Leftover Uradale wool shawl

For the last two weeks I have been knitting up the wool left over from the Uradale version of this year's Shetland Wool Week hat. As I posted last month, the hat  used very little of the 5 balls of wool in the kit. Rather than knit more hats, I found a shawl pattern in Martha Waterman's Traditional Knitted Lace Shawl and adapted it.

Her 'garter lace triangular shawl' has alternate bands of simple lace and garter stitch.

I began trying out the pattern as written, intending to work it in stripes of the five colours, but decided pretty quickly that the texture wasn't right for the wool (left).

Instead of the garter stitch bands, I worked bands of stocking stitch with a simple Fair Isle pattern, no 56 from Mary Jane Mucklestone's 200 Fair Isle Designs.  I began with the darkest colour, and worked bands of pattern using each of the other four colours in turn between the lace. It seemed to work.

I then moved to the next darkest colour and repeated the process, increasing as indicated in the pattern.

This worked in so far as it rationed the wool nicely  but the similarity of three of the colours didn't make for great contrast. I nevertheless continued with the scheme. Subtlety isn't a bad thing, and this was, after all, an exercise in using leftover yarn.

Making it up as I went along, and with the best part of a full ball of the dark brown, I inserted a contrasting  band  between each background colour change.

I liked the effect, so continued, working each ball until it ran out.  I soon became concerned that the shawl would end up too long and narrow to drape comfortably over the shoulders

so I began to increase at the end of every row instead of every second row. I couldn't really tell on my needles whether this was working, but stuck with it.

Obviously, as the rows got longer, the colours would not cover as many rows, but the colour sequence largely worked, I finished with a couple of dark rows of lace and cast off with this the only left over wool. Maybe I could have managed one more row - but was not risking it.

I blocked it on my dining table, which is 1.5m x 1m, so my increases seem to have worked. It is a decent size for a shawl.

It took 36 hours to dry and smelled strongly of sheep while wet, even  washed in woolwash. I hope this doesn't persist when worn. I’m airing it outside for a while and will store it with lavender.

Both the shawl and the hat are up for grabs, for gifts or trading tables. 

I find it amusing that the leftover wool produced something much larger than the original hat! I'm pretty satisfied with the result. I have a substantial stash of wool, and do not want to add to it. 

I've had much joy in the making. This is also a versatile pattern that I'm sure I will use again.

Banging on about Wrapping up a Wrap in the Round

This is another post that will be of interest only to the most hardened of knitting nerds, and it's long. Turn back now if this puts you off!

As I wrote in my blog post about the Vikkel hat, after my steeking success last year, I decided I would get a bit more practice. When this book appeared on my radar, I thought I'd give it a go. The 21 wraps employ steeks, enabling , for the most part, all work to be in knit stitches.

I bought some alpaca yarn from Adagio Mills - in three shades, two browns and a black. My idea was to work two-coloured shawls. I bought what I thought would be enough to make three shawls, and the three colours would give me six possible colour options.

I began with the black and lighter brown.

When I read the pattern, I decided the steek was an unnecessary complication, and began using the chart to knit back and forth. It didn't take long for me to realise that reading the chart from left to right for the purl rows was going to be slow and frustrating. I joined the work into the round and went with the steek after all.

The pattern had a 5 stitch steek. I increased it to 7 stitches to give myself leeway. In retrospect, not strictly necessary, but helpful.

It's an 8 stitch, 8 row pattern.  After a couple of repeats it was easy to remember.  Each row increases by 2 stitches until there are 452 stitches on the needle - slow progress.  

 

 

I didn't time my progress until there were around 340 stitches on the needle, by which time each row was taking 25 minutes. It isn't possible to keep a row counter on circular needles so I was counting rows up the steek with a goal of 200 rows. When I reached 173 rows I checked the pattern to discover the goal was 220 rows!    Knit faster woman!       

