The Cap Shawl, or, Cotton Candy Fluff

I finally started the second chart of the Cap Shaw this week. Since the pattern is no longer an endless stream of YoK2tog's, it is starting to get interesting again. I on row 101 out of 171, plus I have a huge amount of edge stitches to knit on, so I think I am about 1/4 of the way through.

I did have a bit of a scare with her tonight as I was switching over to a longer circular needle. while I had 1/2 the stitches on one needle and 1/2 on the other, I stretched her out to show my husband her size and lost 10 stitches off the needle. I had visions of when I was working on another shawl and my son pulled the needles out at a crucial point, resulting in a huge frog session, but when I examined the dropped stitches, I was in luck. It was a YoK2tog section, and I had only had one stitch ladder down on row, and it was easy to pick everything else up.

One last thing... While I was googling Victorian Lace Along tonight, I found the German knit along, and have been looking over their photos and FO's. I know a little German, but not enough to read all of their posts.

Cynder

New Project

I have started the Melon Shawl. I am using JaegerSpun Zephyr in Violet and I have finished about 15-20 rows of the center panel so far. I am really enjoying the pattern. It was really easy to memorize and it's flowing for me in the best way. I love the yarn. Love the yarn. As soon as I am able I will post a picture. In the meantime, if you would like to read more please visit my blog: brewerburns.blogspot.com.

Melon finished

Yes! But 3 skeins of Kid silk haze wasn't enough. Had to buy one more skein. I made a seaweed-like scarf from the leftovers and another skein (brown) that surprisingly was found in my stash. Love the shawl can't wait to wear it. It's the daughter who is wearing the shawl. The seaweed-thing is a gift for my hairdresser, she's cut and dyed may hair for more than 18 years, she is my daughters hairdresser too.

Victorian Ruby finished

Or should I say Victorian Amethyst?

I made this using leftover yarn from my Swallowtail shawl.

I decided that I was definitely on the wrong side of the pattern when I was about to start on the second border, so I knitted one more row.

The yarn is 4ply cashmere yarn from Colourmart. It's lovely and light, weighing 34 grams and measuring 150x25cm; somewhat smaller than the original, but the size that I wanted.

Hege

Help Please

Oh Wise Ones!

I'm hoping someone can help me understand a pattern, please. Page 88 of Victorian Lace Today.

It tells you to cast on 36 stitches but at the end of the first row you'll have 37 stitches as there is one more YO than K2tog.

Row 2 doesn't change the stitch count. There are as many YOs as K2togs, but there are only instructions for 35 stitches. I've tried it 3 times but each time I find I have 2 stitches over at the end of row 2.

What am I doing wrong?

Any help from you master lace knitters would be much appreciated.

Large Rectangle Shawl

My large rectangle shawl is finished and blocked just in time for the lovely spring weather we are having.

I did deviate from the pattern a bit. I used size 6 needles instead of 7 and I did rewrite the edging pattern to make it a bit wider. It is knitted in Cashmere-Silk by Jade Sapphire in the Oceana colorway. I liked the yarn, but did have a bit of color discrepancy between the two skeins that I used. You can visit my blog for more details and pics.

-Heather

Finished!

I completed the Large Rectange with Leaf & Trellis Pattern on page 54.


The project entailed a number of firsts for me: knitted-on border, grafting, and serious blocking. I know several of you are also new to these techniques, so here are a few observations/reassurances.

• Although I did a gauge swatch, I was ¾ through the center panel when I realized I would run out of yarn. Fortunately, I found more. The finished shawl is 3’ X 7.5’, much larger than the pattern indicates. Clearly, I need to polish my swatching skills.

• The directions for knitted-on borders may sound tricky, especially the corners, but once you get into it everything makes sense. I enjoyed the border. It went fast, the pattern was easy to memorize, and I didn’t need stitch markers.

• When I started on the border, I used a 16” circular. It was a good safety net at first, but the cable became cumbersome as I gained speed and confidence, so I went back to DPNs. Yes, I cried the first time a needle slipped out, but I was able to pick up all the stitches. Whew!

• The Handmaiden Sea Silk I used is non-fuzzy, making it easy to see where to place the needle when you join the border to the center panel. Even so, I miscalculated and had to fudge the double/triple joins at the first two corners. Once the shawl was blocked, I couldn’t spot the mistakes. Hand-painted yarn has its virtues.


• Grafting the border edges together was a nail-biter, beginning with my fumbling attempt to unzip the crochet chain cast-on. Note to self: use single-ply waste yarn next time. I ended up with a stitch too few on one needle, so I just picked up an extra yarnover.

