FO: Faux Russian Stole
Pattern: Faux Russian Stole by Katie Nagorney and Ann Swanson, from A Gathering of Lace
Size: I only measured that it was 17" across before blocking; it came to the reccomended 24" x 72" after blocking.
Yarn: Lane Borgosesia (by Zegna Baruffa) "Hilton Tweed," the color a sky-blue tweed. Yet again, I think my yard-sale-augmented stash hit me with a discontinued yarn. The pattern called for Jamieson & Smith Jumperweight Shetland, and this yarn mached the specifics of the J&S (as given on Yarndex almost exactly.
Needles: US #6 Addi Turbo, 32".
Date Started: Sometime in early September, I think the 3d.
Date Completed: I finished the knitting portion on October 21. I wove in the (two!) loose ends and blocked it the next weekend, took out the pins and flaunted it around on October 29, 2006.
Modifications: Aside from changing the yarn, none. I followed the pattern as told.
Notes and general thoughts on the project: I loved knitting this shawl. Unlike the Feather and Fan Shawl, I did not once get bored with this project. The center chart "moves" enough that it didn't feel repetitive, but it changes in such a way that after a while it does get intuitive. Even when I made a mistake and had to frog, tink, or work down a few rows, I didn't give even my usual mild "grr, I have to redo something!" feeling. It was simply a very enjoyable project. I don't really have much to say about the yarn: it did its job, bending to my insidious will. It's a little scratchy to wear, but not enough that I really notice all the time.
The day after I finished the knitting portion of this shawl, I started another (also from A Gathering of Lace, I'm going for a hat trick). Knitting lace is very rewarding, especially since you get a lot of knitting time bang for your buck.
What I learned: I learned from this project that photocopies of charts are my friend. The chart for the center is all one piece, and about 9" across. The typical sticky note method of keeping track of charts was too cumbersome. Then I remembered a so-easy-I-*headdesk*ed trick I'd read from prinnyc's post about her Tiger Swallowtail shawl. I made seven photocopies of the chart (one for each repeat, and one for backup), and used a Sharpie to cross out each row after I knit it. This worked out very well, making the project slightly more portable (I didn't have to worry about losing stickies).
I also learned that taking a look in your stash before you start a project is a very good idea. I'd eyed this pattern since the day I bought the error-riddled hardcover of the book, but couldn't ever think of a yarn I'd like to use for it. I spent one day organizing my stash and stumbled upon this yarn, and it just clicked. I'd skipped over it about a dozen times on my yarn spreadsheet (don't ask, I'll answer, and then you'll be sorry), but it had never occurred to me to put the two together until I had the book and the yarn right in front of me. Can you say *facepalm*, boys and girls?
Before I knit most projects, I'll do a Google image search, a Flickr search, and an LJ-Seek search to find other bloggers who've worked on the same project to see what they did, what snags they hit, what they learned, what yarn they used, etc. I found hardly anything on the Faux Russian Stole, except one very detailed entry in French. I can only assume this isn't a very popular pattern with the blogging knitting world.
Unrelated to the actual knitting or to gaining skill, I learned that audiobooks make an excellent addition to any knitting project, and I would really reccomend books-on-CD to anyone who doesn't want to miss the visual parts of movies. I would also reccomend that you turn off the tape before you have lunch, at least if you're listening to one of the more graphic parts of a Stephen King novel.
But, um...pictures!
The shawl, in all it's flappy glory!
Here it is, before I blocked it:
I left in the life lines (those threads of dental floss at the sides of the picture) through the blocking process. That way, if there was some point of weak yarn, or the cat ran across it in the night and shredded a stitch or two, it would only unravel in the space between lifelines. Hey, if you'd spent two months working on something, you'd be that paranoid, too! ^_^
In roughly the same place, blocked (it was overcast the first day of pictures, sunny as all get-out the second):
Wear-wise, I've actually been using this as an everyday scarf (albeit a wicked wide one):
And one more, just to look spooky, and see the lace pattern a little better:
Way more pictures than is necessary are over at my Flickr account, in this photoset.
