Rose Garden Shawl From Knit N Purl - Done!

Done!

As expected, blocking brings out the true beauty of this shawl.  I found I had to pin each scalloped edge three times to keep the curve the way I wanted it.  No blocking wires for this job—just lots and lots of pins and patience.  

This is a lovely pattern—delicate but not so much that you can’t wear it with a casual outfit.  Some of that owes to the cotton Pima Quatro, but it’s also in the design.

I do like it, with two exceptions that are purely based on personal opinion:

1) I think I’d prefer this pattern in a solid, rather than the color quartet that is this particular yarn.  Quatro comes in solids, so you can still use this fiber.  Like most lace patterns, I’d stick with a bright or light solid.  Given the leaf motif, a spring green might suit perfectly.  It’s not that the one I have isn’t pretty, it’s just that the beauty of the pattern gets lost in all those purples.

2) I’ve decided I’m not a big fan of the shawlette.  I like full-size shawls, even if they are a bigger fiber and time commitment.  At nearly six feet tall, the scale of a shawlette or a small shawl like this always feels off.  I prefer a shawl to reach my elbows when I wear it, not just skim my shoulders.  Looking at these photos compared to others I find on the web, it's possible I missed a repeat in the lace pattern which would have made it wider, so the size may be be entirely my fault.  And for someone with a petite frame, this may be the perfect size.  Still, even for me, this would be perfectly suitable over a sundress in an overly air-conditioned restaurant,. 

I wore the Rose Garden Shawl to church this morning and received many compliments.  My worries over the few mistakes in those first rows were completely groundless—no one noticed a thing except how nicely it matched my dress.  

Over a lighter top like you see here, the design shows off even more.  And I must say, I do like the feel of cotton (cue the “fabric of our lives” theme song here…) against my neck or over bare shoulders.

Thanks for a challenging yet satisfying knitting experience, Knit N Purl!

Rose Garden Shawl From Knit N Purl - Day 5

Close, but...

The garter stitch section of this is a new mini-torture version of the top down shawl.  This section has garter short rows that start at the bottom of the shawl’s curve and increase their way up to the top.  You get all excited, thinking you’ve finally finished pulling your hair out over the lace section.  It’s nothing but coasting, all garter stitch simplicity until the top, right?  Quick and easy.

Not so fast, sister.

Every row gets longer and longer until your fingers ache. You can see the beauty emerging, but you can’t reach it.  You’ve got to work your way all the way from the center to the edges, and instead of exciting, it starts to feel tedious.  That last row before you bind off feels like it takes 17 hours instead of the 17 minutes it took me (I timed it).

But I’m done.  I’ve finished everything but Jenny’s Stretchy Bind Off, which I can’t bear to do until tomorrow since you have to work each stitch multiple times.  Then I will block this shawl into it’s true, lovely form and show it off with great pride.

I’ve got the outfit all picked out for it.  I think it’s so funny when people come up to me and say “You always seem to have just the right shawl or scarf for your outfit.”  What they don’t realize is that it works the other way around—I match the outfit to the shawl.  Because, really, it’s all about the knitting right?

Rose Garden Shawl From Knit N Purl - Day 4

Waiting and more waiting...

It took me almost twice as long as I had planned to finish the lace section of this shawl!  As predicted, however, I got the true hang of the lace pattern by the end of the second repeat.  That's always counter-productive, however, because I think it's the repeat closest to the edge (which is almost always repeat #1) that you see most.  I don't like that your eye is drawn to the segment with the most mistakes.  I want your eyes to focus on where I've gotten the thing right.

Still, I'd be willing to bet my next book's advance that no one ever stops me on the street and says, "Hey!  You missed that yarn over and that SSK is one stitch over down there by the edge.  Take that off and hide it.”  The Yarn Perfection Police will not be taking me in anytime soon.  I don't strive for perfection in any area of my life--motherhood will pretty much knock that right out of you in the first year.

I'm still up in the air (no pun intended since I'm writing this on an airplane returning from my daughter's lovely college graduation ceremony from College of Charleston) about the color.  I worry that there's so much going on in the four-ply multi-color fiber that you won't be able to see the beauty of the lace pattern.  Of course, you can't see anything right now because it's unblocked lace, which is visually rather close to seaweed.  Purple seaweed in this instance.

