A Cellular Automaton pattern by any other name….

Knowing I had to endure sitting in the waiting rooms of a Melbourne ENT specialist on Monday, I decided it might be wise to take my own reading matter with me. I didn’t want to take knitting, as I haven’t anything that’s small enough to cart around by train & tram, nor light enough to be hauled through the  streets when I’m on foot.

I opted instead to pop into Borders, close to where the consulting rooms were, and pick up a magazine to keep me occupied.

Has anyone yet seen the latest Vogue Knitting -Winter 06/07 ? The cover has an interesting piece from the talented Norah Gaughan, constructed from modular pentagons. At first glance it may appear a little complicated, but is actually quite simple to work and quick to knit.

Anyway, I somehow managed to persuade myself to part with $17.95 for this ‘air freighted’ copy  of Vogue (remember, the cover price of this mag is just US$6.99, or equivalent to about AU$8.95) -  and then continued on my way.

When I sat down to read my magazine, I was also drawn to this design:

Initially, because it was worked in Colinette Point Five   but when I started looking at the directions something else caught my attention. Though there were no attributions for the inspiration, it seemed to me that the stitch pattern was basically a variation on Debbie New’s Cellular Automaton patterning.

From Debbie’s book Unexpected Knitting: “Cellular automata are systems where each small unit behaves according to a rule applied to the conditions in its immediate surroundings.” Debbie goes on to give examples of how to invent self generating patterns by applying a single rule to your knitting. What I particularly like about the principle is that you don’t even have to write out or chart your stitch pattern – you just need to remember your rule. You can set up a foundation row in any sequence you choose, then the rest of your knitting is by the rule. And it can be applied to colour work, lace or cables, and just ordinary plain and purl knitting.

As an example, here’s a rule from her book: knit the next stitch as (col)A if one, and one only, of the three stitches below is A. That one rule is applied right throughout the piece. Now, though this does seem a rather random way of producing stitch patterns, you’d be surprised at the complexity, and sometimes orderliness,  of patterning that can emerge from your work. Whilst most of Debbie’s examples are applied to the stitches of the row previously worked, she has also discussed using external influences to determine stitch patterns. One of hers which comes to mind was something along the lines of: Every time your partner picks up the TV remote control, work a stitch in A, with all other stitches being worked as B. In some households, that would result in a very busy pattern:-)

So, what rule does Julie Gadding use in her pattern in Vogue Knitting ? She calls the stitch pattern a random lace pattern, but it’s far less random than one might at first believe. She tells the knitter to work in stocking stitch EXCEPT when the next stitch is formed with a thin segment of the yarn, then work [yo, k2tog] on RSrows or [yo p2tog] on WS rows.

Julie’s stitch rule relies on the texture of the Point Five yarn (it’s a thick & thin yarn). At first glance it looks like the slubs might be of random length and distance apart, but just knit up a stocking stitch sample in this yarn, and you’ll notice that your textured pattern will actually start  repeating (sometimes annoyingly!).  To reduce this effect (if so desired) you can use the same principle as when knitting with hand dyed yarns: work from 2 balls at once, knitting in imaginary stripes.   

Another feature of this particular pattern in Vogue Knitting is that it’s a top down raglan – a method probably brought to popular attention by Barbara Walker.  It’s interesting to look at knitwear designs in current magazines and consider where each designer has drawn their inspiration from. Whilst we may work in isolation,  there’s a certain connectedness between knitters across the planet. Whilst some designers would like to believe their work is entirely unique, we are surely all influenced by all that has come before us – and not just from the knitting world, but from fashion history, architecture, nature and such.   There is also a lot of ‘parallel invention’ likely to be going on. Whilst one may hope you’ve dreamed up a totally new stitch pattern or knitting technique, there’s more than a fair chance that someone elsewhere in the world is working on exactly the same concept ! Likewise, the styling of knitted garments is a cyclical affair, just as fashion in general is; whilst many knitters may think the recent popularity of draped designs was quite unique, the very same look will be found amongst the patterns of the 1920s.

After I’d finished with the doctor, I went on to meet my partner for a bite to eat, and we then went to see Babel at the Cinema Nova in Carlton. In Babel the issue of connectedness crops up yet again. Whilst it provides extreme contrasts and comparisons between the four countries in which it’s set, the threads are slowly drawn together that unite a number of individuals from each of those countries, though most are not (and will never be) even aware of the other’s existence.

It’s said that we can each connect to anyone else anywhere in the world through no more than ’six degrees of separation’.  I suspect that the knitting world is even smaller.