Friday 12 April 2019

An Entrelac Tablet Cover

"Have you found the button to turn it on yet, Beaut?"
My companion, Elinor Gotland, always finds my technological ineptitude a source of great entertainment. I bought myself a tablet - absolute bargain - then was appalled to find there were no instructions in the box. Apparently, no-one needs such things these days, it's all 'intuitive'. Eventually, my 'intuition' had led me to search online for directions on how to charge the thing up. 
"Are you planning to write your blog on that tablet?"
"No." I blew my nose with a loud and snotty trumpeting sound. "It's first function is going to be carrying a powerpoint presentation to Gloucester. I've been invited to talk to the Guild there about dye plant gardening and I was really looking forward to it, only now I've got a filthy cold and I'm absolutely bloody dreading having to link this thing up to their projector."  
"Oh, go on with you. What could be easier? It'll be fine when you get there." Elinor positively skipped across to the kettle. "This is the perfect time for you to talk about growing dye plants. The green fuse has been lit, leaves are about to unfurl from the trees and seeds are bursting to germinate." 
I stopped tapping and swiping at the screen of the tablet and shoved it away.
"Feels to me like someone pressed 'pause' on the Spring. That cold East wind is still blowing and I've been rained and hailed on once too often this week. My throat is sore and my head's in the shed. I want to write my blog on the computer, but I've lost the bit of paper with my notes on the knitting pattern for this entrelac tablet cover. What's more, I didn't even remember to take many photos."
My companion passed me a mug of lemon and ginger tea and a box of tissues.
"See what you can remember. The pattern will have to be 'intuitive'. You can always google 'entrelac' if you want to make another."




Materials - four 50g skeins of handspun Shetland wool, high twist, chain plied somewhere between double knitting and worsted weight, dyed with madder, weld and meadowsweet.
3.5mm and 4mm circular needles with a long cord, darning needle for sewing in ends.
Fabric to line the case, needle and thread and two buttons.




Method
Cable cast on 60 stitches loosely on 3.5mm needles. Knit six entrelac base triangles each 10 stitches wide. Changing colour for each row, knit seven rows of entrelac rectangles, then finish with a row of bind off triangles.
I-cord will shrink more in the wash than entrelac fabric. Change up to 4mm needles and pick up 11 stitches from each of the 10 stitch triangles and three extra stitches at each corner. Cable cast on three more stitches and knit an i-cord bind off to edge the entrelac. To make button hole loops, on one of the short sides, knit three added rows of free i-cord at two of the rectangle points.




To felt the fabric, put the piece through a hot cycle in the washing machine and pin it out flat to dry. Cut a piece of material 2cm wider and longer than the knitting, turn back a hem all round and sew it against the inside edge of the i-cord on the wrong side.




Fold the piece into a envelope with a flap, sew the icord edges of the pocket together and set in two buttons in line with the button loops on the flap.


"Ah, brilliant, completely brilliant."
"You've cheered up, Beaut."
"Sally rang me from the Guild. She only knows how to work their projector from her laptop and wondered if I'd mind bringing my presentation on a memory stick. I can stop fussing about with this tablet. All my worries are over."
"Not quite, Beaut. You'll be wanting to crochet a cover for the memory stick before you go."

4 comments:

  1. good luck with the presentation! and with trying to get rid of the cold - at least next week looks more promising weatherwise than the last:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, I had an amazing time - people were really interested and welcoming and no technical hitches at all :) Plus the cold is much better today. Thanks very much :)

      Delete
  2. Vegetablesmatter14 April 2019 at 16:12

    You are properly obsessed with entrelac!! I love seeing the different renditions. Beautiful handspun/handdyed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks :) I think I dream in entrelac at present ...

      Delete