Sunshine and Shadows

kind of sums up how things have been going lately. knitting moving along slowly--have two shawls in the works: another Evelyn A. Clark pattern and a second La Cumparsita. its all the brain can handle right now.

below are a few shots of the wonderful Ann wearing the Sunshine and Shadows Shawl. probably my quickest knit--only a week. and i probably could've finished it sooner if i spent more time on it. details:

pattern: Sunshine and Shadows in "Knitting Lace Triangles" by Evelyn A. Clark
yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze (barely 2 skeins)in colorway "Mist"
needles: Addi Turbo Lace US6







more to come soon...there's lots of things happening!

Mellon Shawl

one of my current knitting projects is the Mellon Shawl from "Victorian Lace Today", a wonderful book that is a reinterpretation of several lace patterns from the 1890s. i've been plugging away at this shawl since Feb. 1--its not complicated at all, but the edging slowed me down a bit. but now i've picked up steam and here are a few in progress shots:


pattern: Mellon Shawl from "Victorian Lace Today"
yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze in "Marmalade"
needles: Addi Turbo lace size 6US for center, size 5US for edging
center panel--see the oops?


after turning the lower right corner


knitted on edge in progress

overall, this is a very easy knit. and any mistakes (first pic!!) were absolutely due to the knitter. i don't normally knit with mohair/silk blends, but really enjoyed knitting with the Kidsilk Haze. depending on how it blocks, right now, i could see using a slighty denser mohair blend. i used a size 6US needle for the body and size 5US for the border but think the mellons look a bit sparse right now. maybe a nice sproingy merino/alpaca blend. but i think i'll do a different border.

once this is completed, the only lace project i'll have is the Shetland Tea Shawl. i'm still gawking at the shawls in "Knitted Lace of Estonia". and fingers keep perusing "Heirloom Knitting". in my mind, both of those books require a bit of commitment on my part. there's also a sampler shawl in "Victorian Lace Today" that i've been eyeing. either way, i need to make up my mind soon as it's no good having only one think on my needles....

Unpacking, mistakes, and humility

as i get settled into my little space here, i'll try my best to post photos of the projects i'm working on. matter o' fact, here's one that has me a bit stumped. it's originally a vintage doily pattern by Marianne Kinzel--Valentine Doily. it has a star-like center with a ring of hearts on mesh. i decided to take the Kinzel pattern and use the Elizabeth Zimmerman Pi theory to turn a 12-inch doily into a 72-inch shawl. i got thru the doily pattern with no problems. the doily pattern ended with 342 stitches so i increased to 350 and then k3 rounds (k=knit). i then plugged in the horseshoe lace pattern (Barbara Walker's First Treasury, pg.209) and got into 3 pattern repeats. somehow, on the final repeat, the stitches aren't adding up. i am short a stitch and can't find the mistake. i planed to do 3 pattern repeats and then do a proper increase round to 700 stitches and continue the pattern, but now, i'm sooooooo disgusted with myself (yeah, i left out the lifeline) that i can't bear to look at it right now. plus, tinking back will take quite some time with the Cashwool as its very clingy. so what looked like this:

is now sitting, untouched like this:

so i set it down and moved on to this:

and got up to 576 stitches with no lifeline, only to realize that i may have screwed up again. so i set it down to mull it over and started this:

which, ironically, is the exact same pattern, just in silk. i'm at 288 stitches, and yes, there is a mistake-but i can fix this one. just tink back one round and move my marker over one stitchthis is not a difficult pattern. i have learned that i'm just a difficult person. so i now beg the deities of knitting for forgiveness and i will sew in the lifeline right away.....i promise.

at this point, i am considering tinking back to the end of the doily pattern and starting over. i could just knit the whole thing over again (more like me) or i could let it taunt me, over and over.