On the Spice Market Shawl from Blazing Needles -- Done!

Done!

This is as gorgeous a piece as I’d hoped it would be.  I love the dramatic graphics and the lush, rich colors.  You know you love a shawl when you immediately start planning which tops and dresses go with it, or you get the urge to go shop for more.  As I’ve said before, people often remark that I have a shawl for every outfit, but the truth is I have an outfit for every shawl.  Quick, somebody host me for a book signing so I can wear this beauty in public!

The texture is perfect for Chicago’s finicky weather.  50’s one day, 70’s the next.  Or for those of us who bring our own “personal summers” with us wherever we go thanks to finicky hormones.  It’s got enough heft to offer warmth, but not so much that you can’t throw it over your shoulders to keep off summer air conditioning.

One bit of advice: I do wish I’d adopted the strategy I did for the Leftie shawl and wove in the gazillion ends as I went.  With all these color changes, it took me nearly two hours to weave in the ends.  It was tempting to get sloppy as I neared the end, but I dug in my heels (or, in this case, my craft needle and scissors) and kept at it.

All in all, a truly exquisite piece, and one I’ll wear as often as I can. Thanks, Blazing Needles, for one of my favorite new shawls this year! 

On the Spice Market Shawl from Blazing Needles - Day 5

Earning my stripes…

In the final section of this dramatic shawl, the color does all the talking.  Wide stretches of each of the contrasting colors, separated by a line of alternating main color stitches, cascade out to the edge. In essence, you end where you began—just on a larger scale.  I like the poetry of that.

It comes, however, at the cost of very long garter stitch rows. Not so bad if you’re sitting listening to a presentation, a bit more challenging if you’re trying to get two stripes done so you can put up your next blog post.  It took me longer than expected (no true surprise for a sneaky side-to-side version of a top down shawl), but I’m certainly enjoying the payoff.  One more strip of gray, and then on to the vibrant colors.

I’ve had people stop me and ask me what I’m knitting.  It’s the rich colors and the bold graphic design, I think, that catch their eye.  That makes me happy, because I know that if it’s that appealing on the needles, it will be even more so once it graces my shoulders.  I know I’ll be thrilled whenever someone asks me “Did you make that?” because I’ll get to smile and say “Yes!”

On the Spice Market Shawl from Blazing Needles - Day 4

Half or half-not...

Sometimes, you have to back up your feelings with some hard facts.  It makes you feel validated, helps you understand exactly why it feels like this middle section is taking forever.

So, as I groaned at the prospect of devoting yet another post to the pretty-but-lengthy middle section of this shawl, I sat down with the pattern and my calculator.  I wanted to be able to convince myself that I was more than halfway done with the shawl. That would ease my anxiety about being more than halfway done with the posts.  

Yes, I know, anxiety about knitting isn’t the goal here, and I don’t fool myself that any of you are sitting around thinking “Where’s Allie with that fourth post—it should have been here by now.” I am a woman of plans and schedules, and it makes me crazy when I can’t adhere to my schedule, even for fun reasons.  

And don’t get on me about scheduled fun. This is my chosen neurosis, let me own it.

Back to facts.

I sat down and calculated how many rows were involved in this long section. There are 192 rows—and ever-elongating rows at that. This high number made me feel better about the length of time it’s taken me to accomplish this section.

Then I calculated how many rows were involved in the next final portion, an alternation between sections 4 and 5.  It’s only 94 rows.   Still a sizable number, but much less that the current portion.  Yes, math can indeed be a source of encouragement!  I do understand that the rows continue to get longer, and by the end of this section I’ll be slogging through 243-stitch rows instead of 184-stitch rows, but that feels acceptable.  

I am more than halfway through this shawl, and that makes all the difference. Yea for math, and yea for me!

On the Spice Market Shawl from Blazing Needles - Day 3

I'll be the first to ask...

