Comments on: Tree of Life Knit-Along #4 - Flower Garden

By: knittingmama

knittingmama — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:10:00 +0000

I did about 25 repeats of the border and decided to start sewing it on. I am finding it very easy to sew and the first corner I did wasn’t a problem at all. I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep. Now, I just want to get it done!

By: Paula

Paula — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 19:12:50 +0000

Thank you so much for providing pics of this step, I was going out of my mind!!!!!!!!!

By: Beth K

Beth K — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:54:15 +0000

Judy, I agree this afghan is getting heavy for a July project! I did about 70 repeats of the border and decided it was time to start sewing last night. I started pinning it to make sure my corners lined up where I wanted them to. While the pinning helped a little to keep things lined up, it wasn’t a big help. And I discovered that I liked keeping the border loose rather than stretched so the tulip buds almost fold in on each other — not quite, but suggestive of, a ruffle. Of course this means that I am going to need more than 77 repeats! Oh well, it is worth it to me, to get the look I want. Fortunately I bought 11 skeins of the Wool-Ease to start, so I have the extra yarn to play with. But I realized that the sewing itself is going to take some time! It’s a good thing my step-son isn’t going to move for another couple of weeks. I should have the afghan finished in time for the house-warming…

By: Judy

Judy — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:18:37 +0000

Thanks Beth for the help on the mattress stitch. I’ve done it before, just didn’t have a name for it. I agree it would probably be the best way to connect the edging and afghan.
This little rascal is getting heavy and July isn’t the coolest month of the year. I will probably do most of the border before attaching it.
This has been so fun…working with others doing the same project.

By: Patricia

Patricia — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:25:17 +0000

As far as the mattress stitch instructions go the best tutorial I have found is on http://www.knittinghelp.com There is a video to watch with very detailed directions under the “knitting tips” section. I had thought I was doing the ms correctly on other projects but after watching this I see that I wasn’t. I am on my second line of trees now so I have a ways to go.

By: Beth K

Beth K — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:27:58 +0000

Aack — I hit “submit” too soon! I just didn’t wax eloquent enough on the mattress stitch. It is a VERY useful stitch to know and well worth spending a little time to learn. And I do mean a “little” time. It is not hard to learn. Hopefully working this afghan has stretched your abilities a bit. Sewing on the border is just that last little stretch.

By: Beth K

Beth K — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:24:59 +0000

Judy, I agree that the border looks more like leaves. I only call them tulip buds because the instructions call this a tulip-bud border. But once I’m done I will probably refer to this as the leaf border. You will busy making all these afghans! I respond to requests only if it is not for something exactly like what I just made. Much as I have loved working on the Tree Of Life afghan, I wouldn’t want to make 2 or 3 in a row — especially when there are still lots of other beautiful afghan patterns (not to mention, sweaters, hats, mittens, shawls…) to be made.

As for the border, a crocheted seam is relatively bulky and doesn’t have much give. The mattress stitch is flat and has more give. It’s almost like grafting pieces together (but easier) to give a feeling of seamlessness. I think this is particularly important around the corners where you’ll need to ease the border gently around the afghan. There are many on-line instructions on how to do the mattress stitch. Lion has one on their website, but I think this is a good one: http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring04/mattress.html.

Knittingmama, my plan (which may go out the window once I actually get to sewing on the afghan and discover it doesn’t work!) is to pin the border to the afghan before sewing — or at least pin one edge before sewing. This is to make sure that the corners and the border match up at the same place for each corner and to make sure that I don’t have to do a lot of stretching or bunching up of the border at the last minute to make that happen. So I will probably start sewing on the border shortly before a corner, probably on one of the long edges.

By: knittingmama

knittingmama — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:04:11 +0000

Wow, Judy, you could be busy for a while! Crocheting it is a good idea, and way easier than sewing, I think. Let us know how that turns out for you.

By: Judy

Judy — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 12:54:37 +0000

I’m wondering about single croceting the border onto the afghan. Would leave a small ridge on wrong side. Have another pattern where this was done. Will test it out…meanwhile…how does one do the mattress stitch? I started this as a gift for my cousin who is visiting me in August from across the country…we only see each other once every 2 years. But I’ve had others say..”make me one too” and now that I’ve seen it almost finishes…I want one too….oh my mercy!

By: knittingmama

knittingmama — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:42:35 +0000

Beth K, I was wondering about how to do the corners, too. I have only done a few repeats of the border pattern, so it’s not like it’s too pressing just yet. However, when it is time, I am definitely going to have enough of the border done so that I can go completley down one side and work around the corner. I’ve never done this before, so it seems a little daunting. I do love how quickly the border is going, though!