Brassica Shawl from Mosaic Yarn Studio--Day 3

A worthwhile challenge...

This is harder than I thought.  The first dozen rows of this new section took a LOT of time.  Mostly because at the end of each row I had to stop, take stock, and record where I was in each of three areas:  the border repeats, the individual lace repeats, and how many lace repeats I had done.  That’s a lot of counting for one pattern.  

The good news is that the Sirka is the perfect tool to manage this.  All I had to remember was which color represented which set of counts.  Well, that and to shift each of the little tabs one “click” at the end of each row.  I’m astounded at how many times I almost forgot to do that.

It made for challenging public knitting—needing lots of concentration—and a great deal of my knitting time this week was in public.  That’s why this post is late…I didn’t make progress at the speed I’d hoped.  The good news about knitting, however, is that lives are rarely at stake, and all is well even if a few days behind schedule.

For all its challenges, it is pleasant knitting.  Engaging (if you’re not too distracted) and satisfying.  I’ve never done a shawl that looks so long and narrow in the making before—I am wondering if the shape will change at all once blocked.  The texture is lovely—not too delicate, but still elegant and with a nice drape.  And the fiber…ahh against the fingers.

I’m officially half-way done and very much enjoying myself.

Brassica Shawl from Mosaic Yarn Studio--Day 1

Top notch...

Words cannot describe my joy at knowing this shawl will not result in another Top-Down Rant.  Yes, I know the rows will get longer for a while, but it will only be for a while.  At some point I’ll reach that magic middle where the rows start to get shorter and shorter.

I find it amusing that we’re also at the point in the year where the days get longer and longer.  It’s a fitting metaphor.  Even if we’re only gaining minutes of daylight each week, I find it heartening.

Still, this piece is not without it’s challenges.  To work two patterns at once will require a bit of brain matter.  Fortunately, I have a gadget that will help with that—my trusty Sirka counter.  Sure, mine looks a bit like a pocket watch on pastel steroids, but now it comes in lovely vibrant colors, too—I want more!  This brilliant gizmo counts three separate things simultaneously.  That makes it ideal for instructions like “repeat this six-row pattern eleven times,” but we’re not quite there yet.

For now, the increasing half of this shawl is mostly stockinette with a clever little i-cord border (quickly becoming my new favorite!).  On the other side, the eyelet border stays constant over a six-row repeat.  So, right now, I only have to know where I am in the six-row border repeat.  This means I’m only using one of the colored hands on my clock.

That will change, but not for a while.  What a delightful start!