• Blocking with two curious cats around is a challenge. I usually spread a few thick towels across the dining room table, and I’ve never actually pinned anything; I just stretch and pat the damp fabric into place. I wanted to do it right this time, so I borrowed an idea from Stephanie McPhee’s blog: interlocking foam floor tiles! I bought 2 packages of 4 tiles to make a 4’ x 8’ surface. (Is there anything you can't find on Amazon these days?)

They worked great, and are much easier to stash in a Manhattan apartment than a big blocking board. Oh, and I only had to shoo the cats off the table once.

• I didn’t think to look closely at the border’s points before washing the shawl. Once wet the points were hard to spot, and I had to look at the pattern again to figure out where to put the pins.

Despite all my clueless bumbling, the shawl is gorgeous, and I am very proud of it. Please don’t be nervous about tackling a knitted-on border!

Next up: The Alpine scarf in Helen's Lace, a birthday gift for my sister.

Victorian Ruby

I've finished the first border and the middle, and now I'm supposed to cast on for the second border.

But I seem to be on the wrong side of the scarf? I have almost decided to knit another row before casting on, but I thought I'd just ask here first.

My Edgy Curve

Remember this post where I stalled since I didn't like the edging for the curved shawl? Well, after some thought, I decided to try the same edging, but drop the needle size from US9 down to US6. I had to fudge the attachment of the edging to the shawl, but not too much. Every once in awhile, I'd attach 3 stitches to one body stitch and it seems to have worked out well. I really liked the airy circles and the denser edging, but that's just me.

Like another knitter, I also had issues with attaching the edging on the cast-on region of the shawl. Again, I sort of faked it. I wonder if another cast-on method would have made it easier?

I highly recommend this project, in fact, I may have to make another one!

z & a's momma

victorian ruby: finished

i'm so happy to finally have something to post! i finished my first project from VLT, which i have been working on for about 2 1/2 months, after getting the book for xmas. i'm not really a mono-project kind of gal, so it has taken awhile, but it is totally worth it! i haven't blocked it yet, but i have been wearing it around because it has been chilly and windy here in the bay area. it is the ultimate spring scarf.

yarn: feza kid mohair, color 204
amount: about 1.5 balls
needles: US7 silverlume circs

next up is the victoria shawl, which i am making for my grandma. i'm using misti alpaca lace in the lightest blue. i've only just begun , so i'll save a picture of that for later.

It's finished

I've finished my Three Cornered Shawl in Clover Pattern! I chose not to add the willow border along the hypoteneuse as it would have added unnecessary inches to this amazingly huge shawl. I didn't swatch because any size shawl fits, really. I used Artyarns Tsuki, approximately 110 grams, with size 5 needles.

Finished size for me is about 4.5 feet long, and 8.5 feet wide. If you make this shawl, please note that the picture in the book is extremely misleading as to how much of the clover eyelet pattern you have to do! I felt like it was never going to end.

Anyway, on to the finished product!



More pictures and ramblings are available on my blog.

Carrie.

Very proud

Just want to show off a quick pic of my border. My first ever border and on the 2nd attempt I managed to roudn the first corner successfully. The border is taking much longer than expected. I've just written a long post about this on my blog and I'm jsut too tired to blog about it again. But I just wanted to show off my progress.

Wanted this finished to be posted to NOrway so it would get there by Friday. That's not going to happen now so taking a break from this for a few days. The work on this over the weekend has been very intense and I need a break.

So many Melons...

After finishing my variation of the Melon-Stitch-Shawl I had to wait some rainy days just to take this picture finally in the bright sunlight which makes the colours come out so summer and fruity.

Material:

7 balls of Venezia Color from Lang Yarns, shade 162, 50% mohair, 50% acrylic, 130m/50gr

Needles:
5mm circular (1m)

Finished dimensions:
approximately 2,30m long and 55cm wide

Variation:

I worked garter stitch edges (7 stitches on both sides and 12 rows at the beginning and the end of the shawl).

In wrong side rows I worked the melon stitch completely by purling - instead of k2tog I worked p2tog.

It was a quick and easy knit at least because I made an easy border. But I am very happy with this simple outcome. The colours are so dominating that - to my taste - another border would not fit better. Nevertheless the shawl is really an eyecatcher, isn't it?

If you like to see more pictures then you may have a look at this post or on my knitting-blog.

I look forward to your comments.

