Beetroot

Yarn: Spritely Goods Cliodhna, Cranberry Colorway, less than 1 skein

Needles: US5

Pattern: Bitterroot from Knitty
Size: Shawl, post blocking, mine is approximately 60" across the top, and 30" down the midline.

Comments: Up until the beadwork, this was a very fast knitting shawl - my favorite bit is the edging, which I thought was rather clever. If it hadn't have been for winter olympic knitting in the middle of February it would have been completed back then - as it was, it languished for a bit, then was bound off....but was still awaiting blocking. For those interested in knitting this, I personally found it easier to put the beads on on the purl side to be less fussy, though it required that I pay more attention to the knitting to make sure I placed them properly. The pattern charts were easy to follow - placing markers to separate repeats may be helpful to some.

The pattern is written for either a full sized shawl or a shawlette - due to yarn and gauge difference, my finished project is right in between the noted finished size on the pattern.

the two-year Secret

Pattern: Secret of Chrysopolis
Yarn: Spritely Goods Cliodhna, in Cranberry (1+ skeins)
Needles: US 3
Finished Size: 27.5 inches by oh, probably 7 feet or so

Comments:
In a word, epic. The entire shawl from one end to the other is charted - there are some motifs that repeat, but truely, charted was the way to go. This was a part of a KAL that started back in September of 2007 - and I had cast on way back then. For whatever reason, the shawl was knit on sporadically and eventually went into hibernation....

...until I received an invitation to some weddings this fall, at which point I began knitting on it furiously. I finished the shawl on the Saturday Night before my flight out to a wedding - just enough time to block it good and proper and get it dry and packed. I think it turned out beautifully - and I've apparently advanced in my lace knitting far enough that I no longer fear dropping stitches back a few rows to "fix" something that isn't quite right. Not visible or obvious in the shot above, the shawl is not only lace, but tis also beaded :)

Wing of the Moth

Pattern: Wing of the Moth" by Anne Hanson of Knitspot
Yarn: Handspun Singles from Spritely Goods handblended batts in Arizona Sycamore colorway, combined with additional fiber that was blended by hand rather than by the carder.
Needles: US 6

the moth, pre blocking
Comments: Have I said recently how much I love lace? It's challenging to knit, and it has different "faces" to it at different stages of the process. Witness above and below - the moth, prior to blocking - it has such texture to it in its unblocked state!

another preblocking photo - of the moth preblocking
I love these bumps - they were formed on the backside of the shawl, in the fircone lace section - witness the fuzzy halo from the angora :)

The patten itself is well written, though due to my own peculiarities with how I use markers I had a little bit of a challenge figuring out just what I was supposed to be doing during the transition rows, but if you follow the instructions, you should be fine.

Blocking this baby wasn't too bad, and it didn't seem to take any longer than my other shawls - I ran blocking wires across the top edge, stretched her tight evenly across the top (7-foot 8-inch wingspan on this one - I'm rather aggressive with my blocking though), then pulled the midline tight and pinned it in place (46 inches tall if I remember the measurement correctly). From there, it was a question of pinning out the coronas - I did this the same way I did the points on my other shawls - I pinned the "center" point of the "center" corona out on both left and right sides, then I did the next midpoints between those coronas and the bottom point and top points, and continued in this manner until each midpoint of each corona was pinned out - then I went back through and pinned out each of the loops in the corona to get that nice scallopy edge. I will admit to getting a bit impatient at that point, and pinning away at will from left to right along each corona, which has resulted in some slightly lopsided scallops, but I figure it will do for now ;) I'll have to reblock her sometime in the future anyhow :D


Those that followed along on my regular blog might recall that the yarn spun for this project was prepared in 2 different methods. The main fircone portion (the portion in the lower right in the above photo) was spun from blended batts. The yarn used in the outer portion of the shawl was prepared by actually blending fibers at the wheel - resulting in considerably more striping. The fibers used in the preparation were the same as those used in the batts, and also in the same ratios - they just spin up differently depending on how thoroughly blended they are.

The Moth was a pleasure to knit, I just regret that I can't seem to capture the slight sparkle that is present in the yarn - The colors remind me of a Sphinx Moth, though up close, there is more earthy green visible. I'm looking forward to the weather cooling down so I can actually wear the Moth rather than simply gaze at it!

Shetland Triangle Shawl

a little flashy, sorry bout that!
I didn't think I'd ever be one of those shawl-a-week knitters, but here's the 2nd one and in less time even than the Swallowtail. I've been hoping to get some photos in natural light, but my hours aren't cooperating with me, so I've done up an all-indoor shoot instead.

Anyhow, the details!

Pattern: Shetland Triangle Shawl, by Evelyn Clark. Found in the book: Wrap Style

Yarn Used: Bamboo by Southwest Trading Company, in Red. Probably worth noting, this is the "older" version of bamboo - the newer feels much softer. This is a yarn of "chain" construction, rather than a traditional twist construction. ~1.25 balls or so...

Needles: US9

Comments/Commentary - because you know I have some ;) Don't worry, I'll intersperse it with pretty photos!

