Shining Bird's Eyes Shawl

Why did I wait so long?  This shawl was a quick knit once I finally cast on.  The pattern is a bit tricky at first but after a few repeats is it quite obvious to see mistakes and fix them easily.  I only had to tink back once...granted it was in the last repeat and it was a row and a half.  That is what I deserved for my drinking (only one weak gin & tonic) and knitting.

The linen blocked beautifully!

Here are some pictures and a public link to the Ravelry page if you are interested in more details.

Hudson River Triangle

I'm trying out the new feature at Ravelry that allows me to share a project page with people who are not members of Ravelry. Let's see if this works.

I finally finished this shawl in April. I thought I posted the pictures here but apparently I only put the pictures up on Ravelry.

If you click on the link. It will take you to more pictures and details about the pattern, yarn, needles, etc..

Bit by the lace bug!

Yes, more lace!

This is the Adamas Shawl designed by Miriam Felton. For those of you who know your Greek (or Latin ) the name will most likely be familiar to you. If you need a little help, check out the link for the translation. Or here's a hint....adamant. "I was adamant in my desire to knit this shawl even though my husband thought I was nuts!"

The designer loves to name her patterns with classically derived names. I love that! This yarn has been in my stash for years and was going to be Icarus but I was afraid I was going to be a little short on the yardage. But I have many reasons why I still need to knit Icarus. One reason being my love of the band Kansas. That may seem a weird connection but you Kansas fans know what I'm talking about. (I'm sure I'm only talking to myself but oh well)




Anyway...this yarn is one skein (850 yds) of Alpaca with a Twist "Fino". It is 70% Baby Alpaca, 30% Silk. The color is a light lilac or periwinkle. I used size 4 Knitpicks Options needles (love those pointy tips!). After blocking the size is 72" across the back and 36" from upper edge to the point.

Diamond Fantasy off the Blocking Board

Approximate finished measurements:
Top to tip: 27"
Tip to top corners: over 36"
Top edge: 52"

The Miracle of Lace

Here is my Diamond Fantasy shawl (really more a scarf size again) right off the needles. Looks cozy and warm and all but not anything like it is suppose to look. Even the color of the yarn is not portrayed accurately in this photo.





Here it is after a bath and a good stretching. It is still pinned to the blocking board. This is one of those folding cardboard boards that I used to use for cutting fabric. To protect the cardboard from the wet shawl I covered the board in a medium weight clear plastic. That's the stuff you can get at Wal-mart or a Ben Franklin type store located in the fabric section by the large rolls of vinyl tablecloth. This board worked WAY better than the gingham checked fabric I used previously. Hope it's dry by bed time! (Oops...I cut the sheets out of the picture. It's blocked on the bed!)


Now about the pattern....


The Diamond Fantasy Shawl by Sivia Harding can be made scarf size or shawl size. The one I made is scarf size and only uses 350 yds of fingering weight yarn. I used one skein of Mountain Colors-Bearfoot . I love it for socks and thought it would be pretty for this scarf-sized shawl. The color name is Pheasant and it is made up of 60 % Superwash Wool, 25 % Mohair, 15 % Nylon. The dye did bleed out a bit when I soaked the shawl before blocking. I used size 5 circular needles (3.75mm).

I followed the pattern exactly and had about 20 yards of yarn leftover. I was worried that I was going to run short so I placed a lifeline at one half pattern repeat on the last repeat. If I ran out of yarn I would have then ripped back to that lifeline.

Doing the lifeline was easy. I just threaded a piece of thread (still attached to the spool) through the keyhole of my KnitPicks Option needle. Tied a knot so the thread would pull along while I knit the next row. When the row was finished I just had to be sure to leave the thread long enough, cut the thread from the spool, and cut it free from my needle. This also meant that my stitch markers were trapped on that row. But as I used a thinly sliced soda straw (which makes about 50,000 markers...okay maybe not quite that many) I just pulled out some more markers to place on the next row. I also used my row counter that I made with jump rings. The thread was thin enough to just slide through the crack of the jump ring. So I didn't need to let that dangle.

Swallowtail Shawl

Here's the Swallowtail Shawl. This is a pattern from Interweave Knits Spring 2006 issue. It is also being offered right now for a limited time as a free pattern at the Knitting Daily site (along with 4 other patterns).

The knitting wasn't too hard...although I did have to pay attention and count more than usual. I feared the nupps (the part that looks like Lilies of the Valley). After reading through the tips at Ravelry I made the decision to go ahead and give them a go (some replace the nupps with beads). The trick to the nupps are making the k1, yo, k1, yo k1 (all in one st) very very loose....like a half an inch of yarn pulled out for each k1.

The cast off I did with a needle 2 sizes bigger but it still may have been done too tightly. My "swallowtail" peaks didn't stay very pointed at all. Ahhh well...maybe next time I block it I'll try something different. I'm not an expert blocker by any stretch of the imagination.

This shawl, although called a shawl, is really scarf size which is what I wanted. Here are some pictures of how I've experimented in wearing it today. It's my first triangular shawl/scarf and thought I'd have some fun with it.

This was knit with Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud. Stream was the name of the color. It is very soft yarn. It took less than 1 skein (50 gms). I probably have about 13 gms left over.

Truly Tasha's Shawl

Blocked....


Posed for a picture....


or two....


Folded neatly to be wrapped and delivered to recipient December 24th. Hope she likes it....or not....I wouldn't mind keeping it!

Truly Tasha's Shawl

I was wanting to knit a Christmas present for someone to keep warm while she is surfing online or reading a book. I decided on the Truly Tasha's Shawl because it was a little heavier (although I didn't want it as dense...pattern recommended size 4/3.50mm needles), looked quick to knit, and I liked the lace edging (esp. turned to be a collar around the neck).

Next was the run to the yarn store (Dec 4th)...I wanted pink because the recipient looks very nice in pink. There was a pretty mauvy pink with brown that would have self striped but I decided on this brighter pink because I wanted a cheerier color to brighten the recipient's mood.

This is Cascade's Eco (478 yds/250 gms/8.75 oz). I used 10.5 (6.5mm) needles. I knit until it measured from tip to the top edge, allowing for the future border lace, the finished measurement...28". I maybe should have gone a bit more. The "across the top" measurement is a little smaller than 60" and the diagonal edge is the most off the mark. But I'm hoping that blocking will get those measurements more in the ballpark.

I made a second run to the yarn store on Dec 5th to pick up a second skein of yarn. I had knit about half of the first skein and it looked to me like it was going to be close. And this picture shows just how close it was. The little tail of yarn is all that is left of the first skein. I had about 6-7" left of the lace border to finish. And I finished off that little bit last night (Dec 9th)...right off my swift so I wouldn't have to wind the 478 yd skein. I probably have 468 yds left.

I neatly tied a few spots around the skein, retwisted and relabeled it...it's all set to take back to my yarn store like it's never been used. LOL...just teasing you, Michele! I've already got plans for it for next Christmas...a possible cabled fingerless mitts/scarf combo...unless it calls out to be something else in the meantime. Although I really should get a head start for next Christmas!

Oh yeah! You'd probably like to see the whole shawl finished? Well...I'm not ready for that yet. I'll be washing and blocking it first...then a finished picture. So stay tuned!