Mitered Tunisian

I saw a picture of a mitered Tunisian afghan and it was quite neat, but I couldn't find any real instructions on how to do it. There are probably instructions somewhere, but I got tired of doing searches. So I played with this technique. I am not sure I have it right but here is what I did.

Then today I found a short tutorial on a mitered shawl but it doesn't look like the picture I saw of the afghan. It is worked with increases where the one I saw looked like it was worked with decreases. Oh so confusing. Other searches today have lead me to other pictures and books but not to a tutorial. I know that once upon a time I saw one, or think I did. It is just not nice getting older. You tend to forget where you saw things. I have seen lots of knitted ones but knitted isn't what I am looking for, although that is a thought to try.

So I worked up a sample as best as I could figure it out. From the picture I was looking at (and darn I didn't save it and cannot find it again, I think it was in a group folder but I have so many groups), what I could count out seemed to be an even number of starting stitches, with decreases in the center for the chevron. Now as I saw it there were two center decreases. So that is what I tried.

After the first piece was done I was looking at the picture and it looks like the color change was made at this point, and stitches picked up along the side of the finished first piece. So I picked up those stitches, but they only number half of the stitches of the first section. Bummer that is not going to work at all. In coming back to the computer to look at the picture again, I noticed the direction of this second section. Oh yes, that means that in order to finish I would have to increase that other half of the stitches needed.

Increasing in tunisian on the pickup row is something I had tried at one time but never could quite get it, but recently I remembered seeing a tutorial on it at: http://serendipity.gpvm.com/tutorial.html

I went and took another look at this and the written had me quite confused (not hard to do in my case), till I clicked the picture open and compare the written with the picture. Then I sat and played with it. I got it but did discover that you have to be very careful when doing these increases. If you get it too tight it is so hard to do that section for the return row. So frog it off and put it back on was the name of the game till I got my hands working to learn not too tight. Putting on the increased stitches looser worked quite well.

I finished two sections but I don't think they look so good in the solid colors I was using. Maybe if I had done them in one color per row, but I was practicing so I didn't even think to do that. For now this will do till I have time to play some more with this technique. Maybe it isn't exactly right but it looks like it is.

Here is what I did. I used a large hook so I could see better what I was doing. It is the short moez yellow hook. I tried ten cast on stitches, then for the return row I did three return by twos, then two decreases over the next four (looked like this was the way it was done), then finished off with the last three stitches.

I then picked up two, the one stitch already on the hook being the third of the set, picked up a stitch in decrease section that left two stitches worked, then the last three stitches. This gives a total of eight stitches by that decreasing of two in the middle.

I then continued decreasing by two till there was only one stitch left. I then picked up five stitches along the side and increase by five more. Having looked at this swatch I wasn't quite happy with it. It is large due to the hook but not quite the same look at the picture I saw. So it was frogged.

I started over by increasing my cast on row to 20 stitches and repeated what I did in the first one. Now I am wondering if I should do the decrease not in two sections but as one. So to do the decrease as one would use the yarn over though the stitch on the hook plus the next for stitches. I will try this later to see if it looks better. So far the decrease section doesn't look so sharp and I am thinking that maybe it needs to be a little sharper. Can't tell till I try it.

Well, that is all for now. This is kind of interesting. It has been a while since I have seen a picture and tried to duplicate from what I see.

I can say this is simply ripples. I love ripples. This one is a small ripple built on a small ripple. There really isn't more to it then that. I once saw a sample of a potholder that a friend did before she died. I liked it so much that I duplicated it by just looking it over for a bit. It is the same principle that the mitered squares are done in only with increases instead of decreases.