Forest Canopy shawl

One of the handy things about clearing out your space, is that you find lots of WIP's that you had tried to forget about so you would feel less guilty about starting new projects:-) Not that these older projects weren't exciting when I started them, they were just put aside for a little bit whilst working something else out and then that little bit of time grew bigger and bigger until it got stashed and eventually forgotten about.

So, true to my new year's resolution of bringing these back into the light of day, we have the forest canopy shawl - work in progress.

Indeedy.  This was where we left it, oh, sometime last July..... :-) I put vivian aside for a day or two and decided it was time to get this finished. It was very easy to get back into the pattern too. All it took was a few evenings work and DONE! If I'd known it would have taken so little time, I may not have shelved it so readily. For someone who doesn't like old knitting projects hanging over her head, I do seem to have a fair number of them.

I left it wet blocking overnight and most of the next day and the cat didn't attack or try to eat the pins, thank goodness! She did think it was nice to sit on though - go figure! Personally I think it would be a bit wet on the bum but there you go. This was the best shot I could get as the light has been terrible here most of the week but you get the gist of the full shape and pattern - right? Apparently it's meant to stop raining by the weekend so fingers crossed we get a bit of sun so I can get some final photos outside. But I was trying to be creative inside as much as possible:-) So here you are, the finished forest canopy shawl in lovely Fuchsia pink;

Pattern and edging detailing

I think when I take some more photos I will get some help so I can show you what it looks like on. It was too difficult one handed in dodgy light so this is the best so far.....:-) It's a bit bigger in size than my magenta ishbel scarf which I like as it will be more versatile to wear.

As a shawl pattern, this is super easy and ideal for a first lace shawl knit. The pattern has very clear instructions and helpful how-to tips if you are just starting. I used a lifeline near the end in case I ran out of yarn before the pattern finished - another thing I've learned with this project;-)  

Using 4.5mm needles, I only used one skein (352m/385yrds) and managed to get 13 repeats and the edging pattern knitted comfortably with about two rows worth of extra yarn at the end. It's very quick to do (despite me having a few breaks in between) and very easy to increase its size being only an 8 row repeat. You can just keep going as big as you want or until your yarn runs out!  There are some gorgeous versions out there in ravelry and blogland to inspire. I quite fancy trying this out with a hand painted shawl blank - in colour bands with no colour repeated. Harmonious or contrasting colour palettes...... :-)

But I have promised myself to start the Luiza shawl first. Now that will be a little more challenging for me! At least I've got my hand back in knitting lace shawls. Maybe after knitting luiza, I will feel accomplished enough to sort out the mess I left poor nightingale in - all part dropped stitches on holders with no lifeline:( Sigh! But you live and learn!

Back soon with progress on Vivian!

Works in progress....

Well, here we are! Progress on the forest canopy shawl! I have left this so long, I'd pretty much forgotten the lace pattern repeats but it's very simple and didn't take long to get back into the swing of things. I even managed to watch some tv and not make too many mistakes:-) Now that is progress!

I've got to the end of the repeats now and I should be starting the edging border but I still have a bit more yarn than I'll need overall. I'm thinking I'll be able to add at least 2-4 extra repeats to make this a bit bigger - obviously remembering that the rows get bigger every time I increase and that will eat up more yarn!

I've also been working on and off on the stripey noro socks. This is attempt no 2 using two different colour schemes and it was going very well until after the short row heel. Then the colours started to go funny. That damn green/black bit again. But worse, it hits the equivalent yucky bit in the other ball. So altogether it's a bit bleh! Not wanting to be too hasty, I've lived with this for a week or so to see if I had a brainwave - or should I say miracle - before ripping it all back. While this was sitting cogitating its yukkiness, I decided to start another stripey sock.

Stripey sock no 3. After a while of mulling the problems of clashing stripes and colour schemes, I had a bit of a brainwave - just as I was drifting off to sleep. Of course, I wanted to get up and try my idea out straight away but I managed to restrain myself till the morning:-)

So, my brainwave was this. Instead of taking the original ball and splitting it into two which gave the green/black clash, instead of making them both go in the same direction - the very short lived yukky green and red toe - I decided to avoid all these problems and quarter the balls. I also did a bit of colour editing so I could start on a nice colour with both balls:-) If in doubt, take a chunk out!!!

