with ribber and colorchanger .

Color #1 - Heather Grey
Color #2 - Charcoal

This is how I actually wanted my knit to look:

Start with color #1
at the desired length - carriage on the left side - turn the knob of the carriage in KC position and set the card lock lever at "●" - move the carriages to the right.
Set the card lock lever at "▼ " and then push both PART buttons at the same time.
Move the carriages to the left until you hear the "click" and change to color #2.

Change the colors every two rows and when you get to the end of the punchcard - pay attention and knit until THE ROW BEFORE LAST.
This will get you to the last knitted row with the color #2 in your yarn feeder, and you can keep knitting with the darker color.

And here is a swatch sample made by changing to color #2 at the moment of changing the carriage knob on KC position - while the punchcard is still in ● position, and knit the whole punchcard until the last row - changing color every two rows.
This method will break the flow of the colors, creating a negative effect of the pattern.