I’ve started a baby afghan in entrelac. Got the first row of triangles done. There is a small hole from each time I turned around (as I realized there would be). They are bugging me a lot more than I thought they would, and I think I remember hearing a technique called [B]wrap and turn[/B] for short rows, which eliminates this hole. My question is this: Will it affect the pattern in any other way if i do that wrap instead of just turning as the instructions say to? Is there a favorite tutorial or instruction in the technique?
Don’t worry about the holes. Entrelac is doing rows that are short, not ‘short rows’ in the middle of long rows. You’ll be picking up sts where you turn and the holes will be pretty well covered up.
OK. Should I pick up somewhere besides in those holes so they are less visible?
If I could see a picture of your work, it would help. I don’t recall there being holes on the first set of triangles from turning. I’d like to see if you did it right.
Okay, I finally figured out what you’re asking and where you might be getting holes. You’re not ‘picking up’ when you make the first set of triangles, you just add a stitch from the cast on to the block of stitches. This can leave a hole if the cast on is tight - it should be very very loose. A knit CO works better for beginning entrelac than the others - a loose one. Say you start with k2, turn, p2. Next row, you k3, the 3rd st is from the cast on, turn p3, turn k4, turn, etc. That may make a small hole where you’ve turned to do the purl rows. So if you want to slip the first st on the purl row, that can help ‘even’ out the transition.
When you pick up the stitches for a new square, make sure you put one in the bottom in the valley between squares. Otherwise you end up with a gap.
Suzee and Abby, those were both the exact things I needed to learn. The little holes are indeed along the cast-on edge. The blankie pattern is one from Lion Brand. I’m now at the 4th row of squares and quite happy with it. The finished project calls for a single crochet edging, so I believe that it will disguise those little flaws.