How To
Logalong: The Seamy Underside of Seaming Undersides
Dear Kay,
The plain truth is: I love mattress stitch. The elegance of it, the way it joins two pieces of knitting in such a sneaky, sly way—it’s one of the most magical techniques in all of knitting.
This is why, as I gazed upon the six finished strips of my Sequence Knitting Log Cabin blanket, I was all atwingle: 25 feet of thrilling mattress stitch ahead of me!
Once I stitch these six strips of sequence knitting squares together, I’ll have my blanket done. I’ll be a completer of the Fringe and Friends Log Cabin Knitalong.
(If you’re wondering what the heck mattress stitch is, here’s a great quick tutorial from Staci Perry of VeryPink.com.)
In the MDK Shop
Assessing the Situation
This is definitely weirdie mattress stitch.
The challenge here is that each square has its own unique edge—no clean column of stockinette to work with. Could I have slipped a stitch at the end of each row, to give myself a selvedge edge? Yes. But I didn’t want to. Many of these sequences continue around the edge of the work, so I didn’t want to mess with the sequence mojo. Besides, I can’t recall a time I’ve ever made a selvedge edge.
The basic rule here for this significant amount of mattress stitch is to pick up two stitches on each edge. It’s not necessary to pick up every stitch—the seam is plenty strong with half as many mattress stitches.
Even when the edge stitches are a mishmosh of knits and purls, there’s a fundamental rowish quality here that remains consistent.
At least, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
My first seam went well—until the last square, where I got sort of smug and loose. When the four corners of the squares don’t line up, it’s a hideous sight. The road to ruin! Vigilance is required.
I ripped it out, chastened.
Fixed up.
For those wondering how long it takes to work five feet of mattress stitch, the answer is: one hour.
I’ve done two of the five seams, and I’ve been wearing it around as a wrap. This is going to be a good blanket. Tahki Donegal Tweed is made for a blanket like this.
Thanks eternally to the mind-boggler Cecelia Campochiaro, whose patterns in MDK Field Guide No. 5: Sequences got me thinking about sequences in an all-consuming way.
This blanket has made its way onto my shortlist of all-time favorite projects. Sequence knitting at this scale is truly, genuinely irresistible to me. I could make another blanket, no problem.
What’s your all-time favorite project?
Love,
Ann
Ann, you blanket looks terrific. I am struggling a little with sequencing so you inspire me. My favorite project is long is the past: a free form doll that I knit using odds and ends of natural dyed,hand spun yarn (from my own sheep, no less!) I knit her in one piece, about 12” tall. She has on a skirt and sun hat and carries a little purse. I stuffed her with unspun wool. Her colors have faded now but she is still a fave.
I want to see this doll! She sounds lovely!
Please tell me this will be a pattern!
Sequence knitting on any scale! I love working on my Parallelogram Wrap (yes, I’m doubling the width of the Parallelogram Scarf from MDK Field Guide No. 5!)–and Freia Shawl yarn is perfectly soft, springy and perfect (did I say that already?) Rhapsodizing over, first tea, then homework, then knitting.
Knitting the Sequence Scarf for my own Knitting Olympics. My mind was wandering about possibilities, such as doubling or tripling the number of cast on stitches or keeping the same number of stitches and using worsted weight yarn and larger needles. Glad I’m not the only one.
Thank you Ann!!!! I have to piece together a sweater and was just going to look into the best way to do it! You read my mind. I always looks forward to reading each days posts. Thank you so much for taking the time each day to put a message together for us to savor~
Thanks for this Ann. Just for the heck of it I looked at the video tutorial and discovered I’ve been doing mattress stitch wrong all these years! Hunh.
Ann, what about crochet or knitting the blocks together? My mattress stitch always leaves a ridge on the wrong side.
My thinking here is that I didn’t want a solid line of color along the seams if I did crochet. The blips of mattress stitching are less noticeable. But yes, there is a ridge, though I’m picking up the half stitch on the edge, not a full stitch as shown in the video. So the ridge is not as bulky.
I am missing a mattress stitch love gene. I do anything I can to avoid seams.
The blanket, even partially completed, looks wonderful — warm, soft, and snuggly, with just the right amount of weight and drape. It is a good thing you’ve been wearing it as a wrap. Otherwise, someone — Kermit, Hubbo, Clif, the next-door neighbor — would claim it and you’d never see it again!
That’s beautiful! Looking forward to seeing it in all its glory. And mattress stitch is magic, just like blocking.
I don’t know if I have a favorite project. But I do still love my log cabin blanket from 2009. I was wearing it last night like a shawl, folded on the diagonal (cool colors out!) so I could step out at midnight to watch the falling snow. Snuggly!
Rock on, my Knitting Sistah! It looks amazing from here, Keep going, we are all with you!
That blanket looks lovely in these tantalizing glimpse-y shots – looking forward to the Big Reveal of the entire thing! As for favorite projects, it would be hard to choose. I think it would be much easier to come up with a short list of projects I have NOT enjoyed and would not repeat for love nor money.
Your mattress stitch tutorial was outstanding!
Can I say that this is my favorite blog title, possibly of all time? You clever clever ladies! 😀
Agreed!
Nice read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing a little research on that. And he actually bought me lunch since I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch!