When I knitted the "Haruni" shawl recently I skipped the crocheted bind-off, but for this shawl ("Springtime" design by Marianne Kinzel) I kept it. I think it's a nice finishing touch, sort of turning the leaves into more flowerlike shapes. There seemed to be enough yarn left to add similar (but smaller) chains along the top edge to, and fortunately there was: when I had finished there was 5½ metre (6 yards) left. Three balls of Rowan kidsilk haze makes it weigh 75 grams.
A major advantage with all those crocheted chains is that it makes blocking a lot easier. As this shawls consists of three triangles I folded it in three to make the sections identical.
Regarding the sweater I wrote about in my previous post: Dan suggested a few rows of the darkest shade first and then a sleeve cap. I thought about that too, but there would be a disadvantage: the short-row wraps in the other shades would show rather clearly against the dark. (They don't show much wrapped around the stitches picked up around the armhole, but sort of get buried.) I appreciate your suggestion, though! :)
Till den här sjalen valde jag att behålla originalets virkade avmaskning: jag tycker att det är ett elegant sätt att förvandla bladen till mer blomlika former. Det var tillräckligt med garn kvar för att göra en liknande avslutning längs den övre kanten, men det var lite nervöst när jag hade kommit halvvägs. Det gick i alla fall vägen, och det med 5½ meters garnmarginal! Det gick åt tre nystan Rowan kidsilk haze, så den väger 75 gram.
En fördel med den här avslutningen är att det är lättare att sträcka sjalen när det finns en massa små öglor till nålarna, tycker jag. Eftersom den här sjalen består av tre trianglar vek jag den tredubbel för att få delarna identiska.
A colleague is getting married in September and asked me if I could knit her a shawl for the wedding. She trusted me with one of the shoes to go yarn hunting for a similar colour, and I decided to get Rowan kidsilk haze.
I'm knitting the "Springtime" pattern from First Book of Modern Lace Knitting by Marianne Kinzel; I made it a couple of years ago and like then I will knit a shawl consisting of three triangles instead of the original square shape.
It's a pattern I enjoy knitting a lot, but something that makes it a bit tricky is the fact that the chart symbols differ from what I'm used to. For example, a blank square doesn't mean "knit stitch" but "no stitch".
Ron asked what bind-off method I chose for the shawl I just finished and wrote about in my previous post. First, I added an extra row on the right side to close the tips of the leaves (with a centred double decrease: slip two stitches together as if to knit, knit one, pass slipped stitches over) and then I did an ordinary bind-off with knit stitches on the wrong side but very loosely.
Buck Strong asked who it was for. Actually, that shawl found a new home at another colleague's! Who knows, some day I might try to gather the colleagues I've knitted thing for to have them perform some kind of knit walk :)
För ett par år sedan stickade jag en sjal efter mönstret "Springtime" av Marianne Kinzel. Det är egentligen en kvadratisk duk som består av fyra trianglar, så jag tog bort en triangel och stickade den fram och tillbaka i stället för runt. Det är ett roligt mönster, men lite svårt i och med att symbolerna inte är riktigt samma som jag är van vid. För att bara nämna en sak, så betyder inte en tom ruta "rät maska" utan "ingen maska".
Nu ska jag sticka om den i Rowan kidsilk haze till en kollega som gifter sig i höst och frågade om jag kunde sticka en sjal till bröllopet. Det var lätt att tacka ja till ett så hedrande uppdrag! (Hoppas att de har lika lätt att säga ja framför altaret, men det får man väl utgå från.) Jag fick låna en sko att ta med till garnaffären för att hitta en liknande färg, vilket var ett nytt och roligt inslag i stickprocessen!
Jag fick en fråga om hur jag avslutade sjalen jag skrev om i mitt förra inlägg (och som har fått ett hem hos en annan kollega - snart har jag stickat åt tillräckligt många för en catwalk). Först lade jag till ett extra varv på rätsidan för att sluta löven, detta med en dubbel hoptagning där man lyfter av två maskor tillsammans som för att sticka rätt, stickar nästa och sedan drar de lyfta maskorna över den. På så vis hamnar mittmaskan överst. Sedan gjorde jag en vanlig fast extra lös överdragsavmaskning med räta maskor på avigsidan.
