Equilibrium restored

There is nothing like getting a couple of shawls off the needles to make me feel happy again, particularly after the Dahlia debacle. Although that project hasn't been shelved - some yarn is on its way so that I can have another go.

In the meantime the focus has been on shawls. First off the needles was Flowers on the edge.

The last two photos represent the colour better. This shawl was knitted with just under a 100g of Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 4ply hand dyed by Ozifarmer on Raverly. I love using this yarn for shawls. It's soft and has great drape. This little shawl is good to wrap around my neck and not slip off.

Next off the needles was a shawl I knitted on request for someone on Ravelry. She chose the yarn and  pattern. The shawl is Haruni. I have knitted this before and enjoyed it just as much the second time round. One of the things that enhanced my enjoyment was the fact that this pattern is one of the patterns included in the free version of knit companion. It is beautifully set up in knit companion. I have bought the full version and I have reached the point where I can't imagine not using this app for my knitting anymore.

But I digress, back to Haruni.

This yarn is MadelineTosh Sport in Scarlet and I used 4.0mm needles. Two skeins weren't quite enough. I had to break into a third skein about half way through the crochet cast off. The sport weight yarn makes this a somewhat heavier shawl, good for the cooler weather we are going into.

Why I knit shawls

Ages ago when the Dahlia cardigan appeared in Interweave Knits I knew I wanted to knit it. I wasn't sure about the yarn I would use until I came across Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino and decided that that was the one for me.

About a fortnight ago I decided to cast on. I did a stocking stitch swatch despite the fact that I loathe doing these things (reason one for knitting shawls). My gauge was just fractionally off but I figured that it was close enough and embarked on knitting the lace panel which forms the back of the cardigan. Its a beautiful panel, go on, have a good look at it. Gorgeous is it not? I finished the panel over 2 evenings of knitting and loved it and the yarn. But, the square was far too large. It is meant to block out to 13" and even unblocked I was way over that.

Now I have done my homework for this cardigan and I have read how important it is to get the lace square the right dimension because the construction of this cardigan is most unusual and all hinges on this square. So, of course, I frogged the square and started afresh on smaller needles and enjoyed the knitting and the beauty of the lace as much as the first time. Two days later and the square was done and still way to big!

Undeterred, I frogged and started again on smaller needles and lo and behold it was too big! So I frogged again and started a fourth time and by now I was using 2.5mm needles. A quarter of the way in I stopped because I could just feel that this is not working. This pattern and yarn are just not meant to be. I will find another use for the yarn and I will try to find a more appropriate yarn for the cardigan because I still like it and I am determined to have one.

In the meantime I needed to rid myself of the frustration of the past couple of weeks so I cast on for the Flowers on the Edge shawl and less than a week later it was done. Pictures to follow as soon as I have blocked the shawl.

See why I knit shawls?

Brangian shawl

I really wanted to knit up the silk/cotton 4ply ColourMart yarn I bought quite some time ago but couldn't find quite the right pattern. I started to knit the Butterfly Forest shawl with this yarn but soon discovered that it wasn't working and frogged. While I was trawling through my endless queue I saw the Brangian shawl pattern and realised that this was the right one. I wanted the right combination of yarn and pattern because this shawl is also part of a swap for more gradient dyed yarn.

I knitted the shawl on 4.5 mm needles and it knitted up really quickly. It has turned into a good sized shawl.

Once blocked the yarn softened and became nice and drapey.

Here is a close up to show the subtle shift in the pattern.

Butterfly Forest

 I  knitted this shawl for a fellow Raveler in return for some of her dyeing skills. I'm very taken by gradient coloured yarns these days and I believe its a bit tricky to do. I was very pleased when I found someone who was willing to dye some yarn for me and even more pleased when she was willing to do it in exchange for a shawl.

So here is the Butterfly Forest shawl (a Ravelry download). The yarn is Filatura Di Crosa Baby Mon Tesor. Its hard to see in the photos but the yarn has a silver thread running through it. I started this shawl on 3.75mm needles but by the time I was into the second chart I felt that the yarn was too stiff and I was worried that it wouldn't open up enough when blocked. So I gradually switched to 4.0mm needles and then to 4.5mm. By then I could feel the yarn soften in my hands and I new I would also get better drape.



The pattern has plenty of nupps in it but since I discovered doing nupps with a crochet hook I find it goes much quicker and I no longer drop loops along the way.

I found it difficult to capture the colour of the yarn but the last photo comes close.

Filigrano

I have just realised that it's been a little while since I have posted. I have been beavering away at Filigrano, another Birgit Freyer design. This is a shawl I knitted for a fellow Raveler and I finished blocking it yesterday.

I knitted this with Inca Tops Alpaca Lace and on 3mm needles. The yarn is beautifully soft but very fine. I had to keep going down a needle size until I had good pattern definition. I started out on 4mm needles but all I could see were holes! Because I went down to 3mm needles I was afraid that she shawl might be a bit on the small side so I added 3 extra pattern repeats in Chart A. That more than did the trick. This is a large shawl, a very large shawl. It measures 220cm x 100cm. The size and the fineness of the yarn also made it difficult to photograph.

Now I need to get cracking on my next commission.

Pea Vines

Another shawl has been completed. This is an Anne Hanson design (a very prolific designer) called Pea Vines and I think I will be knitting more of her patterns in the future.

I knitted this shawl as a KAL with a fellow Raveller. We were both going to knit the shawl in lace weight yarn and thus would knit the large size. When I started my shawl I thought my yarn (hand dyed by Emily The Enabler) was more of a light fingering than lace weight and so I decided to knit the medium size instead. In hindsight I should have stuck to the large size. Nevertheless the shawl measures 135 x 64cm which is quite a respectable size. I used size 3.5mm needles.

I thought the yarn, a 100% merino, was very apt for this pattern as it is called Sugar Snap! The first part of the shawl is slow going because the rows are long and many of them have nupps but by the time you get to the second chart the shawl begins to fly off the needles.

Dolce Vita

Another mystery KAL has come to an end. This time it was one of Birgit Freyer's designs, Dolce Vita. 

 For this shawl I tried another method of blocking. In an attempt to make the shawl symmetrical I doubled it over and then blocked it thus ensuring that each point had a matching partner. And the shawl is also quite large, it measures 208 cm by 76 cm.

 I knitted this shawl with Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 2ply which has been hand dyed by EmilyTheEnabler.  And I also added some size 8/0 Myuki beads.

 I like the size of this shawl and I think I might well get a lot of wear out of this one.