Summer's Shadow Shawl from Hemstitched Heirlooms - Day 6

Whack...

Still. Not. Done. 

And I’ve had one of those smack-my-forehead moments as to why.

Bella, asking "Why aren't you done?"

I was calculating a border row for each of the 342 garter section row stitches.  So I was figuring it would take me 342 rows of border stitches to work my way across the shawl, and set myself a corresponding daily row quota.

Only, I don’t “consume” (for lack of a better word) one garter section row per border row.  The slip-knit-pass-slipped-stitch-over that “attaches” the border row to the garter section only occurs on odd numbered rows.  Which means it takes two border row stitches to “consume” one garter row stitch.  Which means I have nearly 700 border rows to work my way through.

No wonder I feel like I have miles to go before I sleep—I really do!

I’m not going to make you slog through all of this.  I’m kinder than that.  I have one more knitting-filled weekend (long drive, car races, long meeting—all great knitting opportunities) ahead of me.  I’ll post a final installment wherever I land on Monday.  If I have to come back and show you how it all turned out at a later date, so be it.  I’ve got a new Texas installment waiting for you, and as everyone knows, you don’t mess with Texas.

Summer's Shadow Shawl from Hemstitched Heirlooms - Day 5

Happy accidents...

I’ve put in a lot of hours on the border of this shawl and I’m only a bit over one-third done.  This project will go to seven posts, I’m sure of it.

One interesting thing I’ve noted: to me, the garter stitch section of this shawl gives off a slightly more green hue while the border gives off a slightly more blue hue.  At first I thought it was a trick of the eye, but when I realized I switched skeins just about the same time I moved on to the border section, it made sense.  

So, if you’re knitting this with a hand-dyed or otherwise variable colorway yarn, you might want to make sure you are deliberate in when you switch from one skein to another.  For me, it was just a happy accident—one of the lovely surprises knitting offers up.

I have become comfortable enough to take this out in public, and I have a meeting tonight and a member-of-the-audience thing tomorrow, so I anticipate lots of useful knitting time.  I’ll need it—this thing is a sizable undertaking!

Summer's Shadow Shawl from Hemstitched Heirlooms - Day 3

Celebrating freedom--in more ways than one...

Finally, I'm free to turn that magical corner and begin the lace section! 

It’s so energizing to switch to 30-stitch rows, even though I realize I’ll have 342 of them.  The refreshment of something with a bit more substance than all that garter stitch is huge.

I’ll admit to a bit of worry that the business of all these colors—lush and lovely as they are—will hide the lace pattern.  Of course, it’s way too early to give in to such a concern.  This is lacework, after all—you can’t judge it until it’s blocked, much less two repeats in.

One downside is that this project just went up several notches in the concentration requirement department.  Row counters will take care of some of it, but if I lose my way mid-row (which, at 32 stitches per row is easily preventable but not impossible), I’m sunk. That may make the Summer's Shadow shawl a poor choice for public or meeting knitting.  I’ll need to get more familiar with the 12-row repeat before I feel confident venturing out of the house with this.

Lucky for me, it’s a holiday weekend and I have lots of relaxing, uninterrupted knitting time at my disposal. Happy Independence Day, those of you in the U.S.!

PS: I realized I've been using the wrong name for this shawl: it's Summer's Shadow, not Summer Shadow.  My apologies to designer Angelea McGarrah.

Summer Shadow Shawl from Hemstitched Heirlooms - Day 1

Summer lovin'...

While I own many triangle shawls, crescent shawls are always my favorite.  Especially ones with pretty borders like this one.  It’s the perfect mix of basic stockinette adorned by an artful border.  It would be pretty in just about any fiber, but the deep, rich colors of this Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 merio/cashmere/nylon blend will make this a favorite, I’m sure.

I had the pattern for the stockinette portion down to memory within a dozen rows of starting. That’s useful, because not having to look down at instructions always makes for faster work.  

I find the double yarn-over to be a clever way to solve the too-tight edge problem many crescent shawls have. It feels easier than the add-a-stitch, drop-it-next-row tactic that so many patterns use.

This yarn, with its striking colors, soft spring, and slight halo of color, reminds me of madelinetosh.  The halo of color seems to add so much depth to the stitches in simple stockinette.  I’m looking forward to how they enhance the lacework border when I get there.

And I will get there.  But for right now, I’ve got a lot of stockinette to get through.  Onward!