Instead of a crocheted cast-off I chose an ordinary one - not as pretty, perhaps, but I think it accentuates the shape of the edge.
This design by Emily Ross is really great, I think! The shape and patterns enhance each other, and the two patterns blend beautifully. It's fun to knit too, easy to learn, but with enough variation to keep it from getting monotonous.
I used about 2½ balls of Rowan kidsilk haze, which makes it weigh only some 60 grams even though it's about 150 cm wide and 60 cm deep.
blocking
When I blocked it I folded it in half to make sure the two halves were identical in shape and size, and then reblocked the centre to get rid of the crease.
Christine: I agree, you couldn't get a yarn more opposite! Actually, my hands were rather sore after knitting a sweater and a cardigan with Harris wool, especially since I had a deadline and spent most of last weekend knitting with it. Well worth it, though. (And maybe the shawl can be used as a beard too!)
Som avslutning bestämde jag mig för en enkel men väldigt lös avmaskning i stället för den (fina, ska jag tillägga) virkade kanten. Delvis av lättja, men mest för att framhäva formen på kanten.
När jag sträckte sjalen vek jag den först på mitten för att få de två halvorna identiska i form och storlek, och sedan fuktade jag och sträckte om mitten för att bli av med "pressvecket".
Det är ett mönster jag rekommenderar varmt, inte särskilt svårt och med lagom variation. Mönstren och formen går så fint ihop också. Det gick åt ungefär 2½ nystan Rowan kidsilk haze, så den väger inte mer än ca 60 gram, trots att den är nästan 150 cm vid och drygt 60 cm djup.
I've folded the shawl in half to make it easier to block; not only out of a lack of space, but mainly to make sure the two halves become identical in size and shape.
It's a method I've tried before and I think it's far easier than measuring and rearranging the shawl and all the needles. When it's dry I'm going to dampen the middle of the back and reblock that part to avoid a crease.
Blocking has made it grow considerably in size, from each of the three triangles measuring 46x100 cm (18x39½ in) to 75x120 cm (29½x42 in). In this photo you can also see how much yarn I ended up not using - a close call!
Actually, I had to change my plans and skip the border along the top, realizing there wouldn't be enough yarn after all. Chart C (the big squares without leaves) was far more yarn-consuming than I expected. I had taken it into account how much many more repeats there would be, but hadn't studied the charts closely enough to discover how many more stitches there are in some rows. For example, a repeat consists of 24 stitches in one row, but 32 in another. That makes quite a difference when a row consists of 18 repeats!
This is my first attempt at a crocheted bind-off; I think it suits the pattern very well and it wasn't difficult, so I'm more than likely to do it again. After some experimenting I decided a chain of five stitches would be enough; the pattern has nine, but considering how little yarn I have left it was definitely a good decision to make them shorter.
I love blocking shawls! This time the total width grew by some 38 cm (15 in).
Tomorrow I've got two knitting-related activities to celebrate the first day of my summer holidays: having lunch with Anna to give her this shawl and see how it looks on her, and in the evening meeting up with my knitting & sewing group from work.
I did manage to knit in public on Saturday, joining other members of group Uppmaskan at the train station in Uppsala.
Same miraculous transformation every time one blocks a shawl! I finished the knitted-on edge late last night, and decided to wash and block it before going to bed. It was dry in the morning, so now it's just waiting to be wrapped around my friend Annika's shoulders.
This is a project I will associate with many pleasant things; to name just two:
1. The memorable afternoon I met up with fellow Raveler Ian to go yarn hunting in Stockholm. This yarn was my prey.
2. The company of my greatcolleagues. We started a knitting and sewing group a couple of months ago, and last night Mimmi invited us and our projects to her beautiful house outside Uppsala. After a long and unusually cold winter, being able to spend a warm and light evening in a garden felt almost surreal. We were quite spoiled too: home-made rhubarb pie and elderflower juice. Delicious!
