KNITTING UP DULWICH ROAD

That proud BLM is a bit sorry for itself, isn’t it. The M is just about clear enough but you need all your kindness to say there is a visible B and that poor L has a very weak foot. Never mind, it’s what the swatch is for. And it’s a reminder that experience as a knitter does not equal understanding of how the stitches work in design. The swatch has inched me forward on that.

On a stocking stitch background, the B and L were knitted in garter stitch and the M in reverse stocking stitch. As garter stitch only impacts on the shaping every other row, the B and L shapes are blurred. (That’s what I learned 😊) Garter stitch is ditched.

But the M’s reverse stocking stitch can stay for the next test. I’d love to use this simple knit-purl, single-yarn solution because it’s the closest to carving shapes from an unchanging material, as the Dulwich Road letters are carved out of one live privet. Looking at both sides of the swatch, I think the reverse stocking stitch on a stocking stitch background* (below left) beats the stocking stitch on a reverse s-s background (right). Another test should make it clearer.

That said, I fear this simple solution won’t eventually deliver the distinct BLM I’m after. So, for the next test I’m planning to add strands of other yarns to two letters, to nudge their colour a little and also thicken the yarn so the letters may stand out more effectively. Not sure how clean the swap between background single yarn and two-yarn letters will be, but I’ll wing it.

If the extra-strand test doesn’t work out I have two other ideas in my back pocket, although I’m not running towards them:

1. Use a robust raised pattern for the letters. Oof! Working out the varying tension and stitch counts across textured letters and stocking stitch background will seriously challenge my baby-designer brain.
2. Go the intarsia route using two shades of green that are not too far apart. This will lose the sense of texture and is a boring solution, if you ask me.

I nearly forgot the beads that I included in the chart. I mean, they’re not going to work, are they? It’s already proving hard enough to make these small letters shine without putting jazz hands on the background. I’ll try to get them in somehow, perhaps as lines above, below and between the BLMs.

I should say that the yarn I’m using is a good privety shade. Hard to get it right for the screen.

* knitter’s tongue twister

Resources

• Adriafil Sierra Andina shade Grass Green (36)
• 3.25mm knitting needles

What I did

• Using Grass Green cast on 45 stitches.
• Following rows 3 to 29 of the chart, I picked out the letters from a stocking stitch background using garter stitch for B and L, and reverse stocking stitch for M.

For Test 2

• Use 3.25mm needles again. The tension was falling a little short of what’s needed for a 7-inch square on the M, but the work will grow with the new strands so I’ll stick with these for now.
• Tweak the chart to sharpen the point of the M, to help clarify the image.
• Knit the B in reverse stocking stitch using Grass Green.
• Knit the L in reverse stocking stitch using Grass Green with a strand of Rowan Kidsilk Haze shade Olive (721).
• Knit the M in reverse stocking stitch using Grass Green with a strand of Ainworth and Prin Merino Silk shade Malachite Table (oh, the joy of a stash).