Holden Shawlette from The Artful Yarn - Done!

At last--Picot Pride!

No need for lots of text here today...it's all in the photos!

Still pretty before blocking, but just wait...

Unblocked, it really does remind me of waves

Blocked--the scallops take a LOT of pins to secure

But OH, is it worth the effort!

I've mastered the Picot edge!!

Thank you, The Artful Yarn, for helping me overcome one of my most frustrating skill deficiencies: the picot.  I couldn't be happier with the results.

Next up, we tackle Edie's shawl to discover out how the innovative shape gets created.

Holden Shawlette from The Artful Yarn - Day 5

Fabulous Fiber Fear Fighting Formulas!

It’s waiting for me, lurking at the end of this lovely project.  That skill I’ve not yet been able to conquer:  the picot bind-off.

I’ve botched more picots that I care to admit.  I have a few shawls which don’t display the pretty edging the picot is meant to be; they look as if they’ve developed some sort of rash in their final rows.  Another looks more like a saw blade than a delicate trim—nothing you’d want anywhere near your neck.  I fear for the finale of this piece.

Still, there’s a more immediate hurdle than my picot-deficiency. It’s the looming threat of not having enough yarn.  Picot takes a lot of stitches—three to every existing stitch.  And there are a lot of existing stitches here—309 to be exact.  The ball of yarn I have left isn’t looking hefty enough to go the distance.

Math to the rescue!  No, really—stick with me and I’ll show you how.

First, I need to calculate the number of stitches I have left to make.  Here’s what I listed:

• 2 garter stitch rows = 309 x 2 = 618
• One Picot row - 309 existing stitches x 3 picot stitches per existing stitch = 927
• Add those two together 618 + 927 = 1,545. I have 1,545 stitches yet to make.

Now, I have to figure out how many inches I’m using per stitch. 

It’s not hard to do.  Since each stitch makes a trip around my needles, if I wrap the yarn 10 times around my needle and measure the length I used, I’ll get the distance of 10 stitches. In this case, 10 stitches used 6.75 inches.  It’s important not to round out the numbers here, because we’re dealing with such a high volume.

Take the data you have and do the math:

• If we’re dealing in units of 10 stitches, then I must divide my 1,545 total stitches needed by 10, or 154.5.  This tells me I have to knit 154.5 units of 10 stitches before I am done.
• If I know each 10-stitch unit needs 6.75 inches, then I just multiply 6.75 x 154.5 = 1,042 inches, or more practically, a hair under 87 feet (1,042÷12)

How do I know if I have 87 feet left in my ball?  The fastest way is to wrap my yarn around a ruler 87 times.  

Turns out I have more than enough yarn.  Panic obliterated!  Well, at least the yarn panic.  Stay tuned to see if my skill-based panic is warranted.

Holden Shawlette from The Artful Yarn - Day 4

Ripples of ease...

All these lovely ripples really do remind me of a shoreline—especially in the aqua-blue color that I’ve chosen for my shawl.  The simplicity of this pattern truly is charming—it’s not mentally taxing at all, yet gives a fabulous effect for the piece.  

As I said before, I think this would make an excellent first lace project for any knitter.  As pretty as it is now, I know it will take on even more beauty once blocked.  My experience has been that any lace piece you like before you block, you will love once you block.

I have not felt the need for any safety lines.  The pattern is an easy one to comprehend and, with the exception of the rows that are made up completely of yarn-overs, going back to fix a major error would not pose much of a problem.  The good news is that with the stitch markers providing multiple “check-in” points, I’ve not had any major disasters since row six.

Of course, I’m not done yet, so I should take care what declarations I make, yes?

Holden Shawlette from The Artful Yarn - Day 3

Well marked!

Now the lovely ripple lace effect that trims this shawl is showing its face.  It’s a very friendly lace pattern—this would make an excellent introduction to lacework for a knitter looking to expand her skills.  With a few well-placed markers to identify the repeats, even a beginner could tackle this with confidence (provided, of course, he or she were duly warned about the dangers of row 6!)

