Picture Perfect Purls -- The Byzantium Top by Irina Anikeeva

Let's take a moment to talk about dishcloths. Oh no, are you bored already? You've got that same glazed look I get when anyone talks about knitting dishcloths. Bear with me and blink that away because knitting dishcloths is astonishingly popular and there are 8,343 PATTERNS recorded on Ravelry!

Me?  I don't comply. To prove this to you, back in 2008 I joined the group called "i'd rather poke myself in the eye with a dpn than knit a dishcloth".

Truth be told, dishcloth patterns do something I really love: they make rather sophisticated pictures using just knit and purl stitches. Here are some whimsical examples:

Blubb Dishcloth by Barbara 8

Dishcloth Owl by Mamafri

Octopus Dishcloth by Mamafri

Happy August Everyone Dishcloth by Wineta

You'll see two things that all of these cloths have in common, 1) cotton yarns with excellent stitch definition, and 2) angled shots to successfully see the designs. While I was always tempted to join the fun -- I wanted to keep my eyeball intact too.

Mad Eye (crochet) by GothKnitty

So, of course, I jumped at the chance to test knit Irina Anikeeva's excellent new pattern "Byzantium Top".

BUY THE PATTERN HERE

Finally, purl pictures that are life size, geez! For those of you that don't know, Byzantium is the ancient Greek colony that They Might Be Giants forgot to mention in their famous song. (It was the predecessor of Constantinople and Istanbul). There are a lot of interesting Byzantine tile patterns, but I see a butterfly. Or an Aztec mask!

This is a top-down seamless tee that uses short rows to raise the neck and incorporate a dolman sleeve. It's very fun to make, especially when you get to the front to play with your purls. Of note, the purl pattern is used only every other row, so you get a break to zone out.

There's also a subtle scoop hem on the back that I really like.

To get my stitches to stand out, I dived into my stash of the classic yarn Rowan Cotton Glacé. This is a sport weight 100% mercerized cotton that is very tightly spun. You couldn't split this stuff if you tried! It was my first time using it and to be honest, it was a tad like knitting with rope. It's not very comfortable on the hands, but it still glides across the needles better than other cottons I have used (I'm just not a cotton fan, let's be honest). While it’s tough on my hands, it’s all for a good reason: the stitch definition is incredible and I can't see it ever wearing out, even on a swashbuckling Maine sailor!  Like me!  (okay, totally not me)

Take heed though: it wrinkles!!

Also, don't forget what we learned about dishcloths, that you can only really see the pattern in the right angle and shadow.

This...

...versus this.

Before the hollyhock bloomed, with deer-chomped leaves!

This was really a good knit for the spring.  It's not an airy kind of tee, so it's suitable for the cooler weather we have in Maine.  Too cool for my taste... yesterday (July 26) was a high of 63F, ugh!

The only thing you can do in that weather is sweat work, so we stacked a cord of chopped wood.  It's my first time doing it, but I look forward to doing it again someday.  (A far enough away day, like, after my hamstrings stop self-combusting.)

It faces South (good) but there is no roof (bad).  We are trying a tarp roof method.  Check out our birch tree "paperweights"!

I am positive that you can look forward to some knitting pictures in front of this backdrop in the near future!

See my Byzantium on Ravelry

HOUSE UPDATES!

Before I go, I need to show you the 3rd of probably 4 waves of flowers in my garden.  We're getting to a point where everything that I showed you was unknown in the Spring has flowered, and tons of stuff that wasn't even there in the Spring is flowering now!

Please do feel free to ID in the comments, I am clueless!

My mystery hollyhock started as a merlot, but now is a deep pink, yum:

The "cherry" tree is so not a cherry tree:

Pale pink delicacies, like candied flowers:

Fuschia papery bouquets:

Yellow daisy like things but with dill-like leaves:

A totally different set of day lilies:

The russian sage is juuuuuust starting:

And so is this brushy thing:

Finally, my only addition, the Home Depot rose has 3 buds:

She should be a pretty one, do come visit again to see her in fully ladylike form!

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