One of my favourite yarns is Wetterhoff's Viva, a shimmering wool-silk blend - like knitting with champagne! I recently found three skeins in a colour I hadn't seen before and thought it was my duty to buy them, and it didn't take more than a couple of days to decide what to use them for.
I'm knitting "Lady's Circular Cape in Shell Pattern" by Jane Sowerby (Victorian Lace Today), a design I first knitted exactly a year ago and gave to my aunt ("Lady Caroline's Circular Cape"). This one will be "Lady Annika's Circular Cape", for a dear friend and shawl lover who's moving back to Sweden after quite a few years abroad. Hooray!
Some modifications: 1. Wedge-shaped repeats elongated with increase rows placed more regularly in the original pattern, where it grows very quickly towards the end. 2. 5 repeats instead of 12 to keep her extra warm in the winter. 3. Edging knitted with slightly thinner needles.
Comparing the difference before and after blocking is always fascinating, especially when it comes to lace knitting. In this picture you can see the main pattern fairly clearly, but the bottom border looks all crumbled.
Nothing like the points in this picture:
Modifications 1. Three sections instead of one to get a crescent(-ish) rather than a triangular shape. 2. Rows 29-56 knitted three times instead of twice, since I used thinner yarn and needles than the instructions call for. It was easy adding rows and repeats to the design. (But I ended up with almost 700 stitches!) 3. At the very end I added six rows, continuing the pattern in the last section to close the points. 4. I skipped the crocheted edge, partly because I preferred the idea of knitted points at the very edge, partly because I was simply too lazy to try to understand the instructions. Charts with explanations in German was ok, but written instructions with abbreviations proved too much when I was eager to finish the shawl. Here's a picture of the original edge. 4. Stitches picked up along the hypotenuse (or what would have been the hypotenuse if I had knitted the original triangular shape) to add a border. I think it helps making a shawl look finished.
Measurements Width top: 155 cm/61 in. Width bottom: 390 (3x130) cm/154 in. Lenght back: 70 cm (27½in) Length diagonal between each section: 95 cm (37½ in)
The yarn, Viva (a wool-silk blend) from Finnish Wetterhoff, is wonderful: beautiful and a delight to work with. There's a lot of surplus dye in it, though, and it bled a lot when I washed the shawl. I rinsed the shawl at least fifteen times.
I'm very fond of this design: it's both beautiful and fun to knit. At first I wasn't sure about the rib effect of the knit and purl lines, but now I think it enhances the shape of the leaves.
It makes the wrong-side rows less monotonous to knit too, since they don't consist of purl stitches only. (Which is what I often prefer since it requires less concentration, I should add.) I also think new leaves are incorporated into the design in an elegant way.
Here is a rather blurred picture where you can see the border I added along the hypotenuse. I wanted something similar to the other egdes and I'm pleased with how it turned out.
A couple of days ago I stumbled upon a sale at my LYS, and returned home with a kilo of beautiful grey yarn. I'm making (and modifying) a design by Marianne Isager, Munken/Monk from her book Classic Knits. This is what my project looks like so far. I can't even remember when I last knitted intarsia, but it was probably some twenty years ago.
It's really exciting casting off some 700 stitches crowded on a needle: suddenly it's possible to actually see what the project looks like!
My modifications:
1. This shawl is 18x2 repeats wide (instead of the original 12x2). One of the many things I like about the design is that the size is easy to change.
2. Instead of casting of by crocheting and adding chains, I simply cast off as usual but very loosely.
3. In the middle there are three stitches instead of one, simply because I wanted a chunkier "stem" for the leaves. Contrary to what I expected it wasn't necessary to make a double decrease when changing charts for the border.
4. Instead of garter stitch at the beginning and end, I have used stocking stitch and slipped the first stitch. The reason for this is:
5. I just picked up stitches along the hypotenuse to add a border and will turn to Victorian Lace Today for inspiration.
It seems two skeins of wool-silk "Viva" from Wetterhoff will be sufficient. So, what do you do when you have bought three? Return one? Of course not; you buy one more to have enough for another shawl. Plus two skeins of another colour you can't resist.
