Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Woe thy name is lace on a deadline.....

Yes indeed.... woe.

I added another ball last night... I picked it up last friday to make sure that I had an extra one "just in case" and it is a totally different dyelot!!!

I didn't see it last night, but in natual light... hoo boy! What a stripe! Do you see it? I bet you do. the part on the right is just a bit more creamy yellow.... V here.



So thankfully I have my final ball from the stash... so I must remove this imposter "bridal white" and return the proper one to it's siblings....

I guess that is my update. I have to have it done tomorrow.... I truly wanted to block it tonight... but if I try that I may not function at work tomorrow!



So here are some details about this shawl. I am using Royal Fashion Crochet cotton bought at my local Zellers (except for the imposter ball) I have a total of 4 balls, and it should be a good length after blocking. This is the same cotton that I have used on the other two bridal shawls that I have knit. It blocks LIKE A DREAM! I kid you not. and it costs about $4.00 a ball. I prefer to use 5 but 4 will have to do. (see I was unsure about the length... le sigh) I am using my basic shawl recipe. Garter stitch border and lace insert. I always base my calculations on the stitch pattern, and go from there. The first time I cast this on it was WAY to wide.


I am using a lace pattern form one of Barbra Walkers' stitch dictionaries A Treasury of Knitting Patterns the stitch is called "Vine Lace", it is a repeat of 9sts plus 4. I cast on 97 that gives me 6 sts on each side for garter stitch border. I knit garter stitch for 12 rows before I began the pattern and I will conclude with 12 rows as well. Without a back up ball I will have to be pretty careful. Hey, who says knitting is without thrill?!!? I think that this is a great stitch pattern.

This is not as easy as I thought though, I picked a 4 row repeat pattern that I thought was simple, and it is. This is not mindless knitting however. This is also not stressful lace knitting. This pattern requires you to be mindful, and yet still allows chatting and a movie or audiobook. but you can't be totally forgetful of what you are knitting. As lace goes, this is an easy pattern. If you have never done lace knitting this may be a nice stitch pattern to try out. (I am thinking of you Janey)

So once that is done I can finish my socks, and the Rusted Root, then I can finally cast on a vest for my honey, and finish the other two shawls!!

LOL I am crazy......
Hope you are having a great week so far. Feel free to leave me a comment and ask questions, I will do my best to answer. I have a hedache... time for tea and reading.....then off to knit with my gals at the coffee shop. Thanks goodness for Tuesdays!

8 comments:

Cas... said...

Oh that is so pretty! You are doing a wonderful job! I can't wait to see the finished project!

Keep up the good work!

Penny said...

I can't wait to see it either! It's good to know how well the crochet cotton blocks too!

Anonymous said...

Your shawl looks great! It's a shame about the non-matching yarn.

Aesderina said...

ew. ripping out lace is evil. I think more evil then back knitting *shutters* It is looking SO wonderful and beautiful though!! Love the lace you chose for it:)

Knitting Up A Storm said...

Well I'm jealous of you having knitting gals meeting at the coffeehouse. Whaa.

P.s- your shawl is looking great!

Heather D. said...

The shawl is looking great!!!!

janeyfromcanadia said...

Oh my gosh, that is a totally different colour! You must have had a heart attack when you discovered that! I really, really want to see that blocked, even if only in a photograph.

nillakitty said...

It's going to be so beautiful! I'm wincing thinking about ripping out that lace, though... I heard about weaving in a lifeline with a different color yarn every ten rows or so, but I'm always too lazy to do it...