You are currently browsing the Shawls category
This is where I’m at with the Leaf Lace shawl: 12 repeats done, and the shawl is about 4 ft wide unstretched. The blob at the bottom is what I have left. I was nearly done, with half the border completed.
But here’s the problem. I don’t know how much I have left, and as the shawl is growing, I can’t tell how much yarn it will take per repeat. I did 12 repeats, and then thought I’ll play safe and do the border, even if I have some yarn left over. 9 rows of the border in I realise I had enough left for at least one more pattern repeat, if not two.
Now that little voice in the head that was quietly whispering – "are you sure you don’t want to stop the border right here, frog, and do another repeat? Think of what you’ll do with the leftover yarn, which you’ll be able to use neither in a sock nor a hat. It will sit there in the drawer and mock you for your laziness. It would have been simpler to do another repeat or two, and then frog if you didn’t have enough. Now look: all this work, and 10 rows frogged for nothing." – is getting louder and more insistent. Somehow continuing to knit the border in order to ignore it isn’t helping.
So I flung the thing into a corner, made some alu parathas for dinner, and then brought it back out and figured that if not display the completed shawl, at least I could complain blog about it.
So now qu’est-ce qu’on va faire? I just know it, there’s a sucker deep down somewhere inside me who’s going to force me to frog back to the last repeat, try out another repeat or two, and then do the border. I’m going to love the longer shawl in the end, because it’s already a little short and some more length will look good on it. Of course, if there isn’t enough yarn, I’ll still feel good about having tried.
Arrrrrrgh! When I came so close, too. How the heck does one figure out these yardage per row thingies for triangular shawls? I tried weighing this thing at the post office and it doesn’t mean a thing. It only got me weird looks from people. I wish I could tell how far this blob will go: one more repeat or two?
Ah well. Check back in a few days, hopefully I’ll have finished it, to let you know. I’ll also try to photograph it in the sun, to bring out the colours properly.
But in happier news, do check out Spudsayshi’s glorious Orenburg shawl, finally complete. It is one of the most beautiful lace projects ever. I have been following this project like a good groupie, and now I think I’ll have withdrawal symptoms like a cricket fan after the world cup is over.
Also, talking of gorgeous knitting links, surely all of you know about Brooklyn Tweed? It’s the latest blog I’ve discovered (although I’m sure folks have known about it for months), and some of his stuff, especially the Urban Aran cardigan.
Thanks so much for all your input! I tentatively decided to set aside the variegated for the Spirit of the Southwest, because the colours are just right and plus, I bought the yarn in Colorado during a trip of the Southwest…. somehow seems right. And I decided it’s not a problem if it’s warm, really. I also wound a skein of the pink Malabrigo and actually started the F&F shawl. But then, somehow, my hands reached out to the yarn I had left over from the Clapotis I made this spring. And before I knew it, I had cast on for the Leaf Lace shawl.
It’s weird. The yarn almost chose itself for the project. I was a little wary of doing something big with the leftover since I have no idea how much I have left, but I think I’ll get a medium size wrap out of this. Whatever the size, I think it’s going to look gorgeous. And it goes fast! I’ve already done six repeats in two days.
I think the key to lace and variegated yarns is to pick a relatively simple motif, and to knit at a slightly looser gauge than you would for a solid yarn. This allows the YOs to show up more clearly through the mist of shades. It’s definitely more difficult to see the SSks and the K2togs clearly, but
if it’s an identifiable motif like a leaf, then it works very well.
I love this colourway, just knitting with it and watching the shades come up on the needles is a joy.
Clapotis, done. Finally. It actually turned out to be quite long and wide, nearly a foot wide and nearly 6 ft long.
I am so glad I stuck with it, because the final result is totally worth the mind-numbing knitting.
Here it’s blocked, and out on a limb (okay, a hanger) out of the window to catch some of the sunlight. I could have gone downstairs to photograph it on the stoop stairs but as always, too lazy.
Many thanks to Laura for dyeing this gorgeous skein. Seriously, the best part about knitting this wrap was discovering the many different and beautiful shades that went into it. Suddenly, a particular hue of deep maroon or crimson would show up on the needle and I’d say to myself: ooooh, I want some worsted in *that*!
