Knitting Friday
I thought of that old, but clean limerick as I was finishing up on my Tess shawl:

There once was a lady from Niger
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger
They came back from the ride
With the lady inside
And the smile on the face of the tiger

The Tess shawl designer had recommended that you mark the side of the row which had the 4 increases so every time you were working from that edge you would know that was the row with the most increases. Of course, ever worried, I also used a row counter. There I was, just about to bind off and my row counter says I’m on a “most increases” row but my marker says: Oh, no you’re not. I’m here at the end of the row. So your next row is the most increases row.

Well, like the lady from Niger who wound up where she least expected, or liked, I knew I had made a major error. But the question was: Just where did this mistake happen? No way was I going to frog back. So the edges might look wonky, I would crochet a border. But the knitting gods are not kind and apparently not only did this mistake make wonky edges; it made a wonky center. About 2/3 up the shawl, the center increases looked different. The horror! You can fiddle with edges, but fixing the center spine of this beauty.

So I did frog. But then I thought: I love the Tess shawl. It’s such a good working shawl. In fact, I’ve converted my alpaca shawl into one…..Say, wait a minute. While I love this shawl, in fact I just cut onions with it on – it’s a real workhorse – why do I need another one at this time since I’m never going to be wear it outside of the house? This is definitely an indoor shawl. At least for me because I don’t think, how slim you are, a tied in the back shawl works over the age of 10. (It was rather a long bit of interior dialogue.)

And thus, I present the following link:

http://www.elann.com/ShowFreePattern.asp?Id=78024 to Elann’s Silk City Cotton Gauze Shell.

This shell is what the frogged Tess shawl is becoming. This is one of the easiest patterns. The picture left shows about 11 inches I’ve already done in the round on US 10 ½ needles. The pattern gives the directions for knitting flat but just eliminate any selvedge stitches, work the garter rows starting with a P row then, K row, P row, K row, P row so that when you start the stockinette ripple pattern on row 6, you’ll be on the right side of your work. And don’t forget the ripple pattern rows (6 – 12) are all K rows in the round.

A couple of other things: (Edited after starting knitting flat for the top of the shell)
1. When you knit flat, the garter rows become all purl and the pattern row is done in purl (P2tog, etc.) with the stitch order reversed. Don't worry, it's easier than it sounds. You just must copy the look of the knitting in the round.
2. In my version and the model, the hem seems to have a slight flare. I may be doing a slightly tight crab stitch around the bottom to compensate.

The picture on the right is a lace weight shawl, which I think the dog is wearing quite proudly, made from the pattern I posted last Friday and which is:

Triangle Crochet Shawl: 200 yards of lace weight; N crochet hook
Ch = chain; dc = double crochet; sc = single crochet; T = Turn; sl st = slip stitch; sp = space
Row 1: Ch 4 join, ch3 & 3dc in ring. Ch 4 T.
Row 2: 3 dc in 3rd ch from hook; slip st ch1-sp of Row 1, ch3, 3 dc in same space (2 blocks made) Ch4, T
Row 3: 3 dc in 3rd ch from hook, sl st in ch-3 sp of 1st ch-3 sp; 3 dc in same sp *sl st in next ch 3-sp & ch, 3 dc in same space* repeat * * across, end ch 4, T. Rep Row 3 to length. End. Block if desired; I didn’t.
Edging: Work 1 row of *ch 5 then sc* around. Then using every ch 5 and sc of previous row, work *ch 3, then sc* around. Join to 1st stitch and end. I wanted something light and lacy and in no need of blocking and I think I got it.

The swatch pictured right shows you the same pattern but knitted on the diagonal into a
rectangle. The swatch is pretty ugly, not the least because the yarn used in lousy and the stitches look stiff. But I wanted to show you that you could convert this triangular shawl into a rectangle.

Next week: The shell will be done, I hope, as a long sleeved sweater or a vest. And, I'll give you directions for making the Triangle Crochet Shawl into a rectangle.

Happy knitting.