Happy knitting
Susanne from Germany

Its so hard to capture

the texture and details of a circular shawl, but this was the best that I was able to get. The shawl is the Cap Shawl. The pattern calls for KSH, but I am using Misti Alpaca Lace on size 4 needles, and I think it is perfect so far. Once you get past the cast on, the pattern is fairly simple, with half of the rows being nothing more then YoK2tog. I'm about 20 rows from the pattern changing. The rows on this shawl are long. I'm already at more than 300 stitches per row, and add 9 stitches every other row.

Cynder

ETA: Yes, the yarn is as soft as cotton candy.

need help with A handsome Triangle

For those who has finished the Handsome Triangle I have a question. On row 106 there are two knit together beside each other in the beginning of the row, but those two knit together doesn't appear just before the center of the shawl. Is that row correct?

Enough yarn?

I know I've read several posters here say that the yarn requirements specified in the book were not enough. Is that generally true or only for certain patterns. I have 750 yards of yarn for a pattern that calls for 700, and I'm wondering if it will be enough.

Finally Starting

Here I have finally cast on for the Alpine Lace Scarf. I was so inspired by so many beautiful examples here on this blog.

Yarn: Jagger-Spun Zephyr in Cinnabar
Needles: #3 Brittanys

It doesn't look like much yet, but soon...

So much closer

I'm making great progress on the three cornered shawl in a clover leaf pattern. I've just finished the first repeat of chart F (the last body chart). I have 7 more repeats of that, then the border left. This thing is going to be huge, I can tell!

I'm very nearly out of my second ball of yarn. Has anyone finished this shawl? I'm curious about yarn usage. At this point I've used roughly 2/3 of my yarn. I *think* that means I should have plenty for the remaining sections, but would like reassurance. Sometimes borders surprise me with regards to yarn usage.

Anyway, a picture of the bar cabinet modeling:


Carrie

Black melon

This will probably be my last photo until I round at least one more corner. Pictures of the sides are boring... no change. But I did round the second corner day before yesterday, and made my way a little farther up the side. You know, the corners are kind of fun!



As usual, there are a couple more photos on my blog, if you feel the urge to look at them--including another close-up of that edge. It's amazing to me how beautiful the edge is for as simple it is to knit.

By the way, I started the fourth ball of Kidsilk Haze just after I rounded that second corner.

Border Story

I'm working on the Victoria Shawl at themoment. This is my first shawl with a knitted on border. Doing the border has been worrying me quite a bit. finished the main rectangle last night and when I got up at 4.30am I got started on the border (no, didn't intend getting up that early, but excruciating headache meant I had to). Only problem was that reading the chart and looking down at my knitting agreevated my neck pain and made the already bad head ache worse. (I suffer from chronic neck/back pain and have had awful headaches on and off since Monday).

I've now done 5 repeats of the pattern and it's going brilliantly. It's actually quite easy. I was worried about the joins but it's easy when you actually sit there with your knititng in front of you and have to do it. Culd't work it out when i read through the instructions beforehand.

I was hoping ot have this ready to post to Norway on Saturday but don't think that's going to happen. Think the border will take more time than I thought.It's patterning on every row. So I'm aiming for Monday.

The shawl is for my Mum. She's going to Spain on holiday on 30th March and would love the shawl before she goes but she lives in Norway (I live int heUK) so it depends on how quickly I can get it finished and how long the post takes. Can take anything from about 3 days to 3 weeks.

Double Border Scarf

I've been working hard on the Double Border Scarf on pg 104. I'm on the last rows of the last repeat so I'm very close to the end.

I wanted to share this cloud of pink alpaca fluff with you but you'll have to wait for the blocked picture because I'm getting ready to leave on vacation. Finished details when I return!

Finally ready to begin!

First, I want to complement everyone on the beautiful shawls I've seen on some of the blogs. They're beautiful! I got my book and yarn awhile ago, but wasn't able to get started. 2007 has been full of surprises and not all good...Anyway, I'm excited and ready to start! I'm going to knit the Maltese lace shawl using zephyr laceweight in Jade. I can't wait to see some progress!

Carolyn's Alpine Lace - Finished!

Yarn: 60 grams of Blueberry Graceful from the Yarn Place.
Needles: Size 2 US/2.75 mm
Blocked size: 19"x72"
Alterations: Scarf worked with 7 multiples of diamonds, and 5 multiples of the center leaf pattern. Seventy-two repeats.

Now, the pattern calls for 37 repeats, so I figured I'd need an odd number. Unless they're not counting the first time chart B is worked in that 37, though, I can't figure it out. 8 rows of garter before chart B - 1/2 a diamond. 8 rows of garter after all the leaves - another 1/2 diamond. And there needs to be an even number of repeats in the middle to have complete diamonds.

