Friday, May 11, 2012

Dressed Up Elly



I have fallen in love with knitting shawls. I have joined the Ravelry group 12 Shawls in 2012, so I now have a new goal! When I saw the Elly Dressed Up shawl pattern I knew that it would go perfectly with some yarn and beads that I had in my stash.


I knit this shawl with size 7 knitting needles (using plastic round needles that I inherited from my grandma.) The project consumed 68 g of Navy Palette (fingering weight) yarn.


I wasn't sure if I had enough beads, since the pattern specifes the number and beads are purchased by weight. According to beadstuff, are ~12 size 6/0 beads per gram, making my 3/4 oz (21.27 g) package having over 200 beads. Perfect!


Notes while knitting the pattern
  • I used the twisted loop cast on method and then added a purl row before starting the lace chart. This is a super stretchy cast on and it will help me conserve yarn.
  • After beads inserted on WS rows, I did a centered double decrease rather than the S1, K2tog, PSSO was written. This way the bead is centered. (I walso use a P sttich to insert the bead on WS rows.)
  • After the 24 lace rows I have 60 g of wool left.
  • I did the short rows without adding wraps.
  • Instead of having 1 sts at the end on each side after short rows, there are 2 sts remaining at each end. On the K round I knit to the end of the row to include those 2 sts, slipped the first stitch and purled back to finish the short rows (this way nothing was left hanging.) Then I could bind off.

I really need a larger blocking board. It was a bit cramped when I tried to block this shawlette. It would help if I could stagger the blocks some, but the way the corners fit together prevent this.

I will never change balls of yarn in the middle of a shawl ever again. I didn't show a picture, but if you hold the shawl up to the light you can see the woven ends through the cloth. Thankfully you do not see this when wearing the shawl!