Two finished objects

"Wightwizzle" finished
Originally uploaded by Asplund

The colour looks a bit strange in the original photo, so I thought I might as well make a black and white version. This was a nice project to knit, quick once past the first few inches and the shape is different from what I usually knit.

Trying something new is always rewarding! Combining alpaca and linen was a good idea too (not mine but suggested at my LYS). We'll just see how my cousin likes wearing it: the garment is rather heavy, almost 800 grams.

The shawl I wrote about in my previous post is also finished. For the bottom border I chose the border from "The Opera Fichu", also in Victorian Lace Today.

As mentioned, I wanted fairly simple lace patterns using this yarn and since I've knitted the fichu before I knew it would curl - I simply cast it off loosely from the wrong side, not bothering about a knitted-on border around the shawl (which I normally like).

My plan is to make it a guest shawl, for people to borrow when they visit. We had quite a lot of snow yesterday, but today is rather wet and windy. And cold: a guest could definitely need a shawl.

Possession

"Töis wool" shawl
Originally uploaded by Asplund

The other day I surprised myself by finishing a project before starting a new one. "Wightwizzle" is washed and blocked and left to dry while I'm visiting relatives for a couple of days.

Less surprising is my ability to buy yarn. Last weekend I couldn't resist buying two hanks of beautiful natural grey "Töis", soft and light 1ply wool from the island of Gotland.

This wool is quite fuzzy, so I wanted a fairly simple design, something based on straight lines (intricate lace patterns would drown) and decided to return to Jane Sowerby's Spider-web's shawls in Victorian Lace Today. I've made use of it twice before, for Eva and for Anna; in both cases I used wool-silk blend Viva, but I think it works with this yarn too. Come to think of it, starting Eva's shawl coincided with starting this blog!

It takes 5½ hours to go from Uppsala to Västervik, so I managed to get quite a lot done even though I kept alternating between this project and a fascinating book I'm reading, Possession by A.S. Byatt. Read a chapter, think about it while knitting for a while, read another chapter... A great way to digest a great book!

The joy of blocking

Anna's shawl
Originally uploaded by Asplund

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.

Unfortunately, I could only stay for some 20 minutes, between the opening of an art show where a cousin of mine is represented, and a colleague's birthday party. Toil and moil...

Eva's shawl finished

Evas sjal
Originally uploaded by Asplund

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.

Third pattern section taking shape

Now that I've reknitted a couple of inches I'm glad I decided to change the third pattern.

The pattern I've replaced it with and which looks a bit like leaves is from the "Cap shawl" (also in Victorian Lace Today) and I think it works well with the border above it. Now those circles almost resemble flowers, don't they? And the lines above them could be rays of sunshine or perhaps rain. (Provided the wind blows from opposite directions simultaneously!)

The yarn looks grey in this photo, but it is jet-black. I like the colour: even if I could see the shawl in any colour, this choice makes it both dramatic and elegant. It could be interesting knitting the same combination of patterns with different colours, for example green stems & leaves, red flower circles and blue sky. On the other hand, that might make the idea very obvious, not leaving much to imagination - and I like it when things aren't too obvious. Besides, I do prefer lace knitting to be one-coloured to do justice to the patterns.

Bye bye, Barège

I've made up my mind I don't like the Barège pattern that much after all, at least not well enough to keep knitting it. (It's barely visible in this picture since the edge curls.) To make sure, I made a small swatch without any modifications to see if I should reknit this section according to the instructions instead, but still wasn't convinced - so I'd rather rip out a couple of inches now than regret not having done it when it's blocked. There's nothing wrong with the pattern, not at all - it just seems like far too much and too monotonous work compared to what I think of the results.

I think I'm going to make use of the "Cap shawl" design (also in Sowerby's Victorian Lace Today) instead for the third section, but that will take some planning. Not that I mind it very much; it's a bit like solving crosswords trying to fit in a pattern shape in a garment shape.

The shape is nice, I think, and somehow it looks more comfortable (and practical) than a triangular shawl. That's a good thing about pulling out the needle at this stage: getting a better idea of what it will actually look like!

There are some pictures of the shawl with the Barège pattern intact here: http://www.thedailypurl.com/shawls/

Spider's-web shawl modification

I decided to make a modification moving from the second to the third ("Barège") pattern section. Instead of yarnovers and double decreases on the right side and purls only on the wrong side, I knit the pattern on the wrong side and get only knits (and increases) on the right side. Much easier and quicker! The extra row between the second and third section hardly spoils the design.

Something that does make a difference, though, is that I've decided to make the double decrease by simply purling three together. This doesn't result in the intended centred double crease (with the centre stitch on top). However, I tell myself that with thin black yarn and 4 mm needles it can't make that much of a difference even if mine will be less neat.

I can't tell yet what I really think of the Barège pattern. (It looks nice in the book, but that yarn is different, both material and colour.) It will take a few more repeats before I know what I think; well, most likely I won't until the shawl is finished and blocked. Right now it looks as if I can't knit! But that's one of the charms of knitting lace, the magic transformation when you block it.

If there's enough yarn I'm going to pick up stitches along the hypotenuse and add a border, something like Jane Sowerby's design "Three-cornered shawl in clover pattern" also in Victorian Lace Today. Not nearly there yet, but I do enjoy thinking about possible additions and modifications in advance. Also, when I have had time to think about different solutions &c. it's easier to make a decision once I get there.