EDIT: It’s a fingering merino of 1750 yards, but I doubled it and knit it on size 7 bamboos. I don’t know how much I used, but I have a few hundred yards left over, I think.
This is a gift for a dear friend whom I’ll be seeing shortly, as part of a long road trip. But more on that later.
Re. my triangle shawl, thanks for the sympathy and suggestions! I did decide to keep going with my laceweight shawl after all, and exchanged the Louet Gems for a Barbara Walker treasury and some Koigu! Hopefully another pair of lacy socks will emerge from that bargain.
I’m in a dilemma. I have finished the first chart of my shaped triangle shawl at row 108. Now I’m not sure if this is only due to its unblocked state, but it seems to be running a little smaller than it ought to at this stage, about 32 inches total at the shoulders, slightly stretched.
My mil had requested a really wide shawl and I figured 82 inches wide would be good; now I’m not sure it will get that wide after blocking. I have about 80 rows left.
After some handwringing about making yet another shawl that didn’t quite work*, I went to Purlsoho and bought five skeins of Louet Gems Superwash Merino sportweight and the Leaf Lace shawl pattern, thinking a slightly thicker yarn and simpler repeat pattern would mean I’d still have a shawl to give her when I arrive in Calcutta in July. And what the heck, I’d keep this one for myself. So I knit up the first chart and blocked it. This yarn is very springy, tightly spun and not really lacey-feeling, if you know what I mean. I’m not sure I like it for this pattern, even though machine-washable means more durable, plus the thicker yarn means warmer.
So since last night I’ve been going back and forth:
1) Should I continue with the shaped triangle, maybe increasing a few pattern repeats of a later chart? Alison, since you made this shawl, what do you think?
2) Will I be able to do this on a long road trip without poking myself in the eye with my needle?
3) Or should I continue with this Leaf Lace, perhaps with a larger needle to give it more drape? Why do I just *feel* it’s not right even when all indications are good?
4) My MiL said she likes thin, light yarn, but I am unsure if she knows exactly how thin this laceweight really is. But will the Gems turn out too thick?
5) Should I return the rest of the Louet Gems and feel like an idiot? What will I buy with the store credit?!
Any and all suggestions welcome, except the one that I shouldn’t make a black shawl for the MiL. That one’s too late, unfortunately.
* The first black shawl I made for her was from Brooks Farm 50/50 mohair-wool. I took it to Cal in the middle of the hot summer and you wouldn’t believe the way the fibres shed!! The floor soon resembled a barber’s floor and it was awful, little black wisps flying all over with the ceiling fan with me scurrying behind them to catch them before they got in everyone’s teeth and eyes. Back into the bag the shawl went (thankfully it was a simple Yo effort) and I swore off mohair.
Not much progress to show here because I’m in grading and submission hell. I whiled the month of April away and now a couple of deadlines are biting me where it hurts, plus I realised last night that the deadline for turning in final grades is not next Monday but this Friday. So I have 40 bluebooks and 15 graduate final papers to read and grade by Wednesday night, because Thursday I have to go to a conference out of state.
How did I ever get myself into this mess? Point being that not much knitting is going to get done in the next week or so. Nor over the summer, really, but I’ll keep that one for later..
More to the point, why did I start this project? Someone out there has knit *nine* of these Clapotis scarves and I cannot bring myself to finish even one. It’s the sheer monotony of it, which the dropped stitches don’t alleviate for me. But I have to finish it by month’s end to give it as a gift. Funny how stockinette socks never seem this monotonous.
Well, today I have three hours of exam proctoring to get through and a long train ride on Thursday. Hopefully I can get some done then.
What do you do when you have little visible progress to show? You buy yarn instead so you can photograph it. Heh heh. Both the Clapotis and the shawl are coming along nicely but nothing significantly different from last time. So I thought I’d distract you with this gorgeous pair I snagged today:
Louet Gems Merino Sock Yarn. I’m in a sock-yarn buying spree, but no worries, I have plans for them which shall be revealed at the right time. Aren’t they beauties? The colour is pretty accurate on my monitor.