My next shawl is going to be a worsted weight cardigan. After that ... who knows!

Cherry Leaf Shoulder Shawl

For my very first lace project ever, I chose the Shoulder Shawl in cherry leaf pattern from page 134. That may be a "bit" ambitions, but when I met the author at Stitches West, she said I shouldn't have a problem with it even if it were my first project. I realize the photo of her signing my book isn't very good, but there was only a camera phone available, and obviously it's not one of the "better" camera phones. I got to spend about 10 minutes talking with her and for more info about our conversation, please refer to this post on my blog.

The yarn I've chosen for this shawl is the variegated Graceful laceweight yarn I purchased at Stitches West from Yarn Place. I'm not sure I *love* the variegated colors for this particular pattern, but since I've just started, I'm not going to be too critical of it yet. I'm also a bit nervous because the pattern calls for 900 yards and my skein is 900 yards. I went down a needle size and I suppose I could leave off a pattern repeat if I need to. This may be a nail biter!! Have any of you knit this yet and if yes, how many yards did you end up using.

Thankfully Laura (who is making THIS incredible melon shawl) has agreed to teach me how to crochet since this shawl has a crochet edge. Well of course it does. I never go the simple route.

~Kristie (Guilty Pleasures)

Help for Sonja

Sonja, I answered your question about the Alpine Lace over on my blog. I hope this helps!

Melon progress

I got tons done on my melon shawl over the weekend. I'm amazed at how quickly the edging is gone. And very pleased. I do have to warn you, though, if you knit this will Kidsilk Haze, as the pattern suggests, you will definitely need 4 balls of yarn, not the 3 the pattern calls for.

As usual, more photos are in my blog. Also, my cat had an intersting reaction to seeing the shawl on the couch in the bright morning fog light.

I am still knitting VLT Honest !!

Sorry been awol for some time but I have been knitting 'Melon' all be it at a slower than anticipated speed. I rashly joined a sock knitting competition , something which I have never done before , nor likely to again as its not for me ; I'll stick to KAL's:) I like to knit what I want and when I want ; saying that its been fun and being a novice sock knitter I have learnt things, so its been good. I don't see me getting much further as I don't want to rush my next pair for the sake of finishing and losing out on quality ,especially as I have a rather nice yarn planned for the next pair.
So here is 'Melon' I am over half way through the centre panel and am really enjoying this pattern

Syrian Shoulder Shawl

I did this in my own handspun yarn from a fine NZ romney. It went very quickly and I loved knitting it. I do love lots of endless garter stitch. :) I have more photos and details on my own blog.

Shawl Mania

These aren't great photos and nothing is blocked (or even finished!), but I wanted to share some of what this book is doing to me!

First I started the Maltese Shawl....

...then, since I needed a break from the pattern-every-row when I was dog tired, I started the Three Cornered Shawl.

Then, since it was my second one, I thought I could pop off a quick Shoulder Shawl.......


I feel more than a little obssessed!!

My curve is missing an edge

Hi everyone! Thanks for letting me join you in this KAL. I got this book a while back and had been thumbing through it trying to find the perfect project. At Stitches West, I even got the venerable author to sign a bookplate for me. I was NOT going to walk around all day with that book in tow.

Well, I love Alpine Lace, and started that a couple of times, but just wasn't to be (yet). The yarn's perfect (colourmart silk), the color's perfect (bonbon), but the needle size is something I've still got to come to terms with ( I've swatches with US4, then US3, then US2, and US1). I think I can get away with using US2s...But it's for another time.

Anyway, I really liked the curve shawl and thought I'd give this a go. Here it is -- sadly without an edging. I used a much larger needle than normal for this pattern (US9) and indeed, the fabric is very, very lacy --which I like. However, 4 rows into the edging, and I knew that we have a problem. The edging ends up being very floopy (that would be loopy and floppy) and too large (~3 inches). I will have to do a different edging than VLT. But otherwise, it's a super fun knit. I will knit this with thinner yarn using smaller needles (and do the proper edging). As for this, when I have time, I'll play with edgings and hopefully find one that will do.

(for more pictures of my incomplete curve, see my blog)

A trip to the Frog Pond

My Alpine Knit Scarf took a trip to the frog pond this afternoon. I wasn't 100% happy with the needles/yarn combination I was using (KP Alpaca cloud on size 4 Options) the solid sections were a little to open for me. I had a mistake a few rows back and PMS from haties. So, Rip-it Rip-it it went. I have a two week old photo, but nothing showing the progress on the rose leaf section. I will re-knit it on smaller needles, but the Cap Shawl has been calling my name. I am going to down size the yarn to Misti Alpaca Lace in a pale pink.


