Knit Diary

I really enjoyed knitting this shawl. It took my whole summer!
Pattern: Frost Flowers and Leaves by Eugen Buegler from "A Gathering of Lace"
Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr in Sable (from my stash)
Needles: Addi Natura Circular US3 3.25mm, US 3 dpns
Size after blocking: 52" square, 68" at the diagonal (measured 36" square before blocking)
Start: June 14, 2007
Finished: Sep 15, 2007
Notes: I only repeated chart 2 five times not the seven repeats called for in the pattern. The circular beginning and lace grafting are two new techniques for me. See entry on grafting here. It really helped to join the Knit-Along.

See some blocking pics and comments in the extended entry:

I blocked out the shawl on towels on the floor.

I placed the blocking wires few rows inside from the edge. I did not use pins at the edging, but used my fingers to feather it out.

Here's a detail of the corners: the wires are not inserted all the way into the corner; I used a pin to pull the corner into place.

Finally, here's my sister modeling the shawl.

Posted by Sandy at 08:59 AM | Permalink

I still have to weave in ends and dress the shawl, but the grafting of the edging is DONE! I read all the advice on the web I could find here and here and all the advice on the knit-along, but I really struggled with this bit. I also studied the good advice from Robert Powell in A Gathering of Lace. I knit a repeat of the edge pattern, using waste yarn in contrasting color I knit the first row of the edging before re-joining the edge to the body of the shawl with the main color. The row knit in the contrasting color is the path to follow as you graft. I also knit a swatch with US 8 needles to help me visualize the join and pinned it out.

Even with all the reading and re-reading all the advice, poking, prodding, turning the edging over to see how it all comes together, it took trial and error over three nights to finally get it.

Posted by Sandy at 09:40 AM | Permalink