Mapes Shawl from Lovin' Knit - Day 2

The hot shot gets her comeuppance...

This section starts the patternwork.  You can knit the shawl up simply with the basic instructions, giving you a center of pure stockinette.  Or, if you’re feeling like a hot shot, Benson provides instructions to spiff things up by adding a series of textured bands.  You could insert any stitch pattern you like, actually, provided it doesn’t alter the number of stitches. She provides  several suggestions.  Moss or seed stitch would work nicely, or a YOK2TOG, but I don’t think ribbing would work because of how it changes the piece’s width.

Benson’s modifications create a highly textured stripe with holes that lend some loft to an otherwise cozy shawl.  Pay attention, however; I neglected to return my working yarn to the back after the “sl wyif” but before the “kfb,” and my first attempt at this row looked like a row of little tangles.  Yep, I had to rip it out and start over.  

Then I realized I was passing the wrong stitch over--passing over the first half of “kfb” instead of the slipped stitch behind it.  Sigh.  Rip it out and start over again.  All in all, it took me three attempts to get row 25--the first row of this stripe pattern--correct.  

If knitting teaches you nothing else, it teaches you to pay attention.  Most especially when you begin to convince yourself you’re a hot shot who doesn’t need to pay attention.