Cynder

A start to the border

I finally finished up the 62 pattern repeats for the center of my Melon shawl, and started on the border. I've memorized the border repeat already, and it's zipping right along.



There's a closeup of the border on my blog, if you want to see it. ;-)

Double Border Scarf

I had to go do some mindless knitting of socks to clear my head after the Alpine Lace. Now I'm back, and after a few swatchs with a couple of different yarns, I've finally got a good start on the Double Border Scarf on pg. 104. I came back to the Misti Alpaca in a pale pink.

After a little clarification from Jennifer on how to read the pattern it's actually a pretty easy knit. I always start out on an even row, the middle section is always the same series of stitches and the last section is always an odd row. You just need to keep up with where you are at.This is a complete set of 3 repeats of the 20 row pattern....only 17 more to go.

Dolphin Lace Scarf Fin

I finished my Dolphin Lace Scarf last night, before I even had the chance to blog any progress pictures here. Here is what it looked like in progress:



Here is what it looked like while I pinned it out:



And this is the finished project:




I'm very, very pleased with this project. I did have a few issues with the pattern (page 106.) First, there is a small mistake in one of the pattern charts. You only work the set up row, where you knit all of the stitches in the right hand border, once. Then, when you end the scarf, you work row 12 of chart B on the right hand side border, then the middle chart, then knit all of the stitches in the left hand side border. Lastly, it would have been very useful if the pattern had explained how to correctly work the staggered borders. I started out working the even numbered rows as right side rows (reading the chart from right to left) on the right hand side border and the odd numbered rows as wrong side rows (reading the chart from left to right) on the right hand side border. I knew that I was confused by the pattern, so I searched for it on the internet, found this blog and read what someone else had written about working the other double-bordered scarf in the book. That's how I figured out how to correctly work the pattern. Without that information I would have eventually figured out that what I was doing was wrong, but only after I had worked a few pattern repeats and noticed that the right hand side was not right. Then I would have had to rip the whole thing and start over again. So, a little note in the pattern? It's a good thing.

Anyway, I'm very pleased with myself. The scarf is beautiful and my mother is going to love it.

Several projects

I'm a person who never can have just one knitting project
at a time. At the moment I'm knitting Melon pattern shawl, the scarf on p 90, Alpine knit scarf p 36 and just finished Shoulder shawl in syrian pattern. I like all of them and a friend of mine told me it's OK to have one shawl a day all year. Nice! I'm not there yet but on the way. Here are some pictures!

Hello All,

I just finished decompressing from Stitches West, where Jane Sowerby was the keynote speaker. There was a fashion show of nearly all of the scarves, stoles and wraps from the Victorian Lace Today book. It was very inspiring and the knitted pieces were beautiful in person. Here are a few photos of the garments.

Wide Bordered Scarf, Page 96

These are pictures of my wide bordered scarf, knit from Handmaiden's Sea Silk on size 7 needles. I love this scarf and I wear it often. I modified the pattern and only worked one repeat of the center pattern because the sea silk is a much larger gauge, more like a fingering weight yarn, than the yarn used in the patetrn. I think it turned out very well.

Hi!

Just thought I would introduce myself. I just joined, but I have already made the wide bordered scarf from page 96 of Victorian Lace Today and I am currently working on the Dolphin Lace Scarf from page 106 or 108, for my mom, in JaegerSpun Zephyr in Cinnabar. I will post pictures later.

Just can't stop

Hi everyone, This is my first post here as I've just found your community and joined. I really love this book and wanted to share what I've been up to.

Last week I finished "A Fichu". I used Lacey Lamb and size 2 needles. The Harebell lace pattern is delightful. However, this pattern takes a lot of concentration to keep your place in the joins, as it joins at different rates to shape the collar. I probably won't ever make it again, but did enjoy it.

The fichu as worn:

The lace pattern close up:



As soon as I finished I couldn't help but cast on for my next project from the book! I've been drooling over the "Three Cornered Shawl with Clover Leaf Pattern" for ages. I did the cast on and first row as written. It was extremely painful to work the flimsy loops into decreases. From there, though, things get much easier and the edge is so delicate with that cast on!

The yarn is Artfiber Tsuki. It's a silk/mohair blend that's so soft and dreamy. It's also $16 for 40 grams, so a complete bargain compared to kidsilk haze. Here's a peek at it in progress. I've just finished the first repeat of chart C.



Carrie