Random thoughts of a fiber enthusiast - mostly fiber related, sometimes coherent

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Triangle Shawl Sampler

Triangle Shawl Sampler

This is the sampler I made from Evelyn Clark’s workshop. (Click for big.) It has only had a sauna treatment (steam block) because I bound off just in time for the guild meeting and I wanted to take it for the show and tell. The ends are not yet trimmed because it really needs a nice soak in a hot tub and re-blocked before I can call it finished.

Pattern: my own compilation of Evelyn’s stock lace patterns in her book “Knitting Lace Triangles
Yarn: 2 ply spindle spun yarn (Lisa Souza’s Superfine Merino in “Bird of Paradise” colorway)
Needles: US #4, 3.50 mm
Size: Depth: 22″; Wingspan: 50″. Just about the perfect shoulder shawl size for me.

I worked the lace patterns from most open to most dense, and worked all the transitions in between. In retrospect, I should have followed Evelyn’s advice that if you are mixing elements, you want to have denser patterns at the top of the triangle. But by the time she dispensed that piece of advice, I had already worked through to the first or second repeat, and I was too lazy (or stubborn) to rip back and start over.

Of course, if I were to completely do this over, I would have chosen a more solid colored yarn. I think the pattern is busy enough and doesn’t need the competition of the variegation.

I close this post with a detail of the tip, complete with the “mistake” I referenced in the last post. Can you find the mistake if I hadn’t already told you where it was? No? Me neither.

Triangle Shawl - Mistake Detail

Socks vs. Lace

While having lunch with Barb yesterday, the topic went to knitting, as it always does. (Knitting or sailing, or both.) She’s on the look out for a new lace project. For her, lace scarves, stoles, and scarves are the portable projects that she always has on hand. Socks, not so much. Barb is fairly new to sock knitting. Or rather, recently back to sock knitting. So, they still require some level of concentration.

This had me thinking. Yes, I always have one or two (or five) pairs of socks on the needles, but I’m not reaching for those as much as I used to. They are relegated to airplane knitting. At home, or at various functions, it’s my lace projects that I grab for.

I think the reason is that I’m somewhat bored with socks. I love wearing hand knit socks. But I am just plain bored with 8-9 sts/in of plain stockinette in tubes. While there are lots of lovely sock patterns out there, I don’t enjoy wearing them. I don’t like the feel of ridges or patterning on my foot. So, it’s plain stockinette socks for me.

But you would think that if I’m knitting/finishing fewer socks, I would stop buying sock yarn, wouldn’t you? Not a chance. I’m still hoping that all these lovely new sock yarns will bring the zing back to me.

I do have to say, I am loving lace. I love the rhythmic decreases and increases, and watching the pattern unfold. And, I’m less self-conscious about wearing my lace scarves and shawls these days. If my shoulders are cold, I will throw one on. If my neck is cold, I’ll bundle one around my neck. I don’t really care about scrunching up the piece to the point where you can’t see the patterning. I knit them because I enjoyed the process. And I’m wearing them because they give me pleasure. I can’t see the pattern when I’m wearing them. If someone wants to look at it while I’m wearing one? I’ll just take it off for an impromptu show and tell, and throw it back over my shoulders. I don’t need a mirror to make sure it’s “just so.” As long as I’m comfortable.

Lace Objects

After spending a couple of hours diagramming the lace shawl from my dreams, I have a much better appreciation for the genius of lace designers. I’m still working on the increase rates of the shawl versus the natural increases in the lace motifs that I want to use. After examining published lace patterns, I have some better ideas of how to proceed. However, I have put that aside for the time being.

Instead, I will present you some finished lacy objects.

A cat walked across my scarf…

Scuppers Scarf 1 Scuppers Scarf 2
This is the last of the auction scarves. This is for Carol, who lives on her boat with her cat named Scuppers. The scarf is to represent the cat pawprints on a white topside in the morning dew…like the dirty skid prints you might find on your car windshield or across your deck on a frosty morning.

I have not been happy with the cat’s paw lace patterns I found in my references. They are really more like a daisy with 6 lace circles. I designed this so that it is more representative of a paw print, and aligned them such that it looks like the actual path of a cat.

If anyone is interested in the pattern, let me know. I’ll put the pattern in my sidebar.

Specs:
Yarn: Handspun Chasing Rainbows Cashmere/Silk in Purple Haze colorway; lace weight
Pattern: my own
Needle: US #3

Swallowtail Shawl
Swallowtail Shawl

Specs:
Fiber: Handpainted Alpaca/Silk, purchased at Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat. I don’t remember the vendor’s name and can’t find the tag right now.
Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark, from Interweave Knits Fall 2006 issue.
Needle: I don’t remember, but I followed the directions in the pattern exactly, so probably the recommended needle size.

Landscape Scarf
Landscape Scarf
The shaping of this is ingenious. I love the long curved edges. Perfect for ties without pulling the scarf out of shape. I can imagine several scarves like this, but with different lace designs. (Yeah, right. See the 1st paragraph of this post.) All I can say is, Evelyn Clark is a genius.

Specs:
Fiber: Handspun Merino/Silk from Lisa Souza, colorway Shaved Ice; fingering weight
Pattern: Landscape Scarf by Evelyn Clark
Needle: Again, I followed the instructions blindly, using the recommended needle size for fingering weight yarn.

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