The alpaca knits beautifully and feels very good on the hands. It is quite dense in the two colour pattern, because of the yarn carried across the back. I am, fortunately a fairly loose knitter. It will stretch a little in blocking, but not much. I realised after about 100 rows that my yarn calculations were way out, so amended my plans. Rather than 3 shawls from the yarn, I will make 2 - and still require more yarn. I managed to order more of all 3 colours from Adagio Mill before they ran out. The dark colours run out quickly. In fact, the pattern needed even more.

                                          

Around  row 216 I measured the length and, (as much as I could on a circular needle) the breadth, to find, as I suspected, it was larger than the pattern's predicted size. I therefore called it quits, and proceeded to cut the steek. I ran a row of straight machine stitching either side of the central line in the steek and cut. It wasn't as scary as the first time!

The result was pleasing: a decent size triangle and straight edges.

A lot trickier was the process of picking up 320 stitches evenly around the two steeked edges.  

The circular needle, with 772 stitches, was crowded. I had further extenders, but needed more joiners. 

The border is 12 rows. It was only after picking up the stitches that I realised the pattern was using the sandwich method of completing the steek - that is, knitting a double border, picking up a second round of (another 772) stitches on the inside of the shawl, then sealing the two border strips together with an icord, encasing the join so it isn't seen, like binding the edge of a cushion with a cord.  I was not at all sure it was feasible to find the stitches to pick up between the floats on the back of the shawl. 

The more immediate problem was the tightness of the stitches on the circular needle. I needed more length, had only short extensions, and no joiners. A trip to the Yarn Trader gave me a 125cm extender and a couple of connectors. The resulting circle is huge - not quite the full length of the stitches, but workable. 

As I worked the 12 rows in rib, I considered my options for neatening, or hiding, the steek - an inner border, or just neaten the raw edge?

I liked the look of the underside of the single border. On the top working edge there was no steek, and the transition to the border was smooth. It seemed a shame to turn that easy transition into a double border, losing the look of the inner rib. 

My yarn calculations, once the outer border was complete, suggested that, even with the extra yarn I had ordered, I would not have enough yarn to complete an inner border but would just manage one around the two steek sides - without the icord. Furthermore, there was no more of the fawn yarn available. I ordered a ball of what looked like a similar colour in an alpaca/polwarth blend, but it was too light. 

So I cast off the single side with an icord, then knit an inner border on the two steeked sides. This meant knitting back and forth, purling on the back. I'm OK with that - it was easy, relaxed knitting.

I cut any excess loose threads from the steek edge. Even so, the fold was bulkier than I'd like. The folded edge inevitably has four layers of knitting which no amount of pressing or blocking will remove.

Once the inner border was finished, I hit another snag. The pattern instructions simply said 'join the two edges', gave icord instructions, assuming a single edge. As I had no intention of trying to slip 369 stitches from the inner circular needle one by one between the 369 stitches on the outer circular needle, I went looking for instructions for joining two edges together using an icord. I found a useful video that showed me how to begin with three cast-on stitches, then knit together three stitches, one from the cast-on, one from each edge. 

It is slow, demands concentration, but works.   I just had enough fawn yarn to finish the two edges, so the icord edge is black.

It needs to be worked with the wrong side facing, to get the corded edge on the right side ( upper edge in the photo above). On the wrong side it leaves a narrow gap with a running stitch effect.

Having come this far, I covered the gap by whipping over it.

To reduce the bulk over the steek, I reluctantly decided to run a row of machine stitching over it.  While part of me thinks this is a shame, it is firmer and much smoother.

I experimented with a number of embroidery stitches to work over the machine line, but rejected all of them in favour of allowing the machine stitches to sink unobtrusively into the knitting. I feel this is a bit of a compromise, but definitely the best option. 

I have no regrets about leaving the long edge as a single layer. I like the way it frills. I bought a magpie scarf pin from Scarf Pins and Rings to hold it together.