I also bought a pair of size 3 Bryspun circulars for my Triangle shawl, because the Bates metal ones were somehow very clunky. I love the Bates needles cause they’re cheap, smooth and have sharp tips, and the joins aren’t bad either. But for some reason my wrists were beginning to hurt as I held them and the slippery lace tightly. So I bought these Bryspuns, which are lighter, more flexible and somehow faster. Yes I know, I’m probably imagining it. The joins aren’t that great but better than the bamboos.
This shawl is moving quickly now. I am hoping to have it done by the end of the month but perhaps that’s too ambitious.
I fear I have a minority report on the Clapotis: I’m bored with it! Please don’t shoot me. I’ve started dropping the stitches (this merino yarn needs a lot of coaxing with them) and established a rhythm, but it’s just a little blah. No doubt the finished product will be worth it (she said, hopefully), but as of now, I’m having an anticlimactic moment with it. I think it’s the twisted stitches. Ktbl was never my favourite.
Ah well. I frequently eat my words down the road so don’t be surprised if you see me casting on for another sometime later.
In the meantime, I discovered a great spinner and dyer online: Manasi, aka Yarnahoy. She has some great stuff on her Etsy shop, and today I bought some of her handspun and handdyed yarn:
Do check out Manasi’s store! She has great cotton/lycra sock yarns right now.
The multicoloured yarn is approx 440 yards of merino wool sock yarn, which she called "Jewels of Leh" (it’s the names of all her skeins that made me curious about her in the first place!). I wouldn’t usually put these shades and colours together myself, so I am curious to see how the knitted fabric looks.
And the red one I simply had to buy: it’s called "Sholay!" Heh. Sholay means "embers" in Hindi/Urdu, but having watched arguably the best ever Hindi film in Bollywood at least 15 times if not more, I simply *had* to buy it. It was our generation’s film par excellence; my serious crush on Amitabh Bachchan has long since faded, but I hope I never tire of watching Sholay.
This gorgeous yarn is about 220 yards of worsted wool, so maybe I’ll make a cap out of it while watching Sholay yet another time.
Thanks for all the kind comments on the socks, everyone!
I was saying to Spud the other day that repeated and cheerful frogging only means we’re becoming better, more exacting knitters. Ha! So in my quest to become a better knitter, my first stab at Clapotis has hit the pond. I decided against the laceweight on size 5s because between the socks and the laceweight shawl I think I need a project with slightly bigger needles and thicker yarn.
So I’ve started it again on size 7s, doubling the
laceweight. It’s not too tight, really, but why is it curling up at the bottom like that? I know it’s supposed to curl at the sides, but is this bottom-up also normal? Or am I doing something wrong?
I have the perfect solution: make the first one so problematic, and yet so lovely when done, that the second one seems like a total breeze in comparison and you cannot wait to have the pair done to wear. I am aware, that like with many other solutions, your mileage may vary with this one. But look:
I started the second Koigu sock yesterday, and hopefully this one will be much less painful to execute than the first one.
(The tibetan Buddha statue on which it rests is presumably not too happy, but it was handy. )
In the interests of my own sanity, however, I decided to add some colour to the grey knitting and start a new project. Voila mon clapotis (or should it be ma clapotis?):
The subtle shades in this handpainted yarn are gorgeous. Thanks to Laura, colour expert extraordinaire, for coming up with this gorgeous yarn.
So my Clapotis is in laceweight, on size 5s, following Alianneknits. Also, I am doing the stitches to be dropped in purl. Easier to spot, easier to keep to a rhythm. I like the soft drape, and am still trying to figure out how many increases to do, to give it a good width.
… slowly. Very slowly. Like the Marathi saying, ????? ????? ??? ???? (literally, drop by drop the pond fills up). Here are a couple of progress pictures. I gave my husband quite a turn yesterday as he spied me trying to photograph my foot in the air with needles sticking out all around my ankle.
I like the way the lace looks. I am not entirely sure about how tight the all-over lace pattern will be on the ankle and cuff, but am knitting it right now, so will find out soon. But I can so totally see a second sock syndrome coming on. Need to fight it.
Also, the Shaped Triangle Shawl is growing! I had a devil of a time trying to photograph it, though. Here’s one that is halfway decent. I have a long way to go, but this project is wonderful. You can see its shape forming, like a butterfly opening its wings, almost.
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »
