What is a Chain of Netting?

Most people are familiar with a chain of crochet.   The crochet chain is one way to start a crochet project.  The chain is also useful as a cord.  Some people even use it to start knitting.

A chain of netting serves some of the same purposes.  It is a way to start a netting project, and I have used it as a cord.

While working on the videos for my upcoming class Netting, More or Less, I put together a short video discussing a net chain, what it is, and when to use it.  Come on over to Rita's Netting Nook, where you can view the video.

What is Square Mesh Netting?

This month I  mentioned square-mesh netting and trellises in the same blog more than once.  I realized, because of this, some may think that a trellis is the only thing you can make with square-mesh netting.    That is far from the truth.  Come over to Rita's Netting Nook and view an introductory video about square-mesh netting.

Rectangles in Square-Mesh Netting

For the past several weeks I've been working with square mesh netting. Several of the trellises I made were with square meshes rather than diamond meshes. By the time I had finished those trellises, I had the directions for making a square of square-mesh netting written and well tested. This week I have been working with square-mesh netting again - but with rectangles instead of squares. I made four different samples.

Two had an even number of squares across the width.

 

Two had an odd number of squares across the width.

I also made sure that the samples included two with an even number of squares along the length and two with an odd number of squares. I carefully wrote down the directions, for both the width and the length, noting the changes that occurred when an even or odd number of squares was wanted. I thought I had the directions figured out and accurately put into the computer.

I guess it was a good thing I looked at my garden yesterday and noticed that the tomato plants at one end of one garden box were starting to sprawl all over the place. The poor tomato plants were in need of a trellis of their own - the one spot in the garden where I had not already supplied one!

We picked up the materials to make the frame, and last night I found some unused seine twine Mason Line to use for the netting. As I was netting the trellis, I found a mistake in the instructions that I thought were all finished and correct. I guess it pays to check and double check the instructions.








And this morning, with the help of my youngest son, we threaded the netting onto the frame.

















The tomato plants are no longer sprawling; they are climbing instead. I even saw a few small, green tomatoes.

Net Doilies and Networking Dreams

I had other ideas for this blog until I sat down at the computer and read two blog posts this morning, and I have been thinking about them both all day.  So, while I have been busy making another video for the upcoming class, I'm not going to talk about the class.  You will just have to visit the syllabus for the class and see for yourself what I've done.  And I'm not going to send you to Rita's Netting Nook today to get the rest of the blog, either.

Now for those posts that have stuck with me all day.

The first was Round Knotted Netting. The net doilies shown there are simply gorgeous. There are also a couple of links that show more net doilies. Be sure to look at those doilies also.

As I looked at these doilies, my fingers started itching to start another project. Only time will tell who wins - me or my fingers. Seeing these lovely doilies makes me want to start right now on my next class, Netting Around, which will deal with circular netting (including doilies), instead of finishing Netting, More or Less, the current class I'm working on.

The second post talks about social networking, but with a twist. It points out that :

"The truth is that all the social networking and Internet ‘world shrinking’ is making us more distant. It’s virtual connection. There are only two ways to make it real – real world interactions, interactions that are so strong (because of shared passion or shared purpose) that they are nearly as good as real world interactions."

It mentions there are three ways that a social based network could help make the network less virtual and more real.

1. "Help people make real friends. A shared passion is perhaps one of the best ways to build great friendships."
2. "Strengthen the art/pursuit itself. You help people get more of what they want . . ."
3. "Provide recurring real human connection. Not the meaningless type of ‘who has the longest friends list’ type of connection – the real human connection where both of you are in love with . . ."

While this post began by talking about Ravelry and then about books and reading, I immediately thought about Rita's Netting Nook. This is the kind of experience I want us to have. In order for us to achieve that, I need your help. What do you want (as far as netting goes)? More netting patterns, more basic instructions, more advanced stitches, less of me asking you questions? Help me out.

Net Trellises in the Garden

Back in 2007 our family tried a new approach to gardening - a couple of Square-Foot-Garden boxes. At that time I made some 4 foot by 6 foot net trellises to match the larger frame shape and some 4 foot by 4 foot ones for the smaller frame shape.

This year we had more plants that wanted to climb than we had squares in which to put them. We decided to try the frames without the Square-Foot boxes. A couple of weeks ago we bought the supplies, set up the frames (5 feet by 5 feet), and planted the seeds. My goal was to get the six net trellises made before the plants needed them.

It turned out to be an opportunity for me to practice making squares of square-mesh netting in preparation for my upcoming class, "Netting, More or Less," where I will be teaching about square-mesh netting. It took me three trellises to get the written instructions to match what I was actually doing.

That left me with three more to finish, and I was beginning to get bored with repeating the same pattern over and over. I started thinking, "What would happen if . . .

To find out what I was thinking of experimenting with and how the final net trellises turned out, come join us in Rita's Netting Nook.