Baby Steps for Bumpkenz



Here's a little TRICK to make working with grids a TREAT!



 



When Linda Farmer posted the new pattern Bumpkenz by Beth Snoderly I could not wait to work with it.  As a matter of fact, I liked it so much that I included it in "It's a String Thing" #12. 

 

(In my enthusiasm to get the message out, I misspelled the pattern name in my initial post.  My apologies to Beth and my thanks to Linda for bringing it to my attention.)  

 

Yesterday, I sat down to draw up the steps for the tangle in my pattern notebook.  Perhaps it was my mood or the distractions around me, but I had the hardest time learning it.  I'd start with a grid, slice it diagonally, and draw the Bumpkenz.  Every time I ended up with squished, odd shaped orbs - nothing as pleasing as the intended outcome.

 

It took the better part of the morning to figure out where I veered off the intended path.  In the process, I stumbled upon a little trick about grids.  I may be the last tangler to figure this out, but just in case this helps someone, here is what I found...

 

 

If a square grid is lined vertically in each direction like so:

 

 

 - the result in each of the smallest squares on the grid is a unit comprised of four triangles.

When you draw a tangle on the diagonal line in one of these square units, you work in a triangular shape.

 

 

On the other hand, if a square grid is lined vertically in each direction - in every other row - like so:

 

 

 - the result in each of the smallest squares on the grid is a unit comprised of two triangles.  When you draw a tangle on the diagonal line in one of these square units, you work in a square.

 



 



The latter is the base structure of the new tangle Bumpkenz.   I tried in vein to work it into the first type of grid and all too slowly realized why my orbs were so squished; the tangle was fitted to a triangle not a square as it was intended. 

 

Hopefully, I can save you some time and trouble by posting my notes.  I call them "Baby Steps" because I needed simple, simple steps! 

 

Give Bumpkenz a try - it's a lovely tangle pattern.  Check out "It's a String Thing" #12  and send in your tile.  I'd love to hear your stories!

 

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

 

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