Graduation ceremonies are long affairs.  You wait in line to take your seats (30 min in this case) you take your seats, you wait a long time (1.5 hours in this case) for the ceremony to start, you wait breathlessly for your offspring to saunter across the stage and accept that oh-so-expensive sheet of paper (about 1.5 hours in this case), and then you wait another hour for them to go through all the other precious offspring getting their expensive sheets of paper.  Start to finish, our graduation stint was a 4.5 hour affair.  Yes, I brought my knitting.  There's no way I could make it that long in a folding chair without knitting.  I’d become a cranky mess without my knitting.  I wanted to be wearing my button that says "I knit for your protection" in case anyone got put out about my knitting during a ceremony, but I decided that wasn't really a smart move.  Besides, it was a gorgeous day in Charleston and everything worked out just fine.

My son graduates in a gym (yikes!  bleachers!) in three weeks.  Will I bring my knitting?  You bet!  And maybe I will wear that button after all.

Rose Garden Shawl From Knit N Purl - Day 2

I've made a little list...

Things the Rose Garden Shawl has taught me so far:

1. Knitting lace patterns in public, watching certain television shows, or in meetings generally meets with mistakes.

2. Knitting mistakes turn me into a grumpy and generally unproductive person.

3. People don’t like grumpy me in meetings and public places.

4. There are limited places I can safely knit this shawl.

5. I am not as smart as I think I am.

6. You would think, given my education, that counting to sixteen should fall safely within my skill set.

7. Counting to sixteen eludes me surprisingly often lately.

8. SSK is hard to undo successfully with a multicolored yarn of darker hues.

9. When one makes a mistake in lace knitting, it will almost always involve the SSK

10. Chocolate should be licked off fingers after mistake intervention sweets have been consumed but before mistake reparation begins. 

I always learn new things about myself—good and bad—when I attempt new lace patterns.

Rose Garden Shawl From Knit N Purl - Day 1

Beginnings and endings...

It occurred to me today how much knitting is like writing books.  Starting a project is an exhilarating experience.  You cast on, all full-up with fresh wonder, completely devoid of any scars from mistakes or foolishness.  These are the same sensations every writer feels when she sits down to start her next (or first) novel.  Those great moments before the characters misbehave and the plot tangles and you start to wonder why this story was ever a good idea in the first place.  None of that yet; a beginnings is a lovely, hopeful place.

Endings are lovely, too.  Endings are jubilant, victorious things.  Endings show you what the piece will finally look like.  You bask in the beauty of the final product.  Sure, endings can be a bit tedious if there’s a complicated bind-off (I guess that makes binding off the spell-check of writing).  Writing endings mean you nailed it, you hung in there, you followed the story to its fruition.  I love finishing a novel—there’s a popular writer’s saying: “I don’t love writing, but I love having written.”

I’m looking forward to loving this when it’s done!

This Ultra Pima Quattro is cotton.  I hardly ever knit with cotton—it’s not my fiber of choice.  I miss the elasticity of other yarns and I always worry the stuff is going to unravel.  I don’t own a cotton shawl, so I’m fascinated to see how this one will feel.

After all, we’re at the hopeful beginning!

Myrtle Beach, SC - Day 1

Beachy Keen...

Not being a golfer (even mini—and there’s plenty of that here, too), I hadn't ever had reason to visit Myrtle Beach despite my many trips to Charleston in South Carolina.  Luckily, a conference late last year enabled me to take in the city and its offerings—yarny and otherwise.  There’s little doubt this is a recreation-centered place.  It’s got all the beachy, touristy diversions you could ever want, no matter what your age.  Cross LasVegas with a bit of Branson and stick its feet in the Atlantic Ocean, and you’ve got Myrtle Beach.

I’m not going to point you towards the standard tourism attractions—there are plenty of ways to get that info and www.visitmyrtlebeach.com will set you up nicely.  My job is to lure you off the beaten path to some places that magazine in your hotel room might not list.

Start your day at:

Croissants Bistro and Bakery

3751 Robert  Grissom Parkway

Myrtle Beach SC  29577

843-448-2253

www.croissants.net

I did not have the luxury of doing breakfast here, but I’d recommend the shrimp and grits at any meal.  Lunch (my visit) is also terrific, and my sources say the chocolate fondue is dynamite.  I had an outstanding fish taco, and even if I’d visited for breakfast I would have insisted on a slice of cake (coconut and awesome, in my case).  I love the tagline: “Bonjour, y’all.”  Grab some goodies to go if you can’t quench all your sugar fix in one meal.

