Market Squares Bag

I've figured out the first row and the first tier of triangles and now I'm on to the 2nd tier. The only problem is that the instructions are most disagreeable and when tried to follow them last night I was flat out dumb founded. }:o( I finally gave up and had to put it down. Okay, so by then it was 10:30 and I was tired, too.

This morning between my Deerfield office and my Northfield office I stopped off at my fav LYS and asked for some assistance... The first lady I asked (we'll call her Lady W) has helped me with color before and she's often really nice so I started with her. Once I explained what I was doing and where I was in the pattern she said "Um, I have no idea. Ask Miz X". I laughed and told her it was a relief that I wasn't a knuckle head and just couldn't read the pattern.

Off we went to ask Miz X. She, too, had no clue. Then Lady Y said she'd done the bag (or a similar bag) before and it had been 20 years ago but that she would try to help. She showed me what to do but as I was reading the instructions it seemed to me that the seams between the squares would be coming out on the wrong side of the bag (the outside). Lady Y agreed that the pattern seemed wonky (that's a technical knitting term you know...).

Finally, we asked Lovely Miz Shop Owner, who agreed that the instructions stink and showed us how the stitches should be picked up. FINALLY!! I love the ladies at that shop because they're so laid back and kind and they'll just keep working with you until you get it. BTW, we also had a conversation about the phrase "Pick up and knit" which really just means "Pick up" since you're putting the new stitches on the right needle in this pattern anyway.

So, once Lovely Miz Shop Owner validated our feelings I was able to go ahead and start a square. Here you can see my progress. The first one has a YO in the middle that I didn't see until several rows later. I figure it's going to be heavily felted so I just P2tog on the return row when I noticed the extra stitch.




On some of the threads on Knitter's Review forums I noticed that some people were having trouble with holes at the juncture of three corners when purling. I have found that the best way to eliminate those holes is to purl through the back loop. This is just like knitting throught the back loop to tighten a stitch but instead, with yarn in front you come at the stitch with the right hand needle from the back right of the back leg of the stitch. Bring the needle through to the front and purl as you normally would. It sounds goofy but it's pretty clearly explained in the Vogue Knitting Guide (which I love, btw).

Then I had to go back to work and I went and left my idjit pattern book on the table at the shop so I am entrelac-less tonight when I'm really excited to keep working. I called the shop at 7:15 tonight since they don't close until late on Thursday and I got the owner. I said "Hi. It's Jennifer. The blonde with the Knitting Group." and she started to laugh... I laughed, too, at the image, but then I said, "Maybe I'm weird, but you knew who I was didn't you?" Sure enough, my book is sitting on the table right where I left it at 1:00 this afternoon. I'm going to go and pick it up tomorrow between clients' houses.

So, there's my progress for the day. Hope you all have a lovely evening. :)