Mantilla

This headscarf has been finished for a couple of weeks but I haven't had any decent photographs to show.

Actually I don't event think these photos are any great shakes, apart from number one, the shadow one.

This is the lovely Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark, from Interweave Knits, fall 2006.

This is not the first time I have made this pattern but it is the first time I have done the Lily of the Valley section with the nupps.

It's made with Patons 100% Cotton 4-ply left over from this headscarf from last year.

I really enjoyed making it and I will doubtless enjoy wearing it. Hope you are having

a good crafty week. x K

Flower Basket Shawl

A picture (and a few links) speaks a thousand words...

Orkney Angora St. Magnus DK shade Dark Olive

K1 Yarns

Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark at Fibertrends

Get Knitted, scroll down

Kiri shawl in same yarn in bright pink

Jaeger Beads J3001006, scroll down

Falling in Love Lace Scarf

Thank you for your kind comments about the shopping bag and the lacy gloves.
My next FO is the Falling in Love Lace Scarf by Evelyn Clark at Fibertrends. I bought the pattern from Get Knitted
and thoroughly enjoyed making it. Although I occasionally hand to tink back a few stitches and the odd row, it was a lot easier to keep control of 41 stitches than the usual 250+ or 300 you usually have to tame when doing this designer's shawls. (Trust me on this one, I'm approaching the edging on a largish Flower Basket Shawl.)
The yarn is Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift in colour Cherry. Not all of the pictures show it, but Cherry is a good name, it's a nice rich pink and I was left with about one metre of the third ball after the picot edgings, so I was pleased my arithmetic worked out.

Bought the yarn in the Wool & Needlecraft Centre in Argyll Square, Oban, after checking in for the Mull ferry crossing.

Felt a bit funny doing a garter stitch-based lace, and I kept wondering why she'd gone for that, but the design pops out nicely plus it lies good and flat, it could be that.
You do a provisional cast-on at the centre then knit side one and go back and do the second side identically so that the hearts are falling downwards on each side.
This has been the nicest week of weather of the summer so far- must knit pure wool Shetland scarves more often. :-)

I forgot the freakin' rose!

In the first picture we have my version of the Falling in Love Lace scarf, done in Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift.

In the second, the publicity shot.

I must have subconsciously been copying the picture as it appears on the pattern.

Of course, I forgot the rose, which is okay as I may have been taking the imitation=flattery thing a bit far.

Action shots of Swallowtail shawl

All together now
"I believe I can fly...I believe I can touch the sky..."
These photos should enlarge when clicked.
Unfortunately, there's no feature for brushing your hair after the event on my photo editor.
BTW check out my shadow on Picture One.
Thank you for all your kind comments so far.
Happy Birthday dear Photographer!

Swallowtail Shawl

Here's my finished adapted version of Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark as featured in Interweave Knits.

Click picture to enlarge.

Mine is adapted in that it doesn't feature the Lily of the Valley section, because lovely as it is, it was too awkward in my chosen yarn. As well as that, this one has a good few more repeats than the original.I learned my lesson with the Shetland Triangle last year.

I really enjoyed knitting this. I used Rowan Damask in shade #46, Lava. I kind of stumbled into using this, I would never have considered using this for a shawl but I enjoyed making the headscarf so much, and got plenty of positive feedback, so I decided to go for it. I ended up using 5 balls of it and it will be a lovely summer wrap, or for posh occasions. You listening DH?

I was happy that when I unpinned it the peaks just edged back slightly, they didn't jump back, they obviously weren't too overstretched when blocking, they WANT to be pointy peaks.

Hope to take some outdoor action shots over the next couple of days.

Don't know if you can see the slight glossy sheen on the right side.

I cobbled together a way to get the edging to flow from the main "budding lace" pattern as I didn't use the "Lily of the Valley" section. Took a bit of sums but wasn't difficult, having knitted a few Evelyn Clark shawls before.

This is the "B" side, which looks quite pretty too IMHO.

Stepping backwards to move forwards

Okay, so the last post was all about how I had swatched this yarn and pattern into a lovely headscarf.
Then I was thinking wouldn't it actually be really nice as the real shawl, and a few other people were saying the same thing, so the cast-off has been undone and it's back on the needles!
My headscarf is now the set up for a large, but light, wrap.
This is the "budding lace" part of the Swallowtail Shawl, as if you didn't know. I will see how I feel when the shawl grows in size; I may or may not do the "lily of the valley lace" part.
I went into John Lewis to do the deed yesterday, and came away with three more balls of it, all in the correct dye lot, which was lucky, as the original ball was bought in the Gem Shop in Castle Douglas.



Something else has happened since my last post - I have got into the rhythm of the Flower Basket Shawl at last.
The penny has finally dropped about how to make those little baskets (sounds like a euphemism for a swear word, and I had been feeling it before I got into my groove) without constant poring over the pattern.
Don't get me wrong, I haven't ditched the pattern entirely, but I am not having to follow every stitch on it as I was initially. No wonder I was not feeling the love!
I have two more 200m balls of this olive Orkney Angora St. Magnus D.K. to go. The picture shows my progress on one ball.


This second picture shows a little bit of stitch detail.

I must be having a bit of an Evelyn Clark fest at the moment!

Sometimes you're just in a lacy mood. x K

Double experiment

Although my mate Midsummer Night's Knitter over at Twelfthknit has discovered the joys of swatching at the mature age of 21, I find it very difficult to discipline myself to do so.

However, wanting to experiment with a new yarn (Rowan Damask, shade 46, Lava) without investing in a whole project's worth, and wanting to try out the stitch pattern for the Swallowtail Shawl (Evelyn A. Clark of Fibertrends, Interweave Knits Fall 2006) has resulted in a lovely new summer headscarf for me. That's why it's a funny shape.

I really enjoyed this "lozenge" pattern (Swallowtail chart) because you can clearly see what you're meant to do next, and it is very instinctive, unlike the Flowerbasket Shawl I am grappling with at the moment. (Please don't regale me with tales about how easy you found FBS- I'll cry.)

If I had tons of this yarn I could be tempted to do the whole full size shawl in it, you know. Very pleasant to knit with and lovely effect.

Reservations-

#1 It is marketed as Rowan's new linen blend, but has only 22% linen in it.

#2 I did give the Lily of the Valley chart a try. (The one with the dreaded NUPPS k1 yo k1 yo k1 in one stitch then next row p5 together. Not that hard with "real" stitches, but very fiddly with raw y/o stitches. When I do the shawl for real I will use a fine cable needle to control the stitches and get some room for manoeuvre.) The main problem I encountered with that is that the yarn is a bit slubby and a bit thick/thin, which was awkward with the nupps.

I enjoyed my experiment, killed two birds with one stone, and learned a lot. x K