Well Golly!

Steam blocking a/k/a "killing" acrylic really does work.

I took Elizabeth's very good advice and practiced on a swatch first, then moved to the real thing. It was still slightly unnerving, hovering a steaming iron over the piece, If the iron had actually touched the fabric it would have been melty goo and a ruined project. I worked a section at a time, standing at the ironing board, smoothing out a section and lightly steaming it, then pinning a bit more stretched and giving it some good hearty shots.

It grew considerably in size. I don't know how much (if any) of that was actual stretching of the fiber and how much was just the lace opening up.

It was an interesting experiment.

Now, as for what I might do for the third shawl of the year, I haven't a clue.

Kill the Acrylic

No, that is not the war cry of a fiber purist, at least not in this case. I've finished the Rosebud shoulder shawl, and it definitely needs blocking.




But the yarn is acrylic. What to do? I've seen reference on the Ravelry forums to a blocking process called "killing" acrylic with a warm iron. I need to go back and try to find the details, but I think I'll try it on this. The whole project has been pretty much experimental, so what have I got to lose?

This will have to wait until we get back from the trip, though. I have other things that need to get done today, including a shift at work. And tomorrow we get up (in the middle of the night, really) to catch our plane.

To the Last Saturday knitting group, I really will miss being with you. I'll down an extra beignet in your honor.

Rounding the Bend

I'm working my way round the sides of the little shawl, knitting on an edging.



There are several things about this whole thing that need tweaking, so at this point I'm thinking of it as a "first draft". But it will be OK for a shoulder wrap to wear around the house.

Do Over

The first go around of the Rosebud shawl made it to about four inches deep. It looked really pretty with the motifs spaced very close together. But the way they lined up meant I had to shift markers around every six rows, and that got to be a drag. Also, I found that slipping the first stitch of every row on such an oblique angle made for edges that were too tight. So I started over.


The color is really more lavender than it looks here.

Not as lacy looking, but moves along much faster. I'll be knitting on an edging when I get the center section done. I'm trusting that will tame the bit of curl at the lower edge. It will be a while before I get to that point. Those rows keep getting longer and longer.

Looking Ahead

I'm almost done with the black and blue shawl/stole. Three more repeats of the edging pattern, wash, block, weave in ends. So I've started noodling around with ideas for the second.

Just for the heck of it, I've decided that I want a wide, shallow, blunt triangle-ish thing. So I've started at the bottom with twenty some stitches, and I'm increasing one stitch at each side every row. It seems to be getting wider a little faster than I had anticipated, but I'm going to keep going. This is stash yarn I want to use up. If it doesn't make it all the way to shawl size, I'll turn it into a scarf.



The motif I'm using is "Rosebud", maybe I'll name it "Citizen Kane."

When the Cats are Bored

they take it out on the paper products. The kitchen roll of paper towels has long since been moved to a shelf out of their reach, and only somewhat inconvenient for us. But some things aren't so easily relocated.



On a more constructive note, I just polished off the edging at the first end of the current shawl. I may actually have this puppy completed by the end of the month.



Guess it's time to start kicking around ideas for the second one. I have some sport weight acrylic I've been wanting to use up......

Re-Charting

I've decided to try an edging from Sharon Miller's Heirloom Knitting for the ends of the shawl in progress.



I sometimes find myself confused following Miller's charts, mostly because she uses a black dot for a knit stitch, and I tend to read this as a purl stitch. So I re-did the chart using "Knit Visualizer". I also added in the faggoting header which is clearly shown in the photo, but not included in Miller's chart. Theoretically, I could have just added this in as I went. How hard can it be to throw in an extra "yo, k2tog" every row? But I say, why add one more thing to remember if I can just put it down on paper? I'm easily enough confused as it is.

Now my only question is: work this in stockinette or garter? Stockinette would look nicer, but garter wouldn't curl. Decisions, decisions..... I think I'll start out with garter and see how it goes.

I Feel Like Such a Slacker!

Over at the Ravelry "10 in 2010" group, nine people have already posted pictures of shawls finished since the first of the year.

My pace has been considerably more sedate, but I have made some progress.



It's not a race, it's not a race, it's not a race......

New Year, New Project

First off, Happy New Year to one and all.



I waited until this morning to start my first shawl for the "10 in 2010" project. Technically, the project launched at midnight Oslo time, so I could have started sometime yesterday afternoon, but I didn't realize that until just before I went to bed.

As I think I've mentioned before, this is a pattern from Kinzel's first lace knitting book. It was written for a dresser scarf or tray cloth. I've used larger yarn and needles, reduced the number of repeats across, added 5 sts in seed stitch to each side, and of course, will make it longer. I mean, tray cloth, rectangular shawl, what's the difference besides size?

I used a provisional cast on (that pink bit at the end), because I'm working with stash yarn and am quite sure I don't have enough to give me the length I would like. I have some of the same yarn in black and I will use that to extend each end. Haven't decided what pattern I will use for that. Partly it will depend on just how much extra length I end up needing. I have a good amount of work to do yet on that center section, so I'll have time to think about it.

I Have a Starter (?)

After flipping through various lace books, I think my first shawl for the "10 in 2010" will be rectangular, using the "Celandine" pattern from Mariannne Kinzel's first book, probably in sport weight or heavier.

That should be relatively easy, sort of a warm up lap.

******

My thanks to all who sent good thoughts to the town and the families affected by the fire. The kindness is much appreciated.

I haven't been knitting much, but

I've been thinking about knitting a lot.

ckknitter invited me to join a "10 shawls in 2010" group on Ravelry. First I had to think about whether I could really knit ten shawls in one year, and I thought probably not. But I visited the group and learned they set out to be a friendly, flexible bunch (no shaming if you don't complete the challenge, you just don't get a chance at any prizes). And I thought it would be fun to see what beauties everyone else comes up with. So I joined, with the mental reservation that I would just do what I could.

So now I have been thinking, "What should I do for the first one?" More specifically, who will it be for, in what shape, what size and with what yarn? What do I have in my stash with sufficient yardage (the game calls for minimum of 250 yards for eight of the ten, and 500 meters for the remaining two)? Will I go with an existing pattern, or just wing it?

I have until Jan 1 to think. Then it's time to cast on.