One skein of Sea Silk made on US 3 needles made a triangular shawl 60 inches across, 24 inches to the point. I used 94 grams of the skein and was able to make 12 pattern repeats. Previously I had calculated 12 repeats would use 86 grams of yarn. I still believe my formula was correct, but for some unknown reason, I had misweighed the yarn. I had thought that the tangled blob I had extracted from the 100 gram skein was 12 grams, but it was really only 7. How did I make that mistake? I don't know. The upshot was that I had thought the shawl weighed less than it really did. Fortunately I figured it out before starting pattern repeat number 13 which would have had to be ripped. I realized when uploading this photo that it was taken from the purl side. Oh well.
Micro Mini Clapotis. One half skein (about 60 grams) of AngoraValley sock yarn,
knit on size 3 needles. I did only one or two increase sections (ended up with 45 stitches on needles) to make a skinny scarf. I am very happy with the size. Unstretched, after light blocking, it is 66 inches by 4 inches. I love it. Thanks, Erika, for the inspiration.I have too many projects unfinished, mostly because they all need the sleeves finished. I think knitting sleeves is a royal pain because of those damned increases, so irregular, every 6 rows, every 12 rows, every what? So hard to remember to put them in correctly and you have to remember to do the other sleeve exactly the same. Maybe I am just cut out for knitting shawls and maybe vests?
To that end, I couldn't help myself, I started a new shawl. Also by Evelyn Clark, the Estonian Garden Wrap. The pattern calls for laceweight yarn and makes a wrap approximately 19 inches by 60 inches. I am using fingering weight alpaca. I wanted it wider, much wider would be fine with me so I didn't muck with the pattern. What I didn't know was how much yarn I would need. I had three skeins (50 grams, 215 yards), would I want more? How much? The pattern calls for a provisional cast-on, then knit the m
ain body, knit the lily-of-the-valley edging, bind off, then go back and pick up the cast-on and knit the edging again. Instead, I did the provisional cast-on and knit the edging first. That way I could bind-off and measure, before picking up the cast-on for the main body. First edge weighed 40 grams and is about 14+ inches long (perhaps 25 to 30 inches wide?). I procured 2 more skeins which will make for a nice oversized wrap.
4 comments:
Beautiful work!
So much pretty stuff going on here! Do you find the Estonian Garden Wrap an easy knit? If you were a beginner to lace is that a pattern you would try?
Dorothy (in Ontario),
Yes, I think the Estonian pattern would be a workable one for a new lace knitter. You might consider the scarf instead of the wrap, so it would knit up faster. In the fingering weight, I simplified the nupps (only found in the edging, not the main body), instead of having to do a p5tog, I only have a p3tog. You could also do this without the nupps at all. I started using my regular addis, but those nupps were a pain. I got a pair of the pointy addi lace needles and they were no problem.
All three lace patterns are mathematically regular, so easy to learn and easy to notice right away if you've made a mistake. And I don't always rip back when there's a mistake. Several times I have found I was missing a stitch (forgot a yo in a previous row) so just made one there or for some reason ended up with an extra stitch, so made a k3tog instead of the k2tog asked for.
In the main section, the stitch count varies. row one pattern repeat has one decrease and two YOs, the opposite in row three, but since this pattern is really simple, the changing stitch count has not been a problem for me.
Being able to read the knitting and having the confidence to tweak mistakes instead of ripping back are keys for successful lace knitting (IMO).
Your work is amazing! I enjoy visiting your blog and seeing what you've been up to. Your sis, T
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