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Emily Wessel

Hi! I’m Emily Wessel, I design fun-to-knit patterns and helpful technique tutorials. I live in Edinburgh, Scotland with my husband and two kids, where I like to run, knit, learn languages, and hang out with friends. I am co-founder and designer at Tin Can Knits - www.tincanknits.com

10 Comments

  1. Theresa Sullivan
    January 17, 2020 @ 11:53 am

    HI,
    I purchased a book, 60 More Quick Knits, produced by Cascade Yarns. In it is a leaf pattern called Lace-Panel Scarf. I wanted to knit it and after following the 16 row pattern row sequence 3 times and ripping it out, I came to the conclusion that the number of stitches you ended up with at the certain rows were incorrect. Three times it is noted how many stitches you should have at the end of the row and on the third row, you can count the number of stitches you have added and subtracted and it does not add up. I wanted to create a graph to follow because efforts to contact Cascade and the author of the pattern failed. The leaves are not adjacent to each other they are off set like a real leaf sequence.Any ideas how I can create a pattern I can follow as opposed to this one that doesn’t work?

    • alexaludeman
      January 23, 2020 @ 11:55 am

      Hi Theresa – I would try using graph paper and writing it out as written, it should help you to see the errors. You also might want to check the errata page on the Cascade website, it might have the fix on it.

  2. It’s a SNAP | Tin Can Knits
    March 8, 2018 @ 6:09 am

    […] year I’m teaching ‘Off The Charts’, which is an ode to my love of charts as a design tool, and ‘Strange Brew‘ in which participants design their own colourwork […]

  3. Aunty Clare (@AuntyClare)
    March 7, 2014 @ 10:06 pm

    This is really helpful, especially seeing structure and pattern and then having this superimposed on the swatch. Thanks.

    At the end of part one, you wrote that other parts would show “how to create shaped lace charts, how to transition from one lace pattern to another, and how to design edging patterns that work with your chart repeat!” I’d love to read this but haven’t been able to find them. Are they somewhere online or maybe other things got in the way and you didn’t have the chance to write them :-(

    • alexaludeman
      March 14, 2014 @ 4:05 am

      They are in the works! Coming soon….

      • Squimbelina
        May 23, 2016 @ 7:31 am

        I have been scouring the net for exactly the next section (how to create the shaped lace charts etc) – I struggle with the mathematical side of knitting and have been trying to find somewhere that explains how to work lace charts into your chosen shawl-shape increase structure. Did the next part get written, in the end, as it sounds like exactly what I’m looking for!

      • Leslie Jūratė
        May 2, 2017 @ 5:22 am

        I see your comment is from a couple of years ago. We’re you able to get these posts up? Would love to read them!

        Thanks for these articles! I have a lot to learn. Heading over to your Ravelry forum now. . .

  4. Libby Bowles
    March 5, 2013 @ 8:14 am

    I’m knitting a top-down lace cardigan and I’m choosing the lace motifs from my charted knitting books (like Barbara G.Walker’s) as I go. These charts are all written to be knitted from the bottom up. Sometimes the motifs look just fine up-sid-down but sometimes not, so when it mattered I originally tried to simply knit the patterns by working the charts from the top down but I lost all of my ridges, presumably because my decreases were now slanting in the wrong direction. So, I knitting them from the top down swapping left for right and right for left leaning decreases. Still no ridges. Then I flipped the chart up-side-down…no luck. Have you run into this dilemma? I’ve spent hours searching for an answer and I’m going kind of coo coo. I can’t figure out what’s not working. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

    • Emily Wessel
      March 11, 2013 @ 12:53 am

      I haven’t actually tried reversing motifs to be worked in the opposite direction. I think it I did, I would look at it as a complete re-design of the motif, because something quite different is occurring. When you have a decrease to a point, say a triangular decrease, you would work
      Row 1: … yo, ssk, k3, k2tog, k3, yo, …
      Row 3: … yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, k1, yo, …
      Row 5: … yo, sl1-k2tog-psso, yo, …
      and these rows would have formed a solid triangle, with ridges leading to a point at the top of the triangle.

      But if you want to turn this around and have the triangle open up from bottom up, then you would work something like this:
      Row 1: … k2tog, yo, k1, yo, ssk, ….
      Row 3: … k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk, …
      Row 5: … k2tog, yo, k5, yo, ssk, …
      That way you’d have a triangle of increasing width, framed by ridges on the outside of the yarn-overs. The yarn overs create the new fabric / sts. which are in the triangle.

      Does this make sense? As far as I can see, there’s no real way to get exactly the same effect when working in the opposite direction. You might try Cookie A’s sock book for further info though – she has some really great technical explanations of working with charts.

      Good luck! Emily Wessel

  5. Melissa @ MisoCraftyKnits
    June 22, 2012 @ 9:33 am

    This is amazing! Thank you so much for this! I love lace and have seen so many gorgeous stitch patterns but always was too scared to try them out. Thank you for giving me the guts to try! :)