strangely, all our thistle plants are lacking flowers this fall; i can’t figure out if something ate them (they’re supposed to be delicious) or if david went around and nipped them off. it actually sounds like something he would do . . and not talk about.
cindy wrote me:
I believe one of the Scot Gaelic words for thistle is cluaran. It would be pronounced cloor un with the oo similar to the ua in truant
Cluaranach means “thistly” or “abounding in thistles”, and is pronounced cloor un awk
Generally Gaelic puts the stress on the first syllable.
i think we’ve got ourselves a winner here.
and our intrepid researcher, debbie in maine, found me this link to a wonderful page about thistles. there’s plenty of food for thought there.
debbie loves the part about soldiers being likened to thistles.
must be the uniform thing, eh debbie?
so i think we have a name . . . Cluaranach—abundant with thistles.
i am so taken with it that i keep whispering it to myself. and the knitting just adds to the excitement.
i am loving this piece! so handsome . . . sigh.
i’ve gotten through some of the thistle leaf pattern now and it’s all coming together.
see the leaf?
now, here’s one from the garden
ok, now a few days ago i mentioned that i had a little post to write about swatching for lace, but what i really meant was how i go about making the gauge swatch for my patterns.
when i design a piece i put a LOT of work into swatching the various stitch patterns, including soaking and pinning them out. since i do all that ahead of time, when i knit the piece it usually comes out about the size i planned it to.
what i do when i write the pattern is, i take the same yarn and needles that i knit the piece with, and i make a stockinette swatch afterwards. logically, whatever the stockinette swatch shows me should accurately reflect what is in the piece if i use the same yarn and needles. i don’t even block the swatch; as long as i used the same tools to create it, the blocking is not very important.
then, if the knitter following the pattern can match the stockinette gauge, using the same yarn and needles they plan to knit with, they should get about the same results that i got when they knit their full-sized piece.
so, if your stockinette matches my stockinette, your lace should come close to matching my lace. it is a baseline created by using the exact same tools that the lace will be knit with.
it is much simpler and quicker to execute than a swatch done in the pattern stitch(es), and it does not need to be blocked.
therefore, as soon as you match the stockinette gauge, you can start knitting the project.
the stockinette swatch will not necessarily reflect the gauge of the actual lace in the piece, with all its holes and decreases. it will be quite relaxed (not the fabric you would want for say, a sweater).
however, the fabric should still hold an even stitch tension. as you see here, when i hold my swatch (the one for thistle) up to the window, the light streams through the fabric freely, but the stitches themselves are quite even and balanced.
this fabric would be much too loose for a sock, and would not hold its shape in most other garments. for that you would want something that looks more like this
it’s much denser with a lot less light coming through.
it’s too tight for lace knitting, though. it would be hard to block out lace that was knit so firmly; it would always want to spring back, and it wouldn’t drape as fluidly.
the sticking point is, of course, when you decide to use an alternate yarn and different needles for a design. since you don’t have the benefit of that yarn having been tested out by the designer, you will need to use your judgment about the gauge. in addition to the qualities described above (relaxed fabric, even tension), assess your swatch for stitch definition and drape, comparing it with photos of the finished piece.
ooops! gotta run to classes . . see you later.
35 thoughts on “we have a name”
I love the name! Good choice!
great name. thanks for the info on swatching. In my few lace projects so far, I have not used the exact yarn and needle size specified in the pattern. I have yet to be unhappy with the results and you’ve now given me another tool to help in future knitting happiness. thanks
Great name, itis looking grat. thanks for the swatching information, very helpful.
Nice name.
And really, unless you’re knitting a fitted piece or switching from worsted to laceweight, who worries about whether my piece blocks to the same size yours does, give or take?
Perfect name for a lovely new shawl. I’m still salivating over your mushroom dish.
tis a fine name, indeed! love the way it’s shaping up. one of these days the checkbook will let me buy one of your awesome patterns……
Beautiful name–but be sure to include a note on how to pronounce it on the pattern! Thanks for the instructive remarks on fabric density–holding the fabric to the light is an excellent trick.
Elizabeth Zimmermann had a rant about not bothering to swatch if the gauge was given in pattern, and that she would make hats or sleeves from her gauge swatches…wish I could remember which book I saw that in…So in keeping with one of my most favorite knitting heroines, my opinion is that gauge swatches SHOULD be in stockinette. Good for you!
It’s absolutely beautiful! And I really love the name (Scots Gaelic always makes me happy; of course, so does Welsh, so it might just be a Celtic language thing)(or, upon sober reflection, a linguist thing) — excellent call. Also, how come everyone doesn’t do a swatch gauge in stockinette this way? It makes so much sense!
Thanks for this piece of info about your gauge swatching for lace. And thanks also to Cindy for coming up with such a beautiful name! It really fits the stole well, I think.
It’s a lovely name. I hardly ever swatch for lace. Unless it’s meant to be a fitted garment, then my swatching is almost nonexistent. Although, I would be much more tempted to do a stockinette swatch than one in pattern.
Hmmm…my SW PA thisles don’t have blooms either. But you are taking care of that with your lovely piece. Wonderful name, might be preferential to my Gaelic/Scandinavian heritage.
This is just a beautiful combination of yarn, color and pattern – will you be warning the One Planet folks about the orders they’ll be receiving from (all of) us? 😉
Anne, I love the name!! It is so perfect! And, Scotland is my favorite place on earth.
Great information about gauge, swatch, and fabric.
I really like the name!
I agree with Kat — Scotland is my favorite place on earth too. And I love the sound of Scots Gaelic — I keep saying cluaranach over and over again. A lovely name indeed!
It’s looking great — and I don’t see one tulip! In fact, something about the edge has a royal look to it.
The perfect name!
The shawl is so, so, so beautiful!
Neat name, very pretty pattern coming along too.
Love the name.
Thanks for the info on gauge. Not having to knit a swatch in the pattern then trying to get a stitch count in the pattern isn’t always easy. Doing it your way is so much easier. I wish all designers would do that.
fabulous name for the newest lacey shawl. I look forward to seeing even more of it.
My only dilemma right now is whic one of all your fabulous shawls am I going to knit next! (a nice dilemma to have – keep ’em comin!)
Gorgeous pattern! I need it!
Anne, I am so happy you liked the name I suggested. The pattern is coming together beautifully.
what a beautiful name – love the meaning and where it came from!
One of my favorite things about being in the west Highlands of Scotland was seeing the bilingual Gaelic-English signs everywhere. Esp since I’m Irish/Scots-Irish through and through. It’s a wonderful name!
I love when designers take your approach to swatching–it’s a pain to try to measure the gauge over a complicated pattern stitch! This one’s going to be gorgeous.
I’m glad to see someone else that makes itty-bitty swatches.
And way to go Cindy on finding such a great name!
I LOVE the shawl (but you knew that already!)
Thanks for pointing out that it’s not as much of a point of what needles you use, etc, as it is are you getting a fabric that you like.
I suppose it all boils down to getting a fabric that you like, and being willing to do some math to make sure that you are in the ballpark for size.
Wonderful job, can’t wait to get the kit!
🙂
Great name! I like the wrap a whole lot better than I like thistle plants, which are responsible for any number of my gardening scars.
I also love it when designers give the gauge in stockinette, for exactly the reasons you listed. I’ve never felt that I gained anything from the extra work of swatching in pattern.
So…
aside from swatching and knitting and such,
I think the thistles must be bienniels. They USUALLY bloom the second year… or they are seedlings that just germinated.
i love the name. i love the piece. you continue to astound me with your mad designing skillz. 😉
yet another gorgeous shawl. sigh. i just can’t keep up. i’m still back on morning glory! if i could just quit the day job and knit, maybe, but that wouldn’t pay so well…
love the name…and will the pattern be available not in a kit in case i decide to use a different yarn? (yep, you’ve tripped me up again…)
Excellent name choice! And the lace motif is really pleasing. I need more time to knit!
Cluaranach – I love it! Gaelic words are just so… I don’t even know how to say it. They are just very pleasing to hear, I guess.
It’s coming out very beautifully, of course. Do you *ever* have things that don’t look fabulous? I’m guessing not.
Thanks for the info on swatching and how you gauge your swatch for designing. Really quite interesting and useful to me.
I love the name you’ve chosen. Very nice.
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