Thursday, June 25, 2009

Process or Product

Last night a friend came over for dinner. While the pasta was cooking, I decided to wrap the OpArt blanket so I could get it in the mail to my brother. I also managed to complain about the endless rows of stockinette it required. She looked at the blanket and said "You mean garter stitch, right?"

It brought up the question of process vs. product. Since the blanket is knit in the round, knitting one row and purling the next creates garter stitch. But the process of knit one row, purl one row is stockinette, right?

So, which would you call it, garter or stockinette?
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14 comments:

  1. JanisJune 26, 2009 at 11:40 AM

    I would say it is the product.

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  2. sandiJune 26, 2009 at 11:41 AM

    Garter and stockinette refer to the fabric, not the process by which it was produced. So, your blanket is definitely garter stitch. And a lovely thing it is, too.

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  3. MiriamJune 26, 2009 at 11:47 AM

    I'd call it garter because of the fabric it makes. Just like a knit stitch whether you use the continental method, the english method, or the combination method, is a knit stitch because that's what it looks like when it's done being made.

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  4. LynneJune 26, 2009 at 11:56 AM

    I'd agree with knittingworkshop and Miriam. It's about the end product. If you're making a huge block of stockinette stitch on a knitting machine, it's still St st, not "machine stockinette stitch" or what have you.

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  5. Diane soucyJune 26, 2009 at 12:03 PM

    Knit one round and purl one round is garter stitch. The old knitters called stockinette stitch that because stockings knitted in the round produced that fabric if you knit every round. They had to purl the opposite side to get stockinette stitch back and forth.

    Diane

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  6. JayaJune 26, 2009 at 12:54 PM

    Garter.

    If we called that stockinette, then knit every round in circular knitting would be garter. Which it isn't. The end result is what counts, not the process of creating it.

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  7. kaykatrnJune 26, 2009 at 2:14 PM

    It is unanimous so far--ot's the product that counts.

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  8. JeanneJune 26, 2009 at 5:48 PM

    Ditto on the end result. Garter for sure.

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  9. Lorna's LacesJune 27, 2009 at 12:46 AM

    I knida knew it was garter...I could tell by looking at it, but it still FELT like I knit an ocean of stockinette.

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  10. Suna KendallJune 27, 2009 at 8:48 AM

    Wow, now I realize I (may) have knitted a LOT of garter stitch socks! That was a really good question, and I am going to ask everyone at my LYS what they think! I am so proud of you for finishing that blanket. My baby recipient loves hers, and I hope yours does, too.

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  11. amesJune 28, 2009 at 9:25 AM

    i believe that both answers are correct, in that you knitted stockinette to produce a garter stitch fabric, because you threw that wacky in-the-round knitting into the equation. of course the blanket is garter stitch, but you still had to purl to get there. i've looked at several knitting books on my shelf, and they all promise me that garter stitch is produced when you knit every row. ;]

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  12. AidanJune 29, 2009 at 2:20 PM

    The answer is "Yes."

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  13. Brenda StrattonJune 30, 2009 at 1:35 PM

    I agree with garter stitch. It's the end product that matters.

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  14. InaJuly 6, 2009 at 5:55 PM

    Garter st in the round. ;p

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