Triangular Shawl Edgings

I've been fooling around with edgings other than garter stitch,on a triangular shawl, thinking that garter would not stretch as much as the stockinette-based fabric of the rest of the shawl.( Although sometimes perhaps you want this to happen so the thing stays on, but that is a different question...) I found that a 5 stitch edging of ribbing, e.g. PKPKP would have the same vertical stretch as the rest of the shawl, but not curl as a stockinette border would.. I started a shawl using this edge but haven't finished it yet, sorry. But so far, the edge is really nice.The ribbing kind of contracts like I-cord, but has the correct number of rows. And you can start it the way you do the usual 3 stitch garter-edged shawl, e.g.: provisionally cast on 5 sts, PKPKP, turn, KPKPK, etc, until you've done twice the rows needed for picking up on the edge, ( usually around 14 rows,) then pick up 7 sts along the edge of the strip you just knit, then undo the provisional cast on and pick up the 5 live sts. Now you'll have 17 sts on your needle, and you can start your shawl pattern. There is going to be a slight jog where the sts are 1/2 stitch off, but it isn't very noticeable and gets buried in the ribbing ( and is at the back of the neck anyway). Then you can start the pattern of the triangular shawl as usual, marking the 5 edge sts on both ends of the row as you would if doing a garter edge . See photos, and try it!

Miniature leaf Triangle Shawl

Several years ago, I bought one 273 yard skein of Great Adirondack Silk Delight, in Orchid, a lavender, blue, grey, green and purple colorway. It was lovely silk, but I couldn't decide what to make of it, as I only had the one skein. . Last month I played around and made a shrug, using the same pattern I'd used on the black one, but with short sleeves. I finished the piece, but didn't find it flattering. So, I had fun frogging it entirely. Then I thought it would be nice to see if I could make a triangular shawl, using the same stitch pattern, and graphed it out. I liked how the repeats fell regularly, and soon I was happily knitting along on size 10 needles. I had no idea how large it would be, exactly, and I wanted a little bit of a different edging, so as the ball got smaller and smaller, I knit and pondered. ( I also read Harry Potter 7 while I was knitting it, it was such a simple stitch pattern.) Finally I realized I could weigh the yarn remaining with my kitchen scale, so to determine how much to leave for the edging and the bindoff. After about 85 rows, I was ready. I had 12 gm left. I knit another row,and had 10 gm left. So I figured I could knit 3 more rows, so I had 4 gm left for the bind off. I was thrilled that it worked out exactly and I had 2 feet of yarn left at the end! It blocked out at 55 inches wide and 31 inches long, and it was a fun knit. I think my next challenge will be a variation with a straight section in the middle, like the Fareose shaping, to make it slightly wider and to fold better on the body, as the triangle does fall off easily! Now I need a nice shawl pin...

Cat is for scale...

Shrug it off!

After sitting in a tent at an evening party shivering as a cold wind blew into the tent, I decided I needed a warm shrug for just such occasions. I had 4 skeins of Elizabeth Lavold "Classic Al" which is a 50% Alpaca 50% Merino blend. I used the stitch pattern from Pam Allen's Little Silk Shrug on pg 47 of the book "Lace Style" but the construction design of "Retro Redux Shrug" by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark on pg 75 of that lovely book. On size 10 needles, it went fast, and created a comfortable, warm garment. And used up all 440 yards of wool, which is fun to do. I've never worn a shrug before, but I can see the advantages; easy to construct, fun and quick. The disadvantage is that it lands under the arms so if you sweat a lot, it can get sticky there. Then you take it off...the perfect hot flash garment.

Lace vest

I finished my lace vest. Cotton Classic, 5 skeins, size 6(5,4) needles. Very fun to knit, and comfortable to wear. Good thing, as the weather is heating up. I enjoyed designing this, and now am planning my next concoction.

Playing with lace

I became intrigued by a Japanese book I bought recently, of patterned lace, and wondered if I could use a pattern in the book to make an interesting summer tank top/vest thingie. So, I swatched ( in leftover blue Cotton Classic, no.6 US needles, which I had on hand) , calculated and cast on provisionally, for a bottom-up circular tank, figuring I'd knit till long enough, divide for armholes, plug in a V-neck and bind off sloping shoulders, and decide on the edge treatments later..
Of course, after about 4 inches, the pattern seemed way too busy, so I simplified it and decided the bottom was a border, and continued in pattern up the trunk. I'm liking the effect, and having fun seeing what comes next. I'm also going down some needle sizes( 5 then 4, then 5 and 6 again) to create waist shaping. I hope it comes out as I envision, but the journey is sometimes more interesting than the destination...

Wedding Dress Memories

After reading an article in Interweave Knits Summer 2007, pg 16 about the knitted wedding dress, I was reminded of the confection I concocted for my own wedding in 1983. I was doing my internship in Internal Medicine, and didn't have much money, but decided to design and make my dress. I was into crochet at the time, and thought it would be fun to design the lace for the dress. This was prior to digital cameras, of course, and unfortunately the dress won't fit over my decidedly more muscular upper arms these days, so here are some photos of the gown anyway. I'm most amused by the shoes, which were created on a pair of clogs with the tops removed. Those still fit, and are still white, while the dress has yellowed some with age. Fond memories...

Frost Flowers and Leaves Cardigan

I finally finished my Frost Flowers and Leaves Cardigan. I'm so pleased at how it turned out. I used the basic structure of the lace from the square Shawl by Eugen Beugler in "A Gathering of Lace" , but first adapted it for a triangular shawl from the instructions worked out by Kat LeFevre and documented in the Yahoo group on the web, : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/frostflowersandleaves/ . It was knit with 9 skeins of Cotton Classic on size 6 needles. The design is based on my diagonal sweater pattern, but here I used the FF&L pattern to create the fabric, so the knitting is on the diagonal. I wanted the leaves motif to run down the front, back, and top of shoulders and sleeves, so the construction followed the pattern nicely. The biggest puzzle was how to create the opening for the neck, and I was delighted to discover that the gague was such that I could move the start of the neck over one repeat, and then short- row along the shoulder edge to get the fronts to line up with the back. Once I understood how the pattern worked, it was fun to figure out how to knit it in the round as well as flat, but it took a lot of concentration and was not something I could do while watching TV. LOL. I really enjoyed making this sweater, and learned a lot during the process. I suppose my only regret was using a garter stitch edging for the front neckline, as it doesn't stretch as much as the rest of the fabric. I am too lazy to try to redo this, but I was tempted! It is comfortable to wear and a great summer concoction. Will I do it again? Perhaps....