I used Valley Yarns Valley Superwash Sport (100% Superwash Merino) and a US#5 (3.75 mm) needle.

Adding a texture is a great “cheat” way to get an impact similar to colorwork, but it’s much quicker-to-knit for a lot of us.

I first made this swatch exactly how it was charted. Each row changed from the previous one.

While i like the idea of this stitch pattern, it honestly was a bit of a disappointment. Once I saw the swatch, I could see that stuff was going on, bit there wasn’t anything specific. I could see swathes of knits or purls, and the diamonds were argyle-ish. But that’s it.

I expected more when looking at the chart.

The Shape of the Chart Squares were Misleading

This is a great example of a stitch pattern really needing a “square” that’s more of a rectangle. Let’s take our gauge of 28 sts and 36 rows per 4 inches. If we break that down to just 1 inch, it’s:

7 sts and 9 rows per inch

This means that a chart’s square doesn’t accurately depict how a stitch looks in reality. Instead of a square, it’s a rectangle with less height (rows) than width (stitches).

I delve into the details in the article Charts and the Proportions.

But here’s a pic so that you can see the differences:

An easy fix is if a chart is changing on every row (like ours), is to knit it so that every row in between in worked the same as the row before it.

It’s not exact, but it can be a lot closer.

As I wrote about chart squares, I realized that I had a lot to say. So, I delve into this more (and more) in the article Charts and the Proportions.

Danish Textured Rose (changes every row)

Chart

Written Instructions

Row 1 (RS): K4, p1, k5, p1, k4. (15 sts)
Row 2 (WS): P4, k2, p3, k2, p4.
Row 3: K4, p3, k1, p3, k4.
Row 4: P1, k3, p3, k1, p3, k3, p1.
Row 5: K2, p2, k2, p3, k2, p2, k2.
Row 6: P3, k1, p1, k5, p1, k1, p3.
Row 7: K4, p7, k4.
Row 8: Repeat row 6.
Row 9: Repeat row 5.
Row 10: Repeat row 4.
Row 11: Repeat row 3.
Row 12: Repeat row 2.
Row 13: Repeat row 1.

Danish Textured Rose (changes every OTHER row)

Chart

Written Instructions

Row 1 (RS): K4, p1, k5, p1, k4. (15 sts)
Row 2 (WS): P4, k1, p5, k1, p4.
Row 3: K4, p2, k3, p2, k4.
Row 4: P4, k2, p3, k2, p4.
Row 5: K4, p3, k1, p3, k4.
Row 6: P4, k3, p1, k3, p4.
Row 7: K1, p3, k3, p1, k3, p3, k1.
Row 8: P1, k3, p3, k1, p3, k3, p1.
Row 9: K2, p2, k2, p3, k2, p2, k2.
Row 10: P2, k2, p2, k3, p2, k2, p2.
Row 11: K3, p1, k1, p5, k1, p1, k3.
Row 12: P3, k1, p1, k5, p1, k1, p3.
Row 13: K4, p7, k4.
Row 14: P4, k7, p4.
Row 15: Repeat row 11.
Row 16: Repeat row 12.
Row 17: Repeat row 9.
Row 18: Repeat row 10.
Row 19: Repeat row 7.
Row 20: Repeat row 8.
Row 21: Repeat row 5.
Row 22: Repeat row 6.
Row 23: Repeat row 3.
Row 24: Repeat row 4.
Row 25: Repeat row 1.
Row 26: Repeat row 2.

Side-by-Side

C

Beauty is really in the Eye of the Beholder

It’s up to you about which swatch looks best! To me, it’s the every other row. But I know that some of you will prefer the original.

Let us know which one you prefer in the comments!