Tag Archives: crystal twist

Crystal Twist Complete

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Does your knitting project change depending upon where you knit?

Mine apparently does. Just over a week ago, the mister and I decided on a new plan. Neither of us were sleeping as well as would be ideal and my eyes were bothering me. We decided to eliminate blue light after dinner. Nor more evenings watching television, surfing online, or even reading ebooks. Instead, we’re reading paper books. Instead of knitting while watching TV, I’m knitting for a couple of hours in the kitchen each night, then reading. And that means that I can work on all those projects that need a little bit more concentration. While watching TV, I prefer to knit endless miles of stockinette—and whenever a project gets to the point that I need to pay attention, I put it aside. This change means that I’m picking up those projects and getting them done.

First up is my Crystal Twist shawl, which didn’t require that much attention. (That link is my first post about it: here’s the second post about the size of the shawl after one skein.) There’s just a little pattern bit at the left end of the row, but it was enough that I wasn’t knitting while watching movies. And it’s finished! Here it is, right off the needles.

Crystal Twist shawl knit by Deborah Cooke

The ends are a bit curly because it isn’t blocked. I like the second colour but wish I’d picked something a little darker, maybe a little bluer. That second yarn has a bit of a tighter twist than the first yarn, but that distinction may diminish when the shawl is washed. It’s really only something I would notice.

I switched yarn colours the same 12-row transition recommended by the Unique Sheep: after working colour A, work 2R colour B, work 4R colour A, work 4R colour B, work 2R colour A, then continue in colour B. They photograph quite distinctly, but in real life, the colours of the two skeins appear to be much closer.

Crystal Twist shawl knit by Deborah Cooke

I could have maybe managed another 12-row repeat in the purple, but I would have been playing yarn chicken. Here’s the ending edge, which I worked in the first colour:

Crystal Twist shawl knit by Deborah Cooke

I’m really pleased with this shawl and may make another. I like it in this two-skein size, and if I do make another, I’ll definitely add the beads.

What do you think?

Crystal Twist Conundrum

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I showed you the Crystal Twist shawl I started to knit with a skein of hand-dyed yarn, without beads, a few weeks ago. The pattern is quite pretty but I started to be concerned about yarn quantity. Here’s how far I got with my one skein.

Crystal Twist shawl knit by Deborah Cooke

I’m supposed to knit to 51″ length, but that measured side is 31″. The pattern specifies one 400m skein of fingering weight yarn, which is what this is. I’m using the specified needles and my width gauge is spot-on. Hmm. I couldn’t figure this out. I thought there was a mistake in the pattern, but the designer contacted me on Ravelry – I should have measured the angled side, which is, in fact, 51″ long. Ha! I have enough yarn to knit the finishing rows and bind it off but I’d like the shawl to be bigger.

This skein is a one-off, so there is no more. (I dyed it.) The base yarn is discontinued. Hmm. This makes for a conundrum! I left a bit of yarn so I can do some stripes to transition to another yarn for the rest of the shawl – if I can find a good candidate.

The hunt is on!

Meanwhile, I’m working on a second sock…

Crystal Twist Shawl

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Crystal Twist is a triangular shawl with a cabled border. (That’s a Ravelry link.) It’s knit in fingering weight yarn with beads. I saw a kit for this pretty little shawl, but decided to buy the pattern on its own and shop my stash instead of buying the kit.

I had a skein of Knit Picks Bare Merino Silk fingering, which was one of several yarns including in a dye-your-own kit I bought from them ages ago. I made mine purple and there it is on the left. (The yarn on the right is KP Stroll which is a sport weight that I haven’t knit up yet)

Knit Picks yarns acid-dyed by Deborah Cooke

The incredible thing is that I didn’t have any beads to match a purple yarn. I guess I’ve used them all up. This is a bit of a wasteland for buying beads so I decided to knit the shawl without any.

I was a bit confused by the first chart, because row 1 is a wrong-side row, making row 2 and all even-numbered rows right-side rows. This was the opposite of my expectation, but once I had that sorted out, I was off. It’s a nice easy pattern to knit – you start at a point and increase until you have six cable bands, then the other stitches are in stockinette as the shawl grows wider.

I had another small issue when I started the second chart – which starts on row 1, a right-side row! – in that I was short a stitch. I did it over and over but couldn’t find the stitch. I had 52 stitches as specified but when I count the chart, I get 53, which could be the issue. In the end, I just crossed out the column for stitch 16 and carried on.

Here’s how it looks so far:

Crystal Twist shawl designed by Emily Wood and knit by Deborah Cooke

I like the colours and the pattern, but am not that fussed about the yarn. I thought it would be soft, but it feels a lot like cotton when it’s knitted up. Maybe I’ll knit a second shawl in another yarn and with beads. For the moment, I’m knitting on!