Knitting Friday

Well, her team won the March Madness basketball game - decisively. We will be returning for another turn next week. Before the game someone said it was 4 quarters long with 10 minutes a quarter but it turned out the entire time for both games scheduled was to be 40 minutes. We were out after the first 20.

I sat and knitted work which necessitated no looking (I haven't even looked yet to see the mess I might have spun.) The boy played on the other side of the gym with about 20 multi-age little boys - now that was a scenario ripe for trouble. I didn't get whiplash watching him, watching her, watching him, watching the clock...... it all came together. Note to self: the boy's DS must be charged before the game and bring more snacks.

So that was Wednesday afternoon and when I got home I started to think about Knitting Friday. Yes, I do try to plan ahead, not that I'm always successful.

I have this ruching pattern which I wanted to post today. This one may be my first truly original pattern. I don't mean original like October is for Spinners:

http://www.hanksyarn.com/PDF/October%20is%20for%20Spinners.pdf

or the many more extremely creative works which are posted free on the web. But it's original is that I took the age-old knit and purl stitch, the knit/purl together stitch, and the yarn over needle stitch and tweaked a slight bit of originality into them - a slight bit.

So I picked up my sample yarn, you know the cheap stuff that you can abuse without guilt, and started my swatch for this pattern.

But this time, for the first time, I picked upCaron's Simply Soft as my sample yarn and, not to be too poetic, the earth shook.

I love Simply Soft. It's, well, it's so soft. And, it's very cheap. So I am working with the softest, smoothest yarn probably outside of your extremely expensive custom-dyed, custom spun yarns.

How could I have missed this yarn? Probably because usually I use Caron's One-Pounder for my swatches and I hate it.

Who cares if this yarn will disappoint me by pilling with wear (comments on say "yes" and "no" to this.) It's like taking only the good memories from a relationship that fails; I'm going to enjoy RavelrySimply Soft in the now.

Needless to say this deep purple skein of beauty didn't become no stinking swatch. It's on its way to a simple lace shawl whose pattern is below.

I have to go out today and I may stumble across a yarn shop (yeah, right, the car will just happen to go past one) and I may be lured in for this gorgeous feeling yarn. Maybe I will just look at it. Maybe I will have a 40% off coupon..... I feel for Ulysses as his ship sailed past the sirens.

One-Row Lace Diagonal Shawl
Equipment: US11 needles; 1 skein Simply Soft (I am using a 366 yd., 7 oz. skein); 2 markers
Terms: Kfb - K in front & back of 1 stitch; K2tog - Knit 2 stitches together; K - Knit; P - purl; *...* - repeat instructions between asterisks; YO - from back, take yarn between the needles and over right needle to the back (1 stitch increase)
**There is no right (RS) or wrong side but you need to mark that side.
Increasing section: (mark right side of work)
Row 1 (RS**): K1, *YO, K2tog*, K1
Row 2: (WS**): Kfb, *YO, K2tog*, Kfb
Continue these two rows to your desired width. End ready for Row 1 (RS)
Straight Section: (Keep original RS marker and add a marker on the starting edge of Row 1.
Row 1 (RS**): Kfb *YO, K2tog*, end K1
Row 2 (WS**): K2tog *YO, K2tog*, end K1
You will alternate increasing and decreasing at the beginning of every row. This is different than Increase Section. The marker at the beginning of Row 1 tells you that you increase at this edge. The unmarked edge is the decrease edge. Continue these two rows to your desired length. End ready for Row 1.
Decrease Section: (Your original right side maker tells you to knit even on this side.)
Row 1 (RS**): K1, *YO, K2tog*, K1
Row 2: (WS**): K2tog, *YO, K2tog*, K2tog
Continue to 2 or 3 stitches (I'm not there yet), K them together. And you're finished.

End notes: I'm past the halfway point in knitting this shawl. My width is 19" with no stretching. My length is 36". I have 49 stitches on the needle (the count is odd at the beginning of the row and even at the end in the Straight Section.) I tried the shawl on and I could start the Decrease Section shortly if I wanted only a summer shawl. (This stitch is very stretchy.) I will not get a crisp corners of a rectangular shawl because of the needle size and stitch. Smaller needles would get me a "firmer" rectangle (or closer to one.) 366 yards is not a lot of yarn for a shawl but I think I'll be OK with enough yarn for a crochet chain border. Final look will be slightly similar to the Saturday Market Shawl:

http://knit-fish.blogspot.com/2008/12/sunday-market-shawl.html