Here's a neck warmer I finished for myself yesterday (it's cold!) with some "Lucca" wool from BC Garn.
It was perfect for testing a slip-stitch pattern, a technique I was eager to make use of after seeing some glorious examples of patterns in Britt-Marie Christoffersson's new book Stickning - ett hantverk att utveckla.
This triangle pattern is practically one of hers except I resized it and turned it upside down. Why? To see how it would turn out! Well, also to make it blend with the 3x3 ribbing I had decided on. It's a great book, a kind of stitch-technique-inspiration treasury.
It's a wonderful technique in many ways; what I like best is that you get a lot of effect with minimal effort. I also like it that it's so subtle and that the floats on the wrong side make it warm. However, it's not very elastic. Not that it matters much in this kind of garment (in my opinion, it's actually an advantage here) , but in a sweater it would be important to keep it in mind.
After finishing it I cast on my First Real Knitting Treat of 2010. (Let there be many!) I've promised my friend and former colleague Karin a triangular shawl; about a month ago I found the perfect yarn for it, a wool-silk blend from Finnish Wetterhoff, and the other day I came across a beautiful free pattern on Ravelry: Haruni by Emily Ross.
Needless to say, I couldn't resist testing a couple of modifications, but I'll get back to them some other day.
Approaching the bottom edge I thought it was high time to change pattern shapes. Actually, my intention was to do that long before, but I rather liked the ones I'd come up with first and decided to let them be the main pattern.
For contrast I drew new shapes on graph paper, one of which I have knitted now. It consists of big holes arranged in an elliptical shape around a centre hole. The width of the shape is based on the width of the repeats in the main pattern for cohesion.
I'm not quite sure whether I like it enough to keep it, so I've got to take a break from this project, maybe draw some alternative shapes, and return to it in in a few days. Does it look like hortensias or sponges, I keep asking myself. Measles or mumps? The beauty or the beast – or perhaps their offspring?
Knitting the border that runs around the whole garment did get mind-blowingly tedious in the long run, I must admit, but it's a wonderful finishing touch that I wouldn't have wanted to leave out. Some things are definitely worth the perseverance it takes to make them.
The cape is very light, perhaps 120 grams of the 350 grams I bought. What to do with the remaining yarn? Well, after knitting several lace shawls of different shapes, some with and some without modifications, I think I'm ready to try designing my own lace shawl! I really liked the shape that consists of three triangles, so it will be one like that.
While knitting another shawl last month I thought the patterns resembled rain and flowers, so I'm working with that idea. (That is, until I change my mind.) There are drop-like pattern shapes of different sizes to begin with and my plan is to fill next border with flower shapes of some kind.
Both major and minor changes to the design made it quite exciting to see if the shawl would look anything like what I had in mind! It actually does, so I'm happy with my modifications:
1) adding three small groups of holes near the top of each triangle;
2) replacing the "Barège" pattern with a "Leaf and trellis" pattern from the Cap Shawl in the same book;
3) the edging I "designed" (sounds fancy!) to frame three sides of the shawl; the points are formed by increases and decreases, their width based on the number of stitches in the repeats; I used yarn-over increases to make groups of holes for decoration and to make the edging elastic. (I tried invisible increases first, but I thought that made the edging look too solid compared to the rest of the shawl; it seemed too tight too.)
4) adding a knitted-on border, basically "Mrs. Hope's Vandyke edging" (also in Victorian Lace Today) except I skipped two rows (15-16) to make it match the number of stitches picked up along the edge.
It's ca 120 cm (47 in) wide and very light, ca 120 grams (1/4 lb). Eva hasn't seen the finished shawl yet; those who have tried it on say they like the shape, since it doesn't slide off the shoulders the way a triangular shawl easily does. However, it keeps your arms free rather than covered, so if you want a shawl to keep your arms warm this might not be the best choice.
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