Hello. I taught myself how to knit by downloading a pdf file from lionbrand yarns website. Then I bought myself a niftly little stitch book called “Beginner’s Guide- Knit Stitches & Easy Projects”. I decided to make my father an afghan using the Divided Boxes stitch, which is really neat. But then I got this really cool idea that this stitch could probably have a few variations. I gave myself a migraine working out one variation which would be a giant divided box (the original is worked in multiples of 5 stitches- row 1: knit across. row 2: K1 P4 across. rows 3 & 4: K3 P2 across. row 5: K1 P4 across. rows 6 & 7: knit across. repeat rows 2-7 for pattern) instead of a bunch of little divided boxes. The variation that is giving me problems is working out how to work the little boxes into a harlequin/diamond design. I mean, is that going to be something that is easily figured out during the knitting or should I work it out before I even start? :shrug: Out of all the stitches in my little book this one seems to be the easiest and I found that it looks even better when knitted with a smaller needle than the yarn suggests (my yarn suggested a size 8 needle and I am using a size 5) plus I am knitting tighter than most people probably do (or so I have been told by my mother in law). Also, would anyone know how easy or hard it would be to make the giant divided box in two colors using a color blocking technique (one corner one color and the other corner a contrasting/complimenting color)? Any help would be so appreciated. Thanks in advance your time.
I find that it’s best, for me anyway, to work out a pattern like this on graph paper. This way you can encounter any ‘surprises’ before getting the knitting done. Just color the purls, for example.
If you like the fabric that results from your yarn and needles, that’s what counts, especially for something that doesn’t have to fit anyone. When fit is an issue, then gauge is important. For a pattern that you create, it’s all up to you.