Sunday, March 17, 2013

Diana’s Aran Shawl from Three Black Sheep - Day 2


Cable Dable...

I’m delighted to report that the next section isn’t quite as mind-bending as the Tree of Life.  

The Wheat Ear and Cable, like most cable patterns, combines rows that are easy with rows that require your attention.  While the pattern is a simple four-row repeat, those four rows involve four different kinds of cables--in multiple combinations for some rows.  This means that unlike most four-row repeat patterns, I was not able to commit this one to memory and had to have the pattern in front of me at all times while knitting.  Not the end of the world, but not as convenient as an easily-memorizable short repeat.

I do have one gripe with this lovely wool:  it sheds.  This isn’t the sort of thing you want to be knitting in dark slacks--at least not without a lint brush handy.  Still, that’s small potatoes compared to the lovely artwork of this shawl.

For the first part of this I struggled through with an extra dpn rather than a dedicated cable needle.  That didn’t last long.  Before the end of this section, I invested a well-worth-it $5 in a set of Knitter’s Pride cable needles.  Much, much better.

Up next?  The even simpler Trinity Stitch section.  That’s good, because my mind could use a little break for my Spring Break.

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