I considered blocking it on my hap stretcher. It would certainly fit. The hap stretcher, however, needs a repair to one of the screws, which I have been putting off.  

The shawl is  soft, light, and  cosy rather than lacy. I didn't want to lose any of the warmth and thickness by stretching it too far, so I blocked it on my dining table using a combination of blocking tiles and a polystyrene  board, deliberately giving it a scalloped edge along the single border.                   

After 36 hours I removed the blocking pins and hung it outside for a couple more, just to ensure it was dry.

Veronica modelled it for me on Saturday. 

I am really pleased with the drape and feel. 

My daughter should have it in Canberra today in the expectation there are a few weeks left this year when it will be cold enough to use it .

This has been a major learning exercise. There were times when I questioned my sanity. I think clearer instructions would  have helped. Nonetheless, I'm glad I figured it out, adapted and did it. I really like the shawl. I think it will bring pleasure and get used.  My first shawls were knitted from patterns in the Prayer Shawl movement. I try to practice contemplation and blessings in all my knitting now, but particularly shawls. Even the frustrations experienced couldn't take away the calm and peace that came with knitting it.

I guess that's why I'm about to cast on for the shawl shown on the cover of the book above using the remainder of the alpaca!

Catch up on projects since April

 The last time I posted here was after Di Kirshner's workshop in April. I have continued to post weekly to my England2020 blog. I am continuing that blog until we emerge from Covid. I had not imagined that would take more than a year! For the moment I continue but hope that one day I can return to this as my main or only blog. 

This is a summary of my projects since April.

The other reason for posting here now is to inform those of you who have an email subscription to this blog, that Feedburner, the service that sends the emails out automatically after posting, is being discontinued in August 2021, with no replacement. I have downloaded the email addresses of all those who have subscriptions and have created an email group. I intend to manually send an email to the group each time I post, using bcc so email addresses are not shared. If you do not want to continue receiving notification, please let me know, or unsubscribe to emails before the end of July. I will check the list of subscribers again on 31 July and adjust my list accordingly.

The top photo is a panel on the Aesop Frame. At the moment that project is on hold. The second photo is a sample I worked up to show how the 16th Century Icelandic couching style of narrative embroidery could be applied to a modern narrative.

I constructed this bag from some pinwale corduroy left over from a smocked dress I made some 15 years ago. The design is the result of a Certificate Course workshop on layered fabric. 

I also finished the blanket I was working from the pack of Sheepjes tiny sample yarns - a cotton/acrylic mix. It is very cosy and soft.

This is a bag for a friend's birthday - honeyeaters appliqued to an Ink and Spindle linen with Indigenous Spirit Figures on the side for protection.

And this panel, also Ink and Spindle,  has gone into another bag with a little bit of embroidery on the circles.

I did another Fisherton-de-la-Mere 2-day class with Christine Bishop. A few years ago I did this class and made a green version. I keep jewellery  in it and like it a lot. I also made the needle book.

I had bought a couple of bundles of remnants from Ink and Spindle, amongst them were two of bag size. and a a distinctive repetitive pattern. I've been embroidering around the pattern. 

One has made its way into a bag and the other one is still in the making.

I also worked a shawl using 10 ply Noro Ito wool and Nightshift pattern. I enjoyed and liked it so much that I bought enough wool to make 2 more, one for my other daughter and one for myself.

I'm working on the second one now.

Last weekend I attended the first day of a two-day course on Melissa Walker's Madagascan Moon Moth. I'm hoping to have the embroidery done by the second day of the course in a month's time, when we will work on construction. I'm making good progress because we are currently in lockdown triggered by a Covid Delta outbreak.

The other thing I did a few days ago was to make a photographic record of my unfinished projects, and unstarted kits. There are far more of the latter than the former.  I have included the composite photos at the end of this post.

I will do a trial run of another post in August, to test the manual email notification.  I hope to show progress on the Madagascan Moon moth, the next shawl, and another bag. Don't expect progress on the projects below!