Silken Skeins

It is finally finished and blocked and currently drying on our bed. I used wires to block it, along the top edge and a pattern repeat in from the scalloped edges (visible in most of the pictures), then pinned the loops of the scallops before removing the ‘internal’ wires. The blocked size is 72″ by 43″, and it took almost exactly 1000 yds of Zephyr. Click on the picture of the whole shawl to see a larger version. I’ll try to get pictures of it draped and/or being worn this weekend.

I’ve now reached the stage at which I need to decide whether to add an extra repeat of the main pattern before adding the border and edging. I decided to pin it out and measure it so I knitted half the stitches onto a second long circular needle. When I tried to stretch it out, I lost a few stitches at each end - eek!!!

I think (and hope) that I managed to get them back onto the needles correctly. Then I finished the other half of the row before slipping the stitches onto 4 blocking wires. It pinned out to 50″ by 27″ so if I don’t add the extra repeat, it will end up about 67″ by 36″. I think I will have to add that repeat, making the finished shawl about 75″ by 40″. At least I’m now confident that I have enough yarn to do that.

Anyway, I suppose some of you want to see a photo. I had to climb on a chair to get this one, so I won’t be able to get a good photo of the finished shawl being blocked.

I got a treat in the mail today, an abacus pendant I had ordered from my friend Tricia. Click on the image for a bigger picture …

If you don’t know how they work, they are row counters, though of course you can use them to count anything you want. You slide a “one” bead past the ’stopper’ (an elasticated ring of beads) at the end of each row, and when you get to the 10th row, you slide the mall back and move one of the “ten” beads past the stopper instead.

Tricia makes abacus bracelets as well as the pendants, which are small enough you can pin them to your knitting instead of putting them on a neck cord if you prefer. I love the pendant and bracelet I already have, so I ordered a custom-made pendant with a different number of beads so I could use it to count rows within pattern repeats rather than 1-10 etc.

… and now it is eeasier to see how the pattern repeats. At the moment it is 27″ across the top. The selvedge tightness stops me stretching it any further, though I could (and probably will when I block the finished shawl) stretch it a bit more vertically. I had already been trying to keep the selvedge loose, but it seems I need to try harder on the knit rows as that edge is slightly tighter.

I’ve started a pattern I’ve been wanting to do for a while now. It’s Kinzel’s Springtime pattern adapted to a triangular shawl by Glenda Hunt. I’m doing it in Jaggersun Zephyr laceweight wool/silk on 3.5 mm needles. It is actually Royal Blue, but the flash has affected the colour in the photo. It was going to be for a friend, but I didn’t have the right colour yarn for her, and I do love this colour and the pattern, so …

I finally finished my exchange shawl, and it is on its way to the swap hostess. I used Heartstrings’ Pendants Faroese pattern and 4-ply merino lambswool. That “4-ply” is the UK yarn weight description, equivalent to thin sportsweight, but the yarn is actually 2-ply. It is as soft as you would expect, and very nice to use, and being coned, there are no joins.

The distinctive feature of Faroese shawls, of course, is the shoulder shaping which gives a good fit and lessens the problem of the shawl slipping off all the time. This pattern uses the lace design itself to give the necessary increases.

That shaping would cause problems if blocking the shawl laid out flat, so it needs to be blocked while folded. Jackie says it doesn’t need pinning or wires, but I found that helped.

With that out of the way, I’ve been working on my other shawl, for me this time, and I am ready to cast it off. Two shawls finished in the same week - definitely a record for me! I probably won’t block that one until my Zonta wires arrive. 

I also finished a woven silk scarf for my guild’s annual Challenge, but I forgot to take pictures before I handed it over. I’ll get it back the weekend after next, so I’ll take pictures then.

I plan to get back to the Sanquhar gloves and another shawl (laceweight this time) and the socks I started for myself before Christmas, I think. I have a couple of ideas for the loom too, but more on those later.

We had a Christmas raffle at the guild today. My ticket won a prize, but I was so busy warping the warp-weighted loom to demonstrate that I didn’t even notice, so my DH went across to choose my prize. Knowing him, I’d expect him to come back with the box of chocolates I knew was there. Instead, he came back with this:

Here is a closer look:

The collar is knitted in stockinette-based lace using very fine thread. It is 2″ wide from the points to the inner adge, and the whole thing is about 9.5″ across. It was knitted by a friend of the late sister of a guild member (and friend), and it is beautifully made.

So isn’t that a great raffle prize? Bettter than chocolates or toiletries. :-)

First pictures of the finished Estonian Garden scarf/stole - there may be more to follow. Click on these pictures to see larger versions (close popup between clicks, or the second one will come up in the wrong size window):

This is just a quick entry to show off the finished bag, as I have to get ready to go out soon. To give an idea of scale, it is 3.5″ tall as shown.

I did want to do something more interesting with the ends of the drawstring, but I couldn’t find a suitable bead locally, and my attempt to create a ‘beaded bead’ in tubular peyote using the same beads as I used in the knitting were’t very successful. If I had more time, I’d keep trying with that, but I want to send it off tomorrow, so …

… though it looks more like a vase. It will, of course, soften up once it is handled. Now to make a drawstring for it.

Well, that was my answer, and the question was how to block a knitted lace bag that is a small cylinder with a curved bottom. I couldn’t just pin it out like a doily, but it definitely needed blocking. The soy sauce bottle was the closest I could find to the right diameter, the lump of clay gave the curved bottom, and wrapping them in plastic kept the bag clean. Next problem was that the crochet loop edging needed stretching too, so I looped some cotton warp yarn through the thread I’d already run though the crochet loops, through a loop tied around the neck of the bottle, back through the thread and so on, then once it was all in place, I tensioned it carefully. Since that description is probably clear as mud, here is a pop-up picture.