Knitting Friday

I don't know how newspapers stay in business. I put out a tiny newsletter each month yet I spend so much time getting it ready each month. I've been working over an hour this morning, sending e-mails, editing articles, thinking (and that's really the hard part.) I'm not done yet but I do have until the end of the month. How do newspapers do it every day, all year? I would be a wreck. And I don't have to get ads to pay for my production. They must each have six zillion people working for them. Imagine coordinating six zillion people?

The morning was supposed to be an early start on my Knitting Friday, but better late than never (another one of those hackneyed phrases.)

I'm still waiting for the new Yarn Department at Michaels. From what the Ravelry posters say, those changes are appearing in very few stores. I've noticed that in the last few weeks, Michaels has advertised no yarn in their weekly flyer. Unfortunately except for Paton Classic Wool, Michaels has little yarn I want so while I may make a trip to A.C. Moore just to look, I don't with Michaels.

I stopped by A.C. Moore once again to look for the Bernat black cotton blend - no luck. But, as I said, they seem to have better yarn, all of a sudden. I found black in Red Heart Heart & Sole ("with aloe" no less.)
I'm using it to make a triangular Wisp shawl. I think I posted the pattern but it's worth another posting:

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer07/PATTwisp.html

I have never made a Wisp which looks like the pattern page picture. I have a white winter one in mohair and alpaca and this one in 75% wool, 30% nylon.

(To digress for a minute to talk about Heat & Sole yarn. The first skein was fine; no knots. With the second however, I was rolling from the center of the skein making a small ball when the yarn ended; no knot; it just ended. OK, so I start rolling away from the center again and after 2 yards, that yarn ended. I turned out the skein was in three pieces, almost like you start a project, cut it, frog it and stuff that yarn back in the middle of the skein. Except this skein was still "factory packaged", they just didn't both to splice it together. Weird, and first for me. Happy ending: at 70% wool it easily spliced.)

Both my Wisps are triangular shawls. Both because I didn't know how much yarn I needed and the second also because I thought of this as a summer shawl and I like those as triangles; airier looking.

How to make a Wisp in a triangle, you ask? CO 2 or 4 sts. Knit front and back each stitch, across. At 6 stitches, and keeping the first and last stitch as K, start the Wisp pattern on the other stitches. Continue in pattern, increasing each side, every other row. It's so simple and it is such a forgiving, and pretty pattern.

I make very few triangular shawls. I don't like an arrow pointing down to your butt and heels. However, I have two exceptions: a shorter triangle with a beautiful lace pattern (Swallowtails) and a reversible lace pattern. Wisp is the latter. I plan add an attractive edging (no idea where I'm finding this) to the black shawl and then fold the top over for a wide shawl collar. In my mind, it looks lovely.


At left is the purple heather shawl I finished, blocked and gifted this week. It's from the DC shell pattern I posted last week. This one was wet blocked to 24" x 70". It's 440 yards of lace weight, light as a feather and can be worn as a scarf for light shawl.

At right is a picture of the shell pattern up close. I don't like to block but blocking, as usual, gave me a much larger shawl.


My success with this lace weight yarn made me buy my own Mother's Day gift this year: $50 worth of Knit Picks lace. (Of course, you know, $50 is the cut-off for free shipping.) I went wild and basically got 1 skein of all their colors and when that didn't add up to $50, I added a second skein to colors where I thought I might like a larger shawl. I may continue with crocheting with an N hook but I know I'll try one in US 4, 5, or 6 needles and the Wisp pattern.

Oh, and I was disappointed this week when I had to give up on the new Mystery Shawl KAL. At first, I thought I wouldn't like the pattern, it's a half circle, but then I saw some photos and that changed my mind. But I was done in by the pattern. I just don't get it. I've made circular but not semi-circular shawls so maybe I'm just not familiar with it but I just can't wrap my mind around it, as they say. It's like the designer is talking in a code I don't understand. I think my best bet would be to work a semi-circular shawl from an Interweave shawl book I have. More on this other day. Now, back to knitting.

Next week: Pictures of the black shawl.