Soon after posting it, I saw the mistake. Do you see it? Look at the left wing of that completed butterfly. You can see a row of black stitches, making the five dots into two dots and a weird V. It’s maybe 15 rows back.
I failed the trick of inverting the chart – what’s black on the chart is being knit in the pinks and what’s white on the chart is being knit in black. That always bends my brain a bit.
I’ve been looking at it ever since, pondering what to do, and finally decided to pick it back and fix it. I don’t know why I ever linger over this choice. Once I’ve seen an error, I can’t un-see it and I always have to fix it. Maybe it just takes me some time to accept the sad truth. I had knitted further than shown in that picture, so there was even more to frog.
So, here’s the same sock with the error fixed. I knit to the end of my kinked up yarn, so this is how far I was. The light is a bit harsh, but that butterfly’s wing dots are now right.
I tried on the sock because it seemed short. It won’t be a knee sock for me – it looks like the sock will end at the widest part of my calf. That means they’ll definitely be lounging socks, because they’ll slide down when I’m walking.
I blocked the Heaven Scent shawl last weekend, and the lace opened up beautifully!
I still have to sew in the ends, but it was a good day for pictures.
It blocked out to a really nice size. It’s about 20″ deep at the middle back, and that long curved edge is about 84″ long.
And one last detail shot. 🙂
There are three more shawls in this pattern bundle. One is rectangular, so less interesting to me, but I’ll have a hunt through my stash for candidates to knit the other two crescent shawls.
I told you last week that I’d cast on this shawl, Heaven Scent by BooKnits in Freia Handpaints Ombré Shawl Ball. (That post is right here.) It turned out to be a compulsive knit and I charged right through the charts. I knew it would be a close call to make it out of the one ball, and ended up playing yarn chicken.
Could I finish with the one ball of yarn? As with many crescent shawls, you increase the needle size at increments in this pattern, which opens up the lace even before blocking. Keeping an eye on my diminishing ball of yarn, I didn’t change needles for the border, but kept on with the ones I’d used for the body.
I made it to the final row and chose not to do the picot edge, hoping I’d still make it.
Nope.
The cast-off is on a wrong side row, so I made it all the way from the left edge to where you see the last 8″ of my yarn. It’s maybe 3/4 of the way around. I lost yarn chicken.
I also played bead chicken at the same time, but I won that. I added more beads to the border then realized I might run out. I have five beads left in the vial. Phew!
I went through all my stash, and my bits and ends, but couldn’t find anything to match that shade of red in a single ply wool. I couldn’t even match the colour. (The colours of this yarn have photographed to look more vivid than they are in real life. They’re bright, but not this bright.) So, I picked back the cast-off row and cast off again. I thought I’d cast off in purple, a contrasting edge that matched the centre of the shawl, and couldn’t get the shade of purple right either. So, I used two strands for the cast-off, one in Sugar Bush Drizzle in Monsoon Mauve (which is a bit light) and one of Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Black.
And here’s the result.
It’s funny that in this picture, the cast-off edge looks too dark. The purple in the middle of ths shawl appears to be the same shade as Monsoon Mauve. You’ll have to trust me that in real life, the colours are matchy-matchy.
Next up, a good soak and a blocking. I’ll show you the finished shawl when it’s done.
I’m kind of amazed that I knit this shawl in less than three weeks. I guess that’s what happens when I concentrate on one project, instead of working on a dozen things at once. (Actually, I had two on the go at the same time and finished the other one, too – it was the mittens and scarf of Patons Rumor. I’ll show you that tomorrow.) There’s a lesson there that I should take on board. 🙂
I haven’t knit a shawl in a while, lace or otherwise – well, I’m still plugging along on my Water shawl, but it’s not a very fun knit at this point. I don’t think it counts anymore. 🙂
A LYS had Freia Handpaints yarns on sale, and I simply can’t resist gradient dyed yarns. I ordered some and cast on.
I chose a pattern by BooKnits. I wanted to knit a lace shawl with some beads and I had The Close to You Collection of patterns already. (That’s a Ravelry link.) I had knit Snow Angel from this pattern collection, also in Freia Handpaints yarn, but in their Wool/Nylon Lace which is discontinued. The colourway was Autumn Rose.
This time, I’ve chosen the pattern Heaven Scent, which is in that same collection but also available on its own. (That’s a Ravelry link.) I’m knitting the smallest size, with the stockinette stitch top.
The camera is really emphasizing that hot pink. The colourway ends in a bright red.
Of course, it’s curled on the circular needle in the opposite direction of its shape – the shawl will be a crescent curved the other way when it’s off the needles and blocked. (Much like Snow Angel, shown above.)