Next, walk off all that caloric intake by wandering Myrtle Beach’s famous boardwalk.  Start at the  14th Avenue Pier just south of where you had breakfast and walk the whole way down to the Second Avenue Pier and back again.  There are several shops and attractions along the way, so you can get your souvenir shopping and carnival ride fix at the more energetic stretches, and chill out on the comfortable benches along the quieter parts.

Ready for yarn adventures?  Hop in your car and make the 15 minute drive to:

Knit N Purl

4999  Carolina Forest Blvd, Suite 13

Myrtle Beach SC  29579

843-236-6140

www.knitnpurl.biz

You’d be hard pressed to find a more welcoming shop.  The chemistry between the diverse team that runs this establishment—Owner Phyllis McGowan, Instructor Molly Bruton, and staff stars Michael, Ross, Arlene and Anne—gives the place a contagious energy and community feel.  There are big inviting tables always full of conversation and—my favorite—the “Husband Couch” placed thoughtfully near the coffee and treats.  If you don’t want to be cooped up inside, there are the standard-southern-issue rocking chairs out front.

Encouragement is the overriding vibe in here.  There are model projects out to touch and crave for every yarn in the shop.  Need a charity project?  They’ve got scads of ‘em, including collecting one hundred hats for Knots of Love.  “If you come empty handed,” warns Phyllis, “you won’t stay that way for long!”  The store boasts a full load of classes and offers private lessons as well.  They’ve even got “an app for that”—this is a store that embraces knitting’s digital side with an extensive website, a YouTube channel, and a robust social media presence.

The store’s wide selection shifts with the seasons and whims of the talented staff.  “We respond to what our knitters want.”  Fiber is stocked by weights around the store, and there’s plenty for the crochet crowd, too.  Here are a few projects I found particularly appealing:

Lusekofte-sque

These pretty mitts knit up in an endless array of variations using Blue Sky Alpaca worsted in your choice of colors.  If you’re looking for a one-skein project (one skein of each color, that is), you can’t go wrong with these.  They are fine-lined enough to feel elegant, yet still comfy and casual.

Candy Cane Scarf

My visit was right before the holidays, so this project was a customer favorite.  If you need a quick, inventive gift under $20, grab yourself some Plymouth Encore and have at it. Encore comes in over 150 colors—including a few holiday-perfect tweeds like the one shown here—so you can’t go wrong.  Just make sure you watch the video tutorial from Knit N Purl’s YouTube channel for the bind-off.

Our Knit Along from this store is a lovely one:

Rose Garden Shawl

Photo from CascadeYarns.com

Just the right weight for summer, this shawl combines lacework with sturdier garter stitch up by your neck.  Vera Sanon’s design for Cascade utilizes two skeins of Ultra Pima Quatro, a cotton perfect for summer wearing.  Just right to keep the air conditioning off your shoulders.

Anja’s Newsboy Hat

Every once in a while I want a knitted hat that still has a brim. This inventive free pattern takes a skein of Lamb’s Pride to knit up a stylish topper that won’t squash my bangs.  Why opt for a boring baseball cap when you could keep warm in this?

Once you’ve filled your trunk with fiber finds, it’s time to fish for something a little closer to nature.  Make your way down Route 17 (the city’s main north-south route) to: 

Murrell’s Inlet

This area offers several chances to see the region’s fishing and boating side.  You can take in this fishing village with a hands-on approach with kayaking tours and chartered fishing excursions.  You can try coastal cooking by heading off to the local fishing markets.  You can take things up a notch by taking a pirate-themed boat tours.  If you save your visit for after dark, the village takes on a whole different vibe with lots of bars and live music.  Me?  I just sat, walked, and stared the water.  Bliss.

When you’re ready for dinner, one place you don’t want to miss is:

Sea Captain’s House

3002 N. Ocean Blvd

Mytrle Beach, SC

843-448-8082

www.seacaptains.com

Show up early!  This place fills up fast, and there’s a good reason.  I arrived at 5pm and spent a splendid dinner on the enclosed porch watching the sun set and the boats come in.  She-crab soup in season is one of life’s great pleasures, so don’t miss it.  My sources said the seafood casserole is splendid, but they were sadly out for my visit.

As the sun sets on a great costal day, toast your good fortune and get ready for another!