Weave-Along, Week 6 — “Diagonal Stripes”: what was old is new again

Once in a while it’s good to revisit an old pattern, re-examine an old way of doing things–it shows you how far you’ve come, but also, there’s almost always more to learn. I’ve done this week’s WAL pattern before–a number of times–but not recently. If I dare say so, I’ve come a long way, baby. I’ve been experiencing this pattern over again as if for the first time: seeing it presented from someone else’s perspective.

“Diagonal Stripes,” versions 1-4

Video: Diagonal Stripes Pattern Tutorial

This week, my friend Tawny Winward hosted the Weave-Along. She shared four versions of a Weave-it Weaves pattern, “Diagonal Stripes,” that she worked out herself. The four versions allow you to create a diamond shape without having to turn the squares.

Preserving the corner locations makes it easier to smoothly join the squares.

I did my squares as a color study as well as a pattern study. I used the same variegated yarn in L2&4 in all the squares, with a different L1&3 solid color for each. It’s amazing to me how they all look completely different. I can also see which solid colors I like combined with the variegated yarn.

The four solid colors surrounding the variegated yarn I used in each of the squares–in the same positions as the squares in the other photos.

COLORS USED

Variegated (used in all the squares for L2&4): Red Heart Super Saver “Monet”

Square 1: Yarn Bee “Keylime”

Square 2: Lion Heartland “Kenai Fjords”

Square 3: Red Heart Soft “Turquoise”

Square 4: Caron Simply Soft “Blackberry”

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You can read Tawny’s post and find her patterns, instructions and tips here: “Diagonal Stripes” — WAL, Week 6

Love the tip about only needing to read the beginning number of stitches for each row. Makes weaving so much simpler. And makes it easy to convert the pattern to different size looms.

Something I noticed while weaving these squares–regarding tension– these were just as challenging to weave as plain weave squares are. Often the pattern weaves are easier to weave than a plain weave square, but this one consists of so much plain weave, it’s not noticeably easier. Rule of thumb: the fewer skipped (or floating) stitches and the fewer the open spaces in the pattern, the looser your warping tension needs to be.

Related Posts:

Crochet Around the Edges blog post

Joining Techniques blog post