The yarn is a loose single ply. It’s very soft but tougher than expected – there is the usual thick-and-thin of single ply yarns but it hasn’t been splitty to knit and it hasn’t broken.
And here’s a detail view. I’m using 6/0 purple Czech glass beads in dark purple, which match the beginning of the gradient pretty well.
I did make a slight change to the pattern. The shawl grows quickly in width because you add four stitches on every right side row and two on every wrong side row. The additions are at the beginning and the end of each row, and the pattern uses make-one (slanting left or right). I found that two M1s with just a knit stitch between them, then another M1 on the purl side pretty close by made for a tight edge. I switched out the two M1s on the purl side for YO’s, then the outer M1 on the right side rows to YO’s as well. I’m curious to see how this blocks out. It feels better to me.
I’m almost halfway through the second repeat of the main chart, then have the border chart to knit. I’m thinking I might run out of yarn (the pattern notes that 400m is close) so if I do, I’ll have to find something matchy to finish.
Do I love this shawl? Mmmmm, I dunno. The design is interesting – I’d probably go down a needle size if I ever made it again, though it is nice and squishy. That contrast colour is a different choice for me – while it’s a good idea to try new things, I think I would have loved the result more if I’d gone with my original impulse of using a navy or black for the main colour. Maybe it will be just the right bright thing on a winter’s day. I do like the colours better at the ends than in the middle.
The shape of the shawl is unusual, but it makes a manageable cowl when wrapped around the neck. I expect I’ll wear it that way when I do wear it. I added tassels to the points that I’ll probably tie together.
Now to choose another project. It would be best to finish up something already started. There’s a little summer cardigan that would be a good choice to finish right now, and I love the colour of it. It’s a Martin Storey pattern called Peridot, which I’ve been knitting in Patons Silk Bamboo for half of forever. (Lots and lots of stockinette stitch.) That’s a Ravelry link, btw. Also my chunky No. 9 pullover in Blackstone Tweed still needs sleeves – funny that it’s almost the same shade of blue as the little cardigan. More blue on the needles with my Water shawl that needs finishing. That’s a blog post link. And of course, there’s my Wild Grass pullover which is at the point of needing acres of stockinette knit.
While considering all of these options, I cast on the purple version of the Quintessential cardigan. I’d bought two kits, one in green and one in purple, so will knit the second one with a few changes. It also requires miles of stockinette, but it’s purple and I need a purple cardigan. 🙂
My friend sent me this book at Christmas, full of pretty sock patterns. I don’t usually make pretty socks – I stick to my tried and true, usually in a self-striping yarn – but the socks on the cover are so pretty (and knee socks!) that I had to cast on a pair. I was due for a little fair isle project.
It’s curious that I find knee socks so irresistible – I never wear the ones I’ve knitted, but I do love them.
The book is called Knitted Socks from Finland, and it’s by Niina Laitinen. (The title and image are both linked to the book’s page on the publisher website, which displays buy links too. A lot of smaller stores appear to have the book in stock, so there are plenty of places to buy a copy other than the big river.) The pattern for the socks on the cover is called Dear Sister, and the book includes complete charts. I had a peek on Ravelry before casting on, and could only find the book in the original Finnish: the pattern is called Siskoni Mun. (Those are both Ravelry links.)
It’s always fun to scroll through the completed projects there and look at yarn choices – some Ravellers had knitted the socks in Knit Picks ChromaFingering, a single ply fingering weight that is available in both solid colours and gradients. (That link will take you to KP’s product page.) I have some Chroma in my stash, but wouldn’t have thought of using it for socks – it’s very soft, partly because of the loose way it’s spun, and even though it has 30% nylon, I wouldn’t expect it to be tough enough for socks. But, I love the gradient look and I had the yarn, so I cast on. I used my trusty pair of short circular needles in 2.5mm, which usually have a sock on them.
I also loved the projects that had used a different background colour than the off-white shown in the pattern picture – why not have dramatic socks? I’m using the solid black for the background and a gradient – the colourway is Lupin – as the contrast. Making a change like this always bends my brain a bit when it comes to the charts. I’m knitting the white squares in black so have to think about that for a minute each time I pick up the project again. I have used some patterns (mittens, mostly) that offered the charts both ways around, which was just great. They were digital downloads, though. In a printed book, that would take up too many pages.
Here’s my progress on the first one. I didn’t do a twisted rib because I’m not a fan – my socks have just plain ribbing at the top.
This is the first chart completed, about a dozen rows of ribbing and fifty-some of pattern. There’s another chart of another 40 rows or so before the beginning of the heel. I’m not sure they will actually be knee socks. They might be mid-calf socks, which is fine, too. We’ll see. Part of that will be due to the yarn substitution, but another variable is legs. 🙂 You can see the model has slender calves. My hiking/biking calves are not that slim, so the sock will be stretched wider rather than taller.
