Transitions, Ink

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Flower Petal

Well, the flower petal shawl is done, blocked and has even been worn once. I love it. The Italian plum pure peruvian alpaca was the perfect choice for it. The pattern was, as promised, a great first lace project. I made a few small mistakes, but as they say in the knitting world, a mistake helps to verify the authentic hand-made character of the piece.





I've also purchased kidsilk haze for the Rowan birch shawl project that Bug and I are going to embark on together in January. Much as I am drawn to reds and purples, I went for the new "hurricane" blue this time and splurged on an extra ball to do a practice swatch.



The verdict on lace knitting: I like it, I like it. December projects: socks-in-progress and a sweater that I started last year.

3 comments:

Writer Bug said...

OMG. That shawl is BEAUTIFUL! I am clearly in over my head here to try to knit with you. In your last email, you asked me if my problem would be solved by blocking. I realize I don't really know what you mean. Can you define that, as well as a practice swatch? I *think* I'm getting the hang of that scarf pattern you sent, though I still can't get through all 10 rows of the pattern yet. Hopefully soon!

TI said...

You are NOT in over your head. It's easy once you get the hang of it. That was my first lace project and it actually came together. You can do it. Here is an article on blocking:
http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter02/FEATdiyknitter.html
I actually do steam blocking, but not with a wet towel. I use a powerful steam iron (I bought it especially to do this) and hold it about 1 inch from the fabric, which I have pinned into the desired shape/measurements, and then blast out the steam. This "sets" the stitches and makes them lie flat. I kind of rushed with the shawl, and so the second half (it was too big to do all at once) isn't as smooth as the first half. You can see that the two points on the right want to curl up a bit. Might re-do it.

Writer Bug said...

Thanks so much TI! And that shawl really is amazing!