Shawl shape

Shawl in progress
Originally uploaded by Asplund

Today I thought I'd share my ideas for the shape of my current shawl project. I want a V shape made up of three equally big sections: the middle/bottom one filled with stars, and the wings with grids similar to the centre of the previous Estonian shawl I made.

You can see a tiny sketch of the shape in the centre of the photo, and in the upper right corner is the start of the grid pattern. The shawl will be framed with a knitted-on border, but I haven't made up my mind about what kind of pattern to use. No need to decide yet, though...


Christine has passed on an award to me, a Stylish award, which is very flattering. Thank you! I'm supposed to write seven things about myself. That will require some thinking, so I'm saving that for next post. In the meantime, I suggest you check out her blog and the other bloggers she nominated. 

Last, I'm going to answer a couple of questions in comments on a previous post:

Ron asked about the yarn. It's "Viva" from Wetterhoff in Finland, easily my favourite yarn for knitting lace. It's a glorious wool-silk blend (70-30%) and 100 grams is enough for a big shawl. It drapes beautifully thanks to the silk, and it has a sheen that enhances lace patterns. I just counted my "Viva" projects on Ravelry: this is my tenth since I first discovered more or less exactly two years ago. For most of them I've used 4 mm needles (US 6), but after some swatching I decided 3½ mm (US 4) worked best to make Estonian nupp patterns.

Ann asked about the edge. I simply slip the first stitch, as if to knit on the right side and as if to purl on the wrong side. I find this makes it easy to pick up stitches for a knitted-on border, and at the same time it looks nice enough in case I don't have enough yarn for a border and the shawl has to be naked. (Shock horror!)

Ron also asked about the green shawl I mentinoned in a previous post. It hasn't found an owner yet, but I have a friend's friend in mind. I understand she'd be interested in having one, and I believe it would be a great colour for her.

Edited to add: I just learnt a new word I could relate to instantly, namely shawlcoholic! Liisa's pun sjalkoholist is even better in Swedish, but I think it works in English too.

To rip or not to rip

Shawl in progress
Originally uploaded by Asplund

My intention was to write a post about whether I should rip 2½ rows to add a nupp I forgot to make, but it's too late now. Instead, I'm going to write about why I did :)

1. I never liked mistakes in my knitting, and even though I've grown more tolerant over the years I don't want to keep major flaws. A nupp missing makes a mutilated star.

2. For a while I toyed with the idea of making a "nupp prosthesis" - it could be a good challenge trying to make one afterwards and get it to blend in with the others. On the other hand it might not work, and I was too eager to make progress to start nupp swatching.

3. An hour or so spent ripping out and reknitting a few rows (even if they're rather long) is far less time than years or possibly a lifetime source of irritation I didn't correct a mistake I discovered fairly quickly. I know myself: one of my sweaters has an ugly flaw that I told myself might disappear during blocking... Instead it stood out even more clearly!

4. I tried telling myself a nupp missing is a scandalously ridiculous thing to think about considering the recent disasters in Japan and New Zealand, what's happening in Libya and other countries etc etc... Still, it's as if I just can't help following my knitting instincts.

Ann and Ron: I will get back with answers to your questions!

Crown Prince shawl no 2

Crown Prince shawl no 2
Originally uploaded by Asplund

Since I finished my first Estonian shawl I have been thinking about different ways to use the patterns in a different shawl shape. Well, I started thinking about it while knitting the first one. I'm usually most excited about my next project, which I surely have in common with many if not most knitters.

I'm very happy with how the first shawl turned out, but the almost square shape doesn't seem very practical to me: to wear it comfortably you'd have to fold it to make a triangle and then the pattern will disappear.

This time my plan is to combine the star pattern from Nancy Bush's book (which I love, both to knit and to look at) with small groups of nupps in a V-shaped shawl, a shape I tested knitting last year.

My "Jaws" sweater is resting for a while. I've knitted the sleeves but haven't decided how to knit the cuffs. I will probably repeat the coloured triangles from the body but am not quite sure exactly how.

Estonian shawl finished

Estonian shawl finished
Originally uploaded by Asplund

This is how my knitted-on edge turned out. Not sure how far my yarn would last I decided to knit a pattern that could be cast off practically any time; this one consists of two different pattern rows and two plain rows.

There was more yarn than I expected, so I ended with a few pattern rows with extra increases for more pronounced points. I'm pleased with the edge (I wanted something airy to balance the fairly compact main pattern) although I think the original design is prettier.

That goes for the whole shawl, by the way, even though I'm happy with my modifications - and even happier that I've left my old fear of experimenting and taking liberties with patterns behind. I've learnt a lot (and still do) from following instructions, but it's nice not to have to depend on them all the time.

My modifications in short:
1. Variation star motif used. It's bigger, so I made this shawl five stars wide instead of seven.
2. Garter-stitch border skipped.
3. Centre "grid" pattern resized to blend with the stars, and I added different groups of nupps to it.
4. Edge knitted on instead of made separately and sewn on. (Which keeps this from being a real Haapsalu shawl, but I guess it's safe to call it Haapsalu-ish!)

The finished shawl measures ca 115x105 cm (45x41 in).

Shawl progress and sweater progress

Estonian shawl wip
Originally uploaded by Asplund

I'm having a lot of fun knitting the "Crown Prince" shawl from Nancy Bush's book, but can't resist making some modifications.

1. The star is the variation motif in the book. I really like it that there are variations of many of the motifs!

2. I've skipped the garter-stitch frame, simply because I'm not very fond of it, especially not combined with lace.

3. I've resized the centre section repeats, making them the same width as the stars. In the original design they are different and don't match, although it doesn't show that clearly thanks to the garter-stitch frame between the sections.

4. Personally, I like symmetry too much not to do something about it, though, and I also like blending pattern sections. Resizing meant making the repeats bigger, so I'm adding a little cluster of "nupps" too, barely visible in this photo. To be continued.

I've been working with my red sweater too: both sleeve caps are finished. I decided to make the second one while I remembered how I made the first one - and understand my hastily scribbled notes. You know, knitting held in one hand, pencil hopefully in the hand you normally write with...

I'm testing a new idea for sleeve gussets too, but I think that will have to be in another post.

Last but not least: dear friend E. is happy with the hat I gave her for her birthday.

Proving myself wrong

Estonian shawl wip
Originally uploaded by Asplund

In a previous post I mentioned that I'm not very fond of bobbles. Well, seeing this shawl by Rod on Flickr reminded me of my natural white Viva and the fact that I've only knitted a swatch or two testing a couple of patterns in Nancy Bush's book Knitted Lace of Estonia.

This is half a star, the Crown Prince pattern. I like it very much that the bobbles are fairly flat; the combination of them and the lace holes of roughly the same size is very appealing too, in my opinion.

Here's a photo of the shawl, made by Knitting Soo on Flickr. It's very pretty, but I can't help thinking about possible modifications... A frame consisting of rows of holes instead of garter stitch, for example.

Getting the tension right for the bobbles was a bit tricky, but didn't take very long after all. I've had more trouble with the tension in the stocking-stitch areas: for example, getting the loops for a bobble (a "nupp" in Estonian) loose enough tends to rub off on the surrounding stitches - and purling all the loops making a single stitch tends to make me purl the surrounding stitches too tight.

I enjoy knitting this kind of pattern a lot, primarily because it's something I haven't done before. (A tiny swatch about a year ago hardly counts.) Also, dear old wool-silk blend Viva is a delight to work with, and the sheen of it makes the bobbles almost look like pearls in daylight. Not captured in this photo due to severe lack of daylight.