It’s not a difficult knit, but not a TV knit either. Each row is different and there are deceases down the center back of the sock. I have to pay attention a bit. Although I always worry that stranded knitting in socks will get too tight, I think my tension is in a good place on this project. I’m not one of those fast fair isle knitters with one colour in each hand. I put down each yarn and pick up the next one, which does give me a chance to check my tension. It means for slow progress, but it’s meditative. Watching the butterflies form and the colour change keeps me knitting just one more row.
This project also had me reaching into my knitting library for a book filled with wonderful fair isle sweaters – The Tudor Roses by Alice Starmore. I have the hardcover edition from Calla Editions and it’s such a lovely book. I’m tempted to order up the yarn and cast on the Mary Tudor cardigan (that’s a Ravelry link) but need to finish up some other projects first. I have two fair isle cardigans already on the needles, waiting on me. (There were changes to the sweaters between editions. In the first edition, the Mary Tudor sweater was a pullover. That’s a Rav link again.)
The Chroma yarn is very soft (and a bit splitty, as loosely spun single ply yarns tend to be.) These will be lounging socks, not hiking socks. And yes, I’m hoping to make them match because that’s just how I roll. It looks as if there are two repeats of the colour gradation in the ball, so fingers crossed.
Onward. They are a bit addictive once you find a bright spot to work…
I have been making progress on the Which Way shawl. I first told you about it in this post than updated you in this post. This is a whole lot of knitting.
Today’s milestone is that I’ve run out of yarn. Both bundles of gradient-dyed yarn are used up and the shawl isn’t done. This is likely because I’ve somehow mucked up the decreases. I want the lower edge to be decreased to nothing before binding off, as I think it might look odd otherwise. This requires a lot more repeats than specified in the pattern.
I have a persistent feeling that I’ve made a mistake, so took the shawl off the needles to have a look.
Here we are. It’s a dingy day and raining too hard to take the shawl outside for a pic. Also, it’s huge, and I couldn’t get it all in the shot.
It’s that bottom wedge that I’m diminishing until it vanishes. At this point, there are 18 stitches there so I’ll need another 9 contrast stripes to finish that out. The pooling is from the main colour, which is hand-dyed, but it seems to have worked out pretty evenly. I don’t mind it. And I don’t mind the size of the shawl. I’m just wondering where I went wrong…
You can just barely see the orange marker in the middle when the decreases were started. The shawl from this point should (I think) be rectangular, and it looks like it will block out that way. I pulled that right tip out longer when I was laying out the shawl.
The pattern specifies 22 contrast stripe repeats after the decreases begin (where the orange marker is). I’m currently at 43. Following the directions, the decreases would have stopped around the point that the contrast yarn (the gradient) started to get darker. (Eyeball a halfway point between the orange marker and the live stitches at the right.) I think the shawl would have been too small then, and an odd shape. There are some finished project pictures on Ravelry that are shaped the way my shawl is now, which does nothing to explain the 21 contrast stripe difference.
Here’s the pattern on Ravelry again. It calls for 4 oz of the main colour, a sport weight yarn, (that’s 113g) and 5 oz of the gradient skeins (let’s call it 150g), knit on US 6 needles (4.0mm). My yarn is fingering weight so I used 3.75mm needles. (I could actually have gone down another size as it’s a loose garter stitch, but it is nice and drapey this way.) I had 144g of the gradients, and 2 skeins of the main colour for 220g total (732m). I’m into the second skein of the main colour and I guess it was predictable that I’d run out of the contrast.
Fortunately, I have another skein of sock yarn in a mulberry shade that is pretty close to the gradient colourways – probably more like the fifth shade than the sixth (maybe even the fourth. You can see it on the right.) I’ll go with it anyway. The fiber content is the same.
I’ll keep knitting and will show you better pix once it’s completed. I still have no clue what I did wrong, but the end result looks okay, so it will be what it will be.
Things have been quiet here at the blog, because real life hasn’t been very quiet of late. Add spring cleaning and my annual bout of reorganization and it’s been busy around here.
I have, however, been making progress on the Which Way shawl. I first told you about it in this post. Here’s what it looks like now:
Still on the needles, so it’s not laid flat, but you can see the orange marker on the decrease stitch in the middle. That’s the point where the pattern changed, from increasing at both edges to decreasing on the right edge and increasing on the left. I have to believe the result of this is that middle stitch takes a bend to the right when the shawl is laid flat. After 22 garter stitch rows, the pattern will change one more time to decrease down to a point again.
