Ode to Test Knitters

Before I started designing, I didn’t know any other Knitters (capital K knitters). Test knitters that volunteered for my test knits were the first serious knitters I met. I quickly learned that they were not only generous with their time and knitting skills but also their ideas. The testers for the New Leaf Wrap provided the inspiration for the Honeycomb Conjecture Collection.

The New Leaf Wrap is created with Modified Fusion Knitting. To create designs that are knit flat (scarves, blankets, wraps), I would cut the yarn at the end of each row and join a new yarn for the next row. The tails of the yarn would form a fringe at the ends.

Almost immediately after the test started, I knew that the knitters did not find the pattern too challenging and the question of whether it could be knit without the fringe came up. I said it could but the pattern would be much much harder — it would be the Love It or Leaf It Wrap. The Love It or Leaf It Wrap & the New Leaf Wrap have the same motif but the Love It or Leaf It Wrap required to you work the cables from the back side of the cable and people find this very difficult.

But the test knitters kept asking and suggesting ways to get rid of the fringe (they were pretty insistent). I hated to say no so I started trying things. I had previously designed the Blooming Baby Blanket, a flat design in Modified Fusion Knitting without a fringe. It was knitted centre out.

So I knit the leaf motif onto a centre out square (shown above). The leaf motif has a large horizontal and vertical repeat and is not symmetric across the vertical axis. The fabric created did not lay flat or drape nicely because the cablework is heavier that the garter fabric. I thought that if I had a motif that was much smaller, I work the repeat into the increased areas.

I loved the motif from my Reversible Honeycomb Patterns and it is a small repeat so I gave it a try. I mirrored the hexagons in the honeycomb into the shape of the blanket. This is my swatch that eventually became the Honeycomb Conjecture Blanket.

Then I remembered that Xandy Peters creates long hot dog like shapes with centre out knitting by using Judy Magic Cast On for the middle and increasing only at the ends. I tried this by inserting a rectangle in the middle of the above hexagons. This became the Honeycomb Conjecture Wrap.

As I charted the motifs for the wrap and blanket, I thought the predictable movements of the cables would be a good opportunity to teach Fusion Knitting.

I have been teaching Fission Knitting recently and have found that people learn the technique quickly given the 3 Rules of Fission Knitting.  This prompted me to create the 4 Rules of Fusion Knitting and to create video tutorials to explain it.

As a designer, I want people to learn my techniques and be successful kniting my patterns. With the Honeycomb Conjecture Collection, I finally feel like I am fully supporting in the knitter in Fusion Knitting. The resources that I created for this pattern are applicable to my previous Modified Fusion Knitting patterns too.

I hope that the people who test my patterns know how much they are appreciated. I love their feedback, questions, ideas and friendship. 

To the New Leaf Wrap Test Knitters: you were the inspiration for this! Thank you!