On the Needles: Mediterranean Lace part 2

The above photo is what my Mediterranean Lace shawl looks like after I picked up the stitches around its perimeter for the border. I never realized how painful a process that would be, but now, 1,108 stitches later, I've got the foundation for my border. I had all the math worked out so I'd make the body of the shawl the right size; the original pattern called for 2 stitches picked up for every 3 pattern rows, so in order to keep that ratio, I ended up making the shawl 22 repetitions + 20 extra rows.... for a total of 89,676 stitches. And when it came right down to it, I didn't do a particularly great job of keeping with the 2 out of 3 ratio, but I think it ended up OK (tip for anyone else doing this pattern: once you've gotten one side done, put locking stitch markers on the other side to make the picking-up process a little easier). With 26 repetitions of the border pattern, I'm using just about every stitch marker I own. Oh, and I dropped down to size 1 needles for the border (was using size 2 for the body); the pattern called for a size 0, but all the reports I'd read from other people's shawls indicated that going down two needle sizes could be problematic.

Here's what it looked like all stretched out on my red striped rug, just before I started picking up stitches for the border. Unblocked, it measured about 58" long. I was worried that it might be too short (which is why I did so many repetitions of the body pattern), but now that I see it all stretched out, I realize that it'll be just fine.

On the Needles: Here & There Cables scarf

There's no reason for this week's project still to be on the needles; I started it in July of 2007! The pattern is Here and There Cables from Scarf Style; I modified the pattern to add one extra repeat widthwise. It's a really easy pattern to remember and makes a nice scarf that's very stretchy and warm.

I have a tendency to pick really fine yarns for really large projects, and this is no different; I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (80% superwash wool, 20% nylon) in the Tahoe colorway, on size 5 needles. And that right there is the incentive to finish this up sooner rather than later, because I need those needles for another project!

The scarf right now is 5" wide and 66" long; I'm going to finish up my current skein of yarn and then bind off!

On the Needles: Mediterranean Lace

I've been meaning to start this blog for a while now, and now is as good a time as any. This is the inaugural of what I hope will be a weekly feature called "On the _____" to showcase a knitting project (or crochet, or other creative endeavor) currently in progress.

Today: Mediterranean Lace shawl from Meg Swansen's A Gathering of Lace. I modified the pattern from its original shape to be a simple rectangle (inspired by bluegarter.org, specifically this post).

Overview: The shawl is 24 repetitions of a 28-row pattern, with a 50-row border added to it afterwards. I'm using ArtYarns Cashmere 1 in off-white (color #250) and size #2 needles. This project is a lot of firsts for me: first lace project, first project reading from a chart, first project in needles/yarn that small, etc.

Current status: Started this project on March 9th and have finished 9 repetitions so far (yay!). 9 repetitions x 28 rows x 141 stitches = 35,532 stitches (yikes!). The yarn comes in skeins of 510 yards; I'm very close to finishing one skein (it's hard to believe that 500 yards of yarn makes only about 2 feet of finished fabric). I've made two somewhat noticeable mistakes.... but when the shawl is finished, I doubt they'll be noticeable to anyone besides me.

And here's a little before/after:



(those adorable little stitch markers came from Miss Purl)