The colour combination is unusual for me. I’m not sure I love it. I might have been happier pairing the gradient dyed skeins with kettle-dyed black or plum, but that would have been a predictable choice. I’m also wondering if I should have done the progression in the opposite direction, having the darkest hue in the middle, but I’m not frogging it back now. I’ve just started into the second bundle of skeins, so the contrast will get steadily darker now.
It’s interesting how the whole shawl looks paler as the gradient skeins get lighter, even though the main colour is consistently the same. The main colour is pooling a bit, but it seems to be small pools evenly spaced which is fine.
Here’s a detail picture:
I’m hoping it works out that I use the full bundle of gradient yarns, and the contrast gets all the way back to the darkest plum. We’ll see!
On Wednesday, I’ll show you something else I’ve been working on, for the girls.
My TV knitting has been an entrelac scarf in Noro Silver Thaw. I found three skeins of this yarn at the thrift store, and couldn’t just leave it there. (It’s Noro!)
Noro Silver Thaw is an aran-weight and a single ply yarn with a gratual colour change over the length of the yarn. (That’s a Ravelry link.) It’s also discontinued. This is colourway #11 which is not as bright as many Noro colourways. The Mister really liked it.
I’ve wanted to knit an entrelac scarf for a while. I found this free pattern on Ravelry. I used a 4.5MM needle instead of the 5mm recommended because I preferred the look of the finished fabric.
Here’s the scarf:
The finished size is 67″ x 9″ unblocked. I kind of like the texture of it as it is and don’t plan to block it. (It would get flatter, wider and longer if I did.)
This is great for a long thinner scarf and the Mister is happy with it. If I made one for myself, I’d add another square to the width of the scarf and probably make it shorter. I tend to fold the ends of my scarf over my chest beneath my coat.
I can’t believe this sweater is finally done! This one has been on my needles for a long time. The scary thing about Ravelry is that your project pages will tell you exactly how long you’ve been working on something – I cast this one on in December 2016. As so often happens when I modify a pattern, I got myself into a corner (or two) and so it was put aside. And, as often happens when I lose interest in a project, when I finally pick it up again, what’s left to be done is no big deal. This sweater sat with one sleeve for the longest time, but I finished it up last week.
The yarn is Rowan Colourspun, a discontinued yarn that I really like. (I knit the mister a vest of this – Skye – and Ice Cable Mitts in it, too. ) The colourways are Jervaulx (the red), Winterburn (the light grey) and Semer Water (the dark grey). I used Felted Tweed for the bit of blue, but really should have hunted down the Colourspun blue.
Wilhelmina designed by Marie Wallin
Wilhelmina is in the Nordic Tweed pattern book from Rowan. (That’s a Ravelry link.) I modified the pattern, though, because it has dropped sleeves and an angled shoulder. The original design also has no fair isle pattern on the sleeves. So, I used the stitch counts and basic shape from Bute (that’s a link to the one I knit here on the blog) with the reindeer and snowflake pattern from Wilhelmina. (That’s a Ravelry link, too.) Bute is fitted through the shoulders, a style I prefer.
This seemed like a good idea at the time, but was more complicated than I expected. The first issue is that Bute is knit with Rowan Colourspun and Rowan Felted Tweed. Since I wanted to use Colourspun, I thought it would work well. It did, but Bute is mostly Felted Tweed, which is thinner, and this sweater is almost all Colourspun – so my Reindeer sweater is bigger than my Bute, even on the same needles with the same stitch count. (And no, I didn’t swatch.) That part is okay. It’s kind of a teddy bear sweater this way.
Wilhelmina also has plain sleeves and I decided to put the snowflake pattern on them – then I decided the pattern had to match at the shoulder. More complication, more work, and really, in this yarn, the fair isle snowflakes are kind of lost. I shouldn’t have bothered – and if I hadn’t, it would have been done a lot sooner. I do like it, though, and the red is nice. It’s incredibly warm, too.
Below is the back of my Wilhelmina.
You can see that the Colourspun self-stripes a bit. I suppose I could have been strategic and started the red where it was darker and the grey where it was lighter, but since there are more red stitches than blue ones, that contrast wouldn’t have lasted anyway. I think the softness of the fair isle is inescapable – and kind of dreamy. I do like it. I made sure my reindeer started with light feet so their legs would be more visible.
And below is the finished cardigan. You can see what I mean about it being a teddy bear sweater!
The weather is dingy here, so even taking the sweater outside for a picture didn’t really show the detail well. Here’s a close up of my reindeer:
Both bundles of gradient-dyed yarn are used up and the shawl isn’t done. This is likely because I’ve somehow mucked up the decreases. I want the lower edge to be decreased to nothing before binding off, as I think it might look odd otherwise. This requires a lot more repeats than specified in the pattern. 
Alive & Knitting 