Any related questions, comments, and critiques are welcome!
Size: I only measured that it was 17" across before blocking; it came to the reccomended 24" x 72" after blocking.
Yarn: Lane Borgosesia (by Zegna Baruffa) "Hilton Tweed," the color a sky-blue tweed. Yet again, I think my yard-sale-augmented stash hit me with a discontinued yarn. The pattern called for Jamieson & Smith Jumperweight Shetland, and this yarn mached the specifics of the J&S (as given on Yarndex almost exactly.
Needles: US #6 Addi Turbo, 32".
Date Started: Sometime in early September, I think the 3d.
Date Completed: I finished the knitting portion on October 21. I wove in the (two!) loose ends and blocked it the next weekend, took out the pins and flaunted it around on October 29, 2006.
Modifications: Aside from changing the yarn, none. I followed the pattern as told.
Notes and general thoughts on the project: I loved knitting this shawl. Unlike the Feather and Fan Shawl, I did not once get bored with this project. The center chart "moves" enough that it didn't feel repetitive, but it changes in such a way that after a while it does get intuitive. Even when I made a mistake and had to frog, tink, or work down a few rows, I didn't give even my usual mild "grr, I have to redo something!" feeling. It was simply a very enjoyable project. I don't really have much to say about the yarn: it did its job, bending to my insidious will. It's a little scratchy to wear, but not enough that I really notice all the time.
The day after I finished the knitting portion of this shawl, I started another (also from A Gathering of Lace, I'm going for a hat trick). Knitting lace is very rewarding, especially since you get a lot of knitting time bang for your buck.
What I learned: I learned from this project that photocopies of charts are my friend. The chart for the center is all one piece, and about 9" across. The typical sticky note method of keeping track of charts was too cumbersome. Then I remembered a so-easy-I-*headdesk*ed trick I'd read from prinnyc's post about her Tiger Swallowtail shawl. I made seven photocopies of the chart (one for each repeat, and one for backup), and used a Sharpie to cross out each row after I knit it. This worked out very well, making the project slightly more portable (I didn't have to worry about losing stickies).
I also learned that taking a look in your stash before you start a project is a very good idea. I'd eyed this pattern since the day I bought the error-riddled hardcover of the book, but couldn't ever think of a yarn I'd like to use for it. I spent one day organizing my stash and stumbled upon this yarn, and it just clicked. I'd skipped over it about a dozen times on my yarn spreadsheet (don't ask, I'll answer, and then you'll be sorry), but it had never occurred to me to put the two together until I had the book and the yarn right in front of me. Can you say *facepalm*, boys and girls?
Before I knit most projects, I'll do a Google image search, a Flickr search, and an LJ-Seek search to find other bloggers who've worked on the same project to see what they did, what snags they hit, what they learned, what yarn they used, etc. I found hardly anything on the Faux Russian Stole, except one very detailed entry in French. I can only assume this isn't a very popular pattern with the blogging knitting world.
Unrelated to the actual knitting or to gaining skill, I learned that audiobooks make an excellent addition to any knitting project, and I would really reccomend books-on-CD to anyone who doesn't want to miss the visual parts of movies. I would also reccomend that you turn off the tape before you have lunch, at least if you're listening to one of the more graphic parts of a Stephen King novel.
But, um...pictures!
The shawl, in all it's flappy glory!
Here it is, before I blocked it:
I left in the life lines (those threads of dental floss at the sides of the picture) through the blocking process. That way, if there was some point of weak yarn, or the cat ran across it in the night and shredded a stitch or two, it would only unravel in the space between lifelines. Hey, if you'd spent two months working on something, you'd be that paranoid, too! ^_^
In roughly the same place, blocked (it was overcast the first day of pictures, sunny as all get-out the second):
Wear-wise, I've actually been using this as an everyday scarf (albeit a wicked wide one):
And one more, just to look spooky, and see the lace pattern a little better:
Way more pictures than is necessary are over at my Flickr account, in this photoset.
Any related questions, comments, and critiques are welcome!