Moving On
Whew! I'm exhausted (but probably not as tired as Claudia, bike marathoner extraordinaire!). I finished one shawl, and started the next this weekend.
The problem with being an SPP (single project person) is that by the time the end is near, one is anxious to begin the next project. I have finished the knitting, woven in the ends, and blocked the Fir Cone shawl:
The edging, of course, took forever, and for some reason I could not get the pattern into my head until the last side of the square. That's a lot of *looking at the pattern*, which became annoying. It took a long stretch of just knitting, knitting, knitting on the edge for me to get the pattern memorized. Then, suddenly, it was done.
The whole thing is too big to get a good full shot photo anywhere in my house: it is 85" to a side. That is one Big Square. Details? Fir Cone shawl pattern from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawl book, Silky Wool yarn from Elizabeth Lavold, size 6 needles. Here is a detail of the corner being blocked:
I used stainless steel TIG rods as blocking wires, then pinned those down to hold the shawl under tension. Here's the whole thing folded up and ready to . . . what?
Not being a shawl wearing person, I imagine this will get taken on trips as a blanket, wrap, and pillow. But it's BIG, too big to pack on some trips.
Fortunately, the next planned adventure is a car trip, and to high elevations, so despite summer, and the heat, oh dear, the heat, lately, I will take this along for hoped-for cool evenings.
What was I so anxious to get started? This:
The beginnings of Kerry Blue Shawl, from Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls, by Martha Waterman. I wanted to get this started before heading out for summer travel, because shawls, knitted as triangles, or in the round (or square, as in this case) are ideal travel projects. They make a neat bundle when I'm not working on them, are easy to pull out and work a few rounds, and fold up with the yarn inside when they need to be put away. There's no gauge or measuring, they don't need to fit anything. They are just pure knitting pleasure.
This one seems to be puttering along smoothly. The yarn is handspun Blue Faced Leicester from this post, dyed long ago (see this post). The beginning of the pattern is easy to follow, and I have great needles:
Local guild member Jackie passed on several vintage nylon circulars. She seemed happy to be rid of them, and I am pleased to have them. These are a 6, one piece, smooth (no joins) and tippy tips. I may have to trade for a longer circ as the shawl progresses, and the good news? There is a longer nylon one in this size, yay!
I'm off to knit, while it is still cool this morning. This is at the perfect stage for hot weather knitting: too small to fill a lap. We'll see how enthusiastic I am in a few weeks, with a big bundle of hot red wool in my lap. Until then: knit on!
The problem with being an SPP (single project person) is that by the time the end is near, one is anxious to begin the next project. I have finished the knitting, woven in the ends, and blocked the Fir Cone shawl:
The edging, of course, took forever, and for some reason I could not get the pattern into my head until the last side of the square. That's a lot of *looking at the pattern*, which became annoying. It took a long stretch of just knitting, knitting, knitting on the edge for me to get the pattern memorized. Then, suddenly, it was done.
The whole thing is too big to get a good full shot photo anywhere in my house: it is 85" to a side. That is one Big Square. Details? Fir Cone shawl pattern from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawl book, Silky Wool yarn from Elizabeth Lavold, size 6 needles. Here is a detail of the corner being blocked:
I used stainless steel TIG rods as blocking wires, then pinned those down to hold the shawl under tension. Here's the whole thing folded up and ready to . . . what?
Not being a shawl wearing person, I imagine this will get taken on trips as a blanket, wrap, and pillow. But it's BIG, too big to pack on some trips.
Fortunately, the next planned adventure is a car trip, and to high elevations, so despite summer, and the heat, oh dear, the heat, lately, I will take this along for hoped-for cool evenings.
What was I so anxious to get started? This:
The beginnings of Kerry Blue Shawl, from Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls, by Martha Waterman. I wanted to get this started before heading out for summer travel, because shawls, knitted as triangles, or in the round (or square, as in this case) are ideal travel projects. They make a neat bundle when I'm not working on them, are easy to pull out and work a few rounds, and fold up with the yarn inside when they need to be put away. There's no gauge or measuring, they don't need to fit anything. They are just pure knitting pleasure.
This one seems to be puttering along smoothly. The yarn is handspun Blue Faced Leicester from this post, dyed long ago (see this post). The beginning of the pattern is easy to follow, and I have great needles:
Local guild member Jackie passed on several vintage nylon circulars. She seemed happy to be rid of them, and I am pleased to have them. These are a 6, one piece, smooth (no joins) and tippy tips. I may have to trade for a longer circ as the shawl progresses, and the good news? There is a longer nylon one in this size, yay!
I'm off to knit, while it is still cool this morning. This is at the perfect stage for hot weather knitting: too small to fill a lap. We'll see how enthusiastic I am in a few weeks, with a big bundle of hot red wool in my lap. Until then: knit on!
posted by Sara at 6:18 AM
6 Comments:
Beautiful shawl!
Ooh, I am envious of your needles. I have some aluminums and some nylons from my grandmother and the nylons are especially nice and pointy. Great for lace.
Just gorgeous - breathtaking!!!
Only half a marathon this weekend.
:)
I think I'm up for another shawl myself.
Lovely shawl, Sara! I have one set of nylon circs around somewhere. They're yours if I can find them.
85" is a really big shawl! It is beautiful!
"because shawls, knitted as triangles, or in the round (or square, as in this case) are ideal travel projects"
I want to be able to say this some day. I have the pattern, I have the needles, I have the yarn. So why can't I knit a shawl? I think that I am suffering from lace fear. And lack of uninterrupted time.
You may already know this but Kerry Blue has errors. Check the Interweave site for book errata for that book.
Lovely Fir Cone, it's on my list, I linky-ed over from Two Sheep to see it.
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