This next section is big.  It comprises the lion’s share of the piece, actually.  The spectrum of little starry-polkadots is charming, but also daunting. I’ve been at this sectin for over a week and I’m still not done.  And of course—say it with me now—the rows just get longer…

Still, it’s satisfying knitting.  Shibui makes such touch-worthy fibers in such luscious colors, it’s a pleasure to knit even rows upon rows of small stitches.

I’ve been contemplating attending a seminar later this year that is known for its long days.  It’s an intensive weekend of 11-hour sessions (with breaks granted, but that’s a lot of time for this middle-aged backside to spend in a seminar chair!).  The content sounds intriguing, but I have to admit, my knee-jerk reaction was reluctance on account of the format. I have never done well in lecture settings. I’m too fidgety. Just the thought of folding chairs makes me ache all over.

So what was my first question to the person inviting me?  It shouldn’t surprise you.  It was “Will they let me bring my knitting?”

She gave a slight laugh and said, “You know, no one’s ever asked that.”

I’m happy to be the first to ask.  I’ve been in more than one conference where someone came up to me and whispered, “I’m so glad you pulled out your knitting.  I’ve been wanting to, but wasn’t sure it was okay.”

I admit, there are places where it’s not okay.  But almost every time I have walked up to a seminar presenter and said, “Please know, I’m not knitting because you bore me or I think you’re wasting my time.  I’m knitting so I can pay my best attention to you,” the presenter has smiled and said, “By all means, knit away.”

So, DestiKNITters, by all means, knit away.

On the Spice Market Shawl from Blazing Needles - Day 2

Flying colors...

Ah, the colors!  For someone who can’t put colors together, I sure love to watch how brilliantly other people do it.  The interplay of hue and design in this piece is nothing short of stunning—even at this early stage.

The construction is no slouch, either.  German short rows are a technique I’d heard of, but never tried.  The unique treatment of the pivot stitch gets rid of that pesky space that always shows up in other short rows.  It’s nearly invisible in this shawl.  

It’s a technique worth learning, but one that is best acquired in video.  I’d read the written instructions twice, but couldn’t quite picture how the pivot stitch was “pulled up” on top of the needle…until I managed to find a video.  After that “Aha! So that’s what they mean” moment, it was smooth sailing, and I grinned with satisfaction of having added another tool to my knitter’s toolbox.

There are a lot of colors involved, but the nice thing about this project is that you’re only really working with two colors at a time, so the project—at least for now—is still nicely portable.  That’s good, because I’m traveling this week.  You don’t want to be near me if I have to travel without my knitting, but I don’t want to be lugging a big bag of yarn around, either.

Yes, the rows are getting longer, but I don’t yet mind.  The stripes and nifty little starry polkadots of this section are too delightful to let me care.

On the Spice Market Shawl from Blazing Needles - Day 1

Checking all the boxes...

I love kits.

Especially on projects where color—or more exactly color combinations—are crucial. God has given me many skills in life, but putting colors together has never been one of them.  

Pick out a yarn, a single yarn, and I’m great.  I know exactly what I want when I see it.  Tell me I have to combine that yarn with others, and it’s a crime to leave me unsupervised.  It will not end well, I assure you.

So when you take a shawl that dramatically combines six different colors, you can bet I’m not going into that alone.  I drooled over this shawl when I saw it on the wall at Blazing Needles. I was near giddy when owner Cynthia Mills said I could have the kit as my Knit-Along project.  A stunning array of Shibui Stacatto in colors perfect for me, eye-catching in the way I love shawls to be, a generous size, funky and artistic but not fussy. This shawl pretty much embodies my check-list for the perfect knitted accessory.

It has only one flaw—if you can even call it a flaw.  A full-sized shawl on size 2.5 needles means a lot of stitches. Sure, most of them are garter, but there are some luscious color changes and ingenious German short rows to entertain me. And yes...the rows get longer as you go.  You already know how I don't deal with that well. 

Still, I'm absolutely in love the interplay of colors so far.

Happy Easter and Passover, DestiKNITters!