Monday, July 12, 2010

Sweet Little Knits

I have been on a crazy shawl knitting craze this year. Not sure how I got bitten by this bug, especially since I rarely go anywhere to wear such beautiful hand knits (socks are way more practical). However, my closet is filling fast with a variety of shawls. The latest, the Emily Dickinson shawl by Keiran Foley. This is an incredibly simple shawl (that I somehow made complicated - just for me), and knits up quick with only 300 yards being used.

There are 2 charts for this pattern, and they are very simple charts, yet, somehow, I couldn't follow them. You have to cast on 545 stitches and decrease down to 197, within the first dozen rows. What you should get are very defined points for the edging of your shawl. Somehow, I missed those decreases, and didn't catch it till later. Rather than frog and recast on 545 stitches, I opted to modify. I am quite pleased with the result, but it's definitely not the same shawl. I also decided to knit it in stockinette, rather than the called for knit all rows. I really wanted the beads to pop, since this will probably be a wedding gift for my step sister. I love it! (more pictures can be found on my Ravelry page here.)




This pattern is so beautiful, and now I want so badly to go back and "get it right" that I've cast on a 2nd Emily, using some Habu Stainless Steel that has been in my stash for years. This stuff is like thread, and it's black, so it will take me some time to knit (since my knit time is typically at night, and not in the best lighting). I'm determined to get it right, to prove to myself that I can read simple charts. We'll see how that goes.

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