Gansey Pincushion

I'm participating in Liz Lovick's Gansey Workshop in the EZasPi group. The first class assignment was to practice gansey knitting charts and techniques by knitting two pattern "swatches" and turning them into a small pincushion. What a novel idea, making swatches into something useful! LOL

I've ordered some 5ply Frangipani yarn, the stuff used to knit authentic ganseys, but for this project I used yarn from my stash that was sufficient to meet the needs of the project--namely a very smooth, firm textured yarn in a fingering-sport weight. I used smooth baby pink DMC Senso which is about a fingering weight. I think this one is microfiber but I don't have the ball band any more so who knows? I used US2 (2.75mm) needles and the resulting fabric is firm but still pliable. I think I guessed correctly in my needle choice. I pinned out my blocks and steamed them before assmbling the pincushion. The diamond block measured 2.75" x 2.75" while the other block was 3.0" x 2.75." The diamond block called for 1 less row in the pattern so that, along with the top/bottom purl bands probably accounts for the difference in size.

This was an interesting exercise. My swatches passed the Liz test which requires they be examined from 6 feet away to see if the texture of the stitch pattern is clearly visible. If it is the yarn and needle choice was appropriate. If not, you get to try again. I like passing tests on the 1st attempt :-)