Even in a pattern as simple as this, stitch markers are a smart knitter’s friend.  I utilize different colored markers, too—my favorite are the pea-sized ones designed for the smaller needles used in most lacework.  In this case, two green markers sit on either side of the crucial center stitch.  Two colored ones mark the one repeat on each side that has an extra stitch on either end.  Black markers indicate the other standard repeats.  These help me know exactly where I am in the row, and ensure I catch mistakes before they become disasters—well, most of the time.

With the lace rhythm settled in my head, I’m taking great pleasure in my progress, enjoying how the scalloped edges emerge from the straight lines of my needles.  That’s the wonder of knitting—watching a the thing take shape right under your fingers.

If you're so inclined, add a comment to share your favorite stitch markers, or just the most useful way they’ve helped you in your recent knitting.  Let’s all pay tribute to the virtues of stitch markers!

Holden Shawlette from The Artful Yarn - Day 2

Beware row six!

Or, more precisely, beware your assumptions about row six.  There I was, delighted to finally be sinking my teeth—or is that my needles—into the lace section of this shawl.  I’d quickly figured out that like most lace patterns, all of the wrong side rows are straight purling (except the border).  So I’m gleefully watching The Daily Show, as is my frequent practice, and just as Jon Stewart launches into the interview I note I have just enough time to purl my way across a wrong side row.  I turn my needles with Jon’s first question and purl my way across.  Feeling cocky, I even flex my continental purl muscles to see if I can get across the whole long row without my left index finger cramping up from its continual dipping down.  Success!  Just as Jon delivers “tonight’s moment of Zen,” I finish off the row.

I lean over to the pattern to check row six off...and proceed to say some very unpleasant things I will not repeat here.

Row six, you see, asks you to KNIT the wrong side row.  Had I looked, had I read ahead in the pattern like good knitters are supposed to do, I would have seen this crucial fact.  Not ALL wrong side rows are purled in this pattern.  Some rows—some very important rows—are knitted so that a lovely little ridge shows up on the right side to highlight the scalloped edge now forming.

Of course, this row sits on top of many, many yarn overs, making tinking very slow and mighty tedious.  While it only took me about ten minutes to incorrectly purl this row, I took me nearly an hour to un-purl and re-knit the row.

You can bet I won’t make that mistake again—at least in this pattern!  As for the rest of my knitting days, well, I suspect I’ll botch a few more wrong side rows before I learn my lesson.

Holden Shawlette from The Artful Yarn - Day 1

Holden on...

  

Yes, the knitting universe—or in this case the nice people at The Artful Yarn—has handed me another top-down shawl. Sometimes you just have to keep going back to the same lesson until you learn it, yes?

This pattern helps me, however, by getting a big chunk of the work out of the way in a stockinette base.  Stockinette makes good television knitting—I barely have to look down anymore.  I’ve gotten quite fast on the knit side, thanks to my continental skills, but I have yet to master a decent continental purl.  No matter how I try, I just can’t get the hang of it.  Some knitters counsel me to come down over the top of the picked yarn, but that twists the stitches and makes for problems for me.  Others champion the “finger down approach” (for lack of a better name), but my index finger always cramps up after a certain number of stitches.  I have another friend who pulls the yarn down with her thumb, but I’ve never been able to master that at all.  And so I chug along, speedily knitting my way through the right side and not-so-speedily purling my way through the wrong side.  There are worse fates.  But I do worry my speed here will only make those growing final rows feel that much longer.

Don’t get me wrong—there are definite plus sides here.  Malabrigo Sock truly is a delightful fiber, with wondrous colors and the perfect amount of elasticity.  This isn’t the first shawl I’ve made from Sock and I doubt it will be the last.  The weight is marvelously seasonless—light enough for summer but with enough heft to allow it winter appearances as well.

Kudos to designer Mindy Wilkes for giving both written and chart instructions for the lace section.  I often prefer the chart, but in this case I think I’ll start out with the written directions.  And I’m no idiot—I’ll be using stitch markers and safety lines to ensure I don’t meet with disaster.  Or, more precisely, that I can save myself when I do.