So these are my half-knitted quarter balls, running very nicely thank you. I may not have quite an even length - due to my editing - but I should get a mid to knee length pair of socks out of just the original 100gm ball. To be honest, if I had thought about editing the yarn, I should have just taken out one of the green/black bits when knitting the original sock and saved myself all the hassle of ripping it all back and doing mental gymnastics with colour stripes.

But I was so into seeing how the yarn would knit up in its original state this never actually occurred to me, I must admit. Also, as Noro is expensive, it never occurred to me to be so, well, cavelier with it! In reality, noro sock yarn is rougher to the touch than most sock yarns, spun very thin in places and seems to have one yukky colour gradation, well to me anyway:-) But the bright, yumminess of the colours generally makes up for a lot!

So, now sock no 2 is no more, ripped back into a lovely roll of colour to become the matching second sock for stripey no 3. I had actually come to hate that icky top bit so I took great pleasure in ripping it back this morning:-) So, hopefully, this means I can get these stripey WIP's finished and off the needles.

Saying that, I've just found a new way to turn heels that looks better than the method I have been using. It is tempting to rip back just a little to try out the smoother join, don't you think?

Last Day for Giveaway!

Just a little reminder that the rug giveaway is finishing tomorrow, so if you are a US reader, don't forget to enter! The winner will be drawn at random and I will post at the weekend to let you know who has won. If you are the lucky winner, I will e-mail you ASAP!

On the knitting front, the Adriafil Baba yarn has finally arrived. All that time waiting, I'll have forgotten the urchin pattern. But it is very simple so it shouldn't take long to get back into. But I must finish the front panel of the wicked vest first so I don't forget where I am in the neck decreases. Nearly there! Soon, only the last front panel to do and then sewing up! I really hope it has a lot of stretch as it's looking on the small side. Sister dearest, it may well be winging its way to you if it doesn't fit!! But I know you'll like the fushia colour:-)

It will be good to get two WIP's finished and then I can catch up on the forest canopy shawl and the sunflower scarf - remember them?

It has been a while:-) And then there are the noro socks.........More on them tomorrow!

Fushia forest canopy shawl

Just on the needles this last week is this lovely lace shawl called 'forest canopy' designed by Susan Lawrence. The yarn is the fingering/4ply weight sock yarn from Needlefood called 'kitchen's on fire'. As this yarn is such a lovely blend of fushias, this has now become known as the Fushia shawl (original). The yarn is 80% merino and 20% nylon and has a lovely soft feel as you're knitting. I also decided to knit this on larger needles - 4.5mm instead of 4mm - as I think the lace pattern would benefit and actually stretch more when it's ready to be blocked. The Ishbel didn't have quite as much give so hopefully I'm gauging this one better. If not, I'll try 5mm the next time!

I've knitted about 5 pattern repeats so far and it's knitting up very easily. I've realised the Ishbel shawl maybe wasn't the best lace shawl pattern to start with but that's all the better as this feels a nice and easy knit now! The pattern is nice and logical to follow and visually symmetrical so it's easy to remember and see any mistakes as you go. As usual, lace on the needles doesn't make for very inspiring or clear photographs but I think the colour is pretty close to the real thing this time:-)

I decided to block the sample so far to give me a clearer idea of the finished lace pattern. So, unblocked - above, blocked - below.......

Okay, the pink of the playmat is totally ruining the subtlties of the colours in the yarn - again - but it does give you a much better look at the lace design, doesn't it? Look at the s-t-r-e-t-c-h!!

Much better! This has a light floaty feel to it, unlike Ishbel which is a denser knit. But I bet Ishbel would be this floatly in laceweight:-) You can see the slight colour variations in these close-ups too. Enough to keep the yarn from looking too solid but not too contrastly to fight the pattern. Excellent.

Of course, I know what's going to happen with this shawl. The pattern can be knitted small or large and I'm going to get to the end of the skein and want to go for the biggie. Maybe I should just give in to the inevitable and order another skein now!