The Shetland Triangle Shawl was super speedy to knit - I think I had this one off the needles in a total of 5 days - I tended to knit on it in the evenings while watching TV. The pattern was quickly memorized, and it's nupp free ;) As with all lace, the magic appeared in the blocking - the freshly bound off shawl looked tiny - as in barely large enough to stick out from underneath my cat, had she decided to sit on it. Once blocked, the shawl stretched to a full 70 inches across the top and about 28 inches down to the center point. I felt like I had stretched it as far as it would go in the blocking process, but once dry, it seems like there's even more stretch to be had (I suspect it may have something to do with the yarn and how it may have "swollen" during the soaking process)

I opted for the full completion of the final pattern, and as I have issues binding off loosely enough to form those lovely scallopy edges, I used the same bind off as called for in the Swallowtail Shawl, and it didn't disappoint. I've plenty of points to keep me pleased :)

The only "issue" I encountered was with my yarn, rather than with the pattern - because of its chain like construction, the yarn can "unravel" if it splits - there were several sections of "thinner" yarn where it had partially unraveled or unchained itself in one ball of the yarn - I didn't have any issues at all in the 2nd ball. I stabilized as I went along, by knotting off the thinner sections, though I must have missed on section as it showed itself quite spectacularly during the blocking process. The good news is that the yarn didn't actually break, and I was able to stabilize that section by drawing up the slack and knotting it off to prevent further unraveling of the yarn.

I'm loving this shawl, and because it's knit from bamboo, I think it will make a good year-round piece :)

Swallowtail Shawl

The Swallow Tail Shawl, from the fall 2006 Interweave Knits is now complete :) It knit up super fast in just over a week's time. If you're wondering why it looks so large, it's because it is probably the same dimensions as "full sized" shawls, measuring about 68 inches across the top and 30 inches down to the point. No pattern modifications were done other than to use a different yarn (and of course larger needles).

Yarn: Regia Bamboo Color (1063)
Amount: Approximately two and a quarter balls.
Needles: US7

Comments: The pattern is a breeze to follow, and I found I had it memorized fairly quickly - I wound up not placing stitch markers between the pattern repeats mostly because I got tired of having to shift them around - I've apparently come a long way in my knitting as I find it much easier to "read" my knitting, even in lace form, and I was able to correct mistakes often within a couple of rows without having to tink or rip back - the most common mistakes I made were omitting a yarn over or forgetting to pass the slipped stitch over.

As the case seems to be with all lace projects, the magic is indeed in the blocking. The shawl was so squinched up (as lace often is) before blocking, I was amazed at how large it wound up blocking to. Before heading into the Nupps and the Lily of the Valley sections, I was trying to decide if extra budding lace was required - thank goodness I decided not :)


Speaking of Nupps, I've decided that I love love them. A pain to execute, but they sure give the shawl that extra bit of interest. I knitted my shawl using Denise interchangeable needles - the points on the needles aren't the pointiest, but I managed to do all my nupping without having to resort to slipping stitches hither and yon onto other needles or clear all the way back to the cable - the trick, I think, was to make sure to form the nupp loosely so that on the purl row it wasn't too difficult to capture all five stitches for the purl-5-together. I will admit to breathing a huge sigh of relief once the nupping was done and I was able to move onto the border.


Unfortunately I couldn't get a good shot of the full shawl indicating what the yarn looks like - photographing shawls prove to be much more difficult than I anticipated! Outdoors, things were lit very brightly, yet harshly and with too much contrast - so I resorted to a small indoor shot near a window of the shawl folded up.

Kiri en Fuego

Well, Fuego was the yarn anyhow - it looks more like an Agua inspired Kiri what with the blues - or perhaps Cielo - the deep blue with light blue reminds me of the crisp intense blue desert skies with wispy clouds.

Anyhow, the details:

Pattern from Polly at All Tangled Up

Yarn: Skacel Fuego - 80% mohair, 20% wool - 3 balls with ~25g remaining.

Needles: US15 (wahoo!)

Comments: a super fast knit, mostly because I adjusted the needles upward to accommodate the relatively fatter yarn. The original yarn called for in the pattern is Kidsilk Haze...of which I have none (I do, however, have one precious ball of doucer et soie but I have no idea what it wants to be yet). Anyhow, this lace pattern was fairly easy for me to commit to memory, though I did forget a yarnover here or there on occasion, resulting in my having to tink back to get it - luckily I never did have to resort to putting the shawl in the freezer to find out if ripping *frozen* mohair is any easier than ripping mohair of the non-frozen variety.

This shawl measures almost six feet across now that it has been blocked, and it seems to be just the thing to take the nip out of the over zealous air conditioning. There was a minor moment of indecision when I tried to figure out if I had enough yarn do do one more pattern repeat row and then go into the edging - some quick math told me not, and I'm pleased to say I was right - I only have 25g of yarn remaining. The only thing I was not able to accomplish was the dramatic points/scalloping as in the pattern, I think it's because I bound off too tightly - the good news is I bound off with equal tension all the way round, so I have a nice clean edge.

Regarding the yarn, it was easy enough to work with, though I do note that my shawl sheds a little bit - so if I am foolish enough to wear on certain garments, someone may wind up asking me if I'd dyed my cat blue.