Knitting News

I officially cast on for Miriam Felton's Desdemonda shawl on July 28th, and last night I finished the center section. (Yipee!) It was a super-fast knit, with only 100 stitches and an easily-memorized six row repeat.

The yarn is Knit Picks Shadow Tonal in Queen Ann. Yep, it's the same yarn that I used for the now frogged Mandala. I really liked the way the color was spiraling in that shawl...but ultimately knew it just wasn't quite the right pattern match for this yarn. By working a square piece instead, the color is more broken up and shows as more of a textured solid. Just goes to show that you can use the right type of multi-hued laceweight if you find a pattern that doesn't fight the color.

Hopefully, by the time you read this I'll be well into the border, which is my favorite part of the shawl! (Given my Internet issues, I'm preparing posts for the rest of the week!)

Rather than spinning in the early mornings, I've woken for about the last two weeks to my Winter Solstice shawl. Truth be told, I can usually only manage 2-4 rows before the rest of the family is up. There are still over 500 stitches on the needles, and with such wee needles it is very slow going....even if it's mostly garter stitch. What you see here is a mere 81 rows of knitting (compare it to the 168 above!)...and there are 516 to go! Good thing that you decrease two stitches every other row......

The bird tracks are a lot of fun, though! The lace itself isn't difficult. Rather, it's just that careful consideration to placement and labeling is what is called for. My inexpensive office supply? These cute little labels, which I mark with the track's number and direction (The pattern has tracks going in all different directions! Each has it's own chart.) are attached to coiless brass pins which I use as a stitch marker until the track is done. I then pin the tag to the completed track so that I can help guide the placement. (The instructions are written out as to when to add which track....but there is also a hand-drawn diagram.)

I'm going to continue to put in at least 30 minutes/day for as long as I can so that hopefully I can finish it this year!