Working in series

Or is that knitting in series?  I knit four Absorba bath mats for the new home.  In April, I used my tile and counter samples to select colors.

I started out with two strands of worsted weight Bernat cotton for the logs and 10 strands of olive green cotton/rayon/linen lace weight for the outlines.  I knit it in symmetrical "courthouse steps" sequence.  I would have liked a larger value contrast to make the outlines pop.  Putting in the outlines was a lot of extra work (weaving in all those ends) and I want it to show!

So I knit one with the original log-cabin (asymmetric) pattern, without the borders.  In that way, I could use continuous strands of the yarn as I built up the logs in a spiral order.  I used one strand of worsted weight gray cotton and four strands of the olive lace weight.  It was easier and quicker, but it did not come out perfectly square.  I did like the gray-olive color of the yarn blend.

So I went back to courthouse steps-style, using one strand of worsted weight gray cotton and four strands of the olive lace weight for the logs and two strands of black worsted Cotton-ease (cotton/acrylic) for the borders.  The black looks a bit harsh next to the gray-olive blend.  (Too little to too much value contrast, sigh.)  I also did not have enough black to make another.

So I used the same olive-gray blend for the logs and one strand each of black and charcoal Cotton-ease.  Is this the Goldilocks bathmat?

I like them all--even the lopsided one.

The gray-olive-black mix goes well with the bathroom and kitchen tiles, which have gray, brown, bronze and olive tones.

Knitting 2 kg of cotton is hard on the hands and wrists.  It's a good thing that I don't have any more bathrooms to furnish.

The blue/white ones I made for my temporary apartment now live in our beach townhouse.

See my complete Absorba series..