Variation of a shawl

Posted on 16 September 2006 by Kris

I actually unpinned this from the blocking board on Tuesday morning, but since there hasn’t been sufficient light to take pictures of it after work, I’m just now getting around to posting this:

It’s official, I’m in love with this shawl.

Detail shots:

And now, the notes.

Pattern:
Tina Shawl by Dorothy Siemens (Fiddlesticks Knitting)

Yarn:
Jaggerspun Superfine Merino in Ruby

Needles:
US3 / 3.25mm Inox Express circulars for the border and lace edging
US4 / 3.5mm Inox Express circulars for the center triangle
US5 / 3.75mm Inox Express circulars for the i-cord edging

Modifications:

  • Made it triangular, rather than square. I used Birch (from Rowan issue 34) as a model for the center triangle’s construction.
  • Incorporated short rows into the edging, to get the angle of the top edges lined up with the rest of the shawl.
  • Added i-cord along the top edge. It makes a really nice edge, at least on the border and edging. It looks nice along the center triangle, too, but didn’t help much with the slight rippling there, despite how severely I blocked it. Perhaps going down a needle size for that section’s i-cord would have been better…

This shawl was a fantastic learning experience for me, thanks to all the modifications, and it was also a lot of fun to knit!

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Just around the corner

Posted on 02 September 2006 by Kris

Tina’s pretty much the only thing I’ve worked on this week. I’ve just turned the corner, putting me over halfway through the edging:

At this rate, I’ll finish the edging sometime next week.

I won’t be done after the edging chart, though. From the earliest planning stages, I intended to finish off the top of the shawl with an attached i-cord edging. Which is going to be a monotonous pain in the butt, but I think it will be worth it. Besides, if I work on it at Rebecca’s, that will help the task fly by.

I can’t wait to have the finished shawl in my hands. I’m so incredibly pleased with how this is turning out so far. I keep putting it down and pinning sections of it out, just so I can get a better idea of how it will look after blocking. It’s definitely a lot nicer in person than it is in the pictures, considering my complete inability to accurately photograph the color.

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September 2006 goals

Posted on 01 September 2006 by Kris

Progress has indeed been made:

  1. Finish seed stitch ribbed socks – Done!
  2. Finish chart 3 of Tina – Done!
  3. Work on at least one other WIP – Done!

Okay. I’m done with light goals for now. Time for more demanding ones!

  1. Finish Tina
  2. Finish Tubey
  3. Finish at least one toe sock
  4. Work on Eris
  5. Hold off on pipeline projects until completing at least one of the above goals.
  6. Start Peacock Feathers

I once thought it would be nice to have only one project of each type on the needles, and I stuck to it for a very short while, but then I got bored with the toe socks and the multiple problems with my Eris sleeves got too depressing and, well… yeah. But! This month’s goals, assuming I complete them all, should help me get back on track with the one-project-of-each-type thing.

On a blog-related note, I’ll be doing some restructuring in the background later today. Hopefully I don’t break anything, but if the blog goes down for a bit, well, at least you’ll know why…

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Rambling about techniques

Posted on 31 August 2006 by Kris

The last thing I need is more potential posts to mull over, but that’s never stopped me before!

For example: decreases while knitting back backwards. Now, would anyone benefit from a post (or two or three) with pictures of the processes? I’d kind of like to write a series on that, but if I’m the only one insane enough to knit in such a way, I’m not sure if my efforts would be wasted. Especially since I don’t know how easy backwards decreases are if you have little dexterity in your non-dominant hand.

I’ve also got a couple of mirrored knitting posts on the brain. For example, I’ve been planning a mirrored knitting back backwards tutorial. I’ve already got some pictures of the process, originally taken because once upon a time, I was going to write a “compare and contrast” post on mirrored kntiting vs. knitting back backwards.

Maybe I’ll actually get around to writing these. Or maybe I’ll just forget about them like so many other past potential posts. Who knows?

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Off the needles and on the feet

Posted on 23 August 2006 by Kris

You know how it seems like there’s always just one inch left for hours and hours, and then suddenly you’ve knit way past the point you intended? That totally happened with my latest pair of socks (just ask Jessica and Jen). But, I unraveled the excess rows and then did just the right amount of 1×1 ribbing to get the following:

Getting a halfway decent picture of your feet and ankles is hard… you have no idea how long this photo shoot took me.

Anyway, project stats:

Pattern: None. Well, not exactly, anyway… see notes.
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Swirl DK in Aqua
Needles: US0 Inox DPNs

These socks were partially inspired by Bobby Ziegler‘s Thuja. And by “partially inspired,” I mean that I saw how well the stitch pattern worked for socks; that’s the only thing my socks have in common with the Thuja pattern.

The gauge is different, for one thing. And then there’s the matter of construction. I worked these socks toe up – always a handy method if you’re afraid of running out of yarn. The following techniques were used:

  • Yarnover short row toe. I originally learned this method using instructions Jessica provided (in an early draft of her Falling Leaves pattern), and I much prefer it to the wrap and turn short row method.
  • Reverse-engineered Dutch heel. I mostly used Denise Powell’s instructions as a reference.
  • A sewn tubular bind off (also known as k1p1 bindoff, or grafted bind off, or Kitchener bindoff). There’s a couple of different variants to this bindoff; I prefer the one I’ve just linked to, but then again, I happen to like kitchener stitch.

I’m really happy with these. Yes, they’re fairly plain and basic, but they fit me nicely and I’m pleased with all the little details.

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