FO: Shetland Tea Shawl

Pattern: Shetland Tea Shawl by Dale Long. From A Gathering of Lace
Yarn: Blackberry Ridge Silky Merino in Samarkand Blue. 1.75 hanks.
Needles: Size 4 Clover bamboo circs
Started: April or May 2007
Finished: November 8, 2008



This is a beautiful pattern. I didn't have any trouble with it (my edition is revised and the pattern is updated: earlier editions have extensive errata for this pattern). I didn't make any intentional changes to the pattern, although I think I may have made a couple of errors in the edging. And I believe I may have dropped a stitch at the very end of the edging where it's grafted. This error is the only clearly visible one, and I will repair it eventually.

The yarn is fantastic. I did encounter a limited number of places where the yarn was slightly slubby, but not often enough to bother me, or slubby enough to cause me to break the yarn. The silk content makes it very nice and crisp, and the wool content made it possible for me to splice a new ball of yarn in when I reached the end of the first ball.

The sheer size of it may be intimidating to a beginning knitter, but I don't think there's anything in the pattern that can't be overcome by perseverance, practice, patience, and maybe just a little bit of cursing.

Preblocking. Doozer for relative size.


During blocking. I soaked the shawl in lukewarm water for about 15 minutes, and wrung it out prior to pinning. I used all but two of my foam alphabet blocks for this one. And it's not a precise circle, but I am content with the approximation. I used individual t-pins for most of the points, but also flexible blocking wires for two sections.


Post blocking with doozer for relative size:


Detail shots:

Vote, knit, knit, vote.

I voted. My county is entirely vote by mail - you can't even go to the polls if you wanted to! I was a little disappointed by that, but made up for it by walking my ballot down to the county courthouse on Halloween.

I'm excited about this election. Hopeful even. But I'm almost expecting to have all of my hopes dashed, even if the numbers are with my candidate, because sometimes the world seems to work that way. I'll be watching the returns tomorrow night and trying to finish my Shetland Tea Shawl.

No new photos of the shawl - it looks much the same as it did in the last post. Although I realized that my math was astoundingly poor in that recent post where I tried to calculate how many edging repeats I had to do. But I'm close now; the shawl is visibly close to done. Not sure I'll actually be able to achieve doneness tomorrow, but I'll give it my best.

What's really getting me is how small this shawl looks. I think it will block out to a respectable size, but unblocked it seems like a child's shawl. Photos another day.

Oh, how edgy...

Get it? Edgy?



I've done half of the edging repeats. I'm getting closer and closer! Unfortunately, subtitled movies and lace knitting don't mix. Maybe I'll get more done tomorrow...

I'm getting excited though. Grumperina just reviewed Knitted Lace of Estonia which was pre-ordered for my birthday, way back in early September. It looks beautiful. Besides, pretty much anything Nancy Bush does is going to be A-OK with me.

Knotions Preview

So there are a lot of new online knitting mags this season. And I am pleasantly surprised by the preview for the winter issue of Knotions.

At a glance I see three pairs of socks I like the look of (Lakeside Kneehighs, Vortical, and Hanging Vines socks), and a vest (fence vest). That's pretty good for an online mag. The final verdict is withheld until such time as I can see a full image.
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I finished the center of the Shetland Tea Shawl!! And I've done four repeats of the edging. So that's 36 of 574 rows. Only 538 more rows to go! Woo hoo!

Economic Stash Enhancement

I went out on the town yesterday morning. Well, I went downtown anyway. I wanted to get some apple cider and I figured the farmer's market might have some. They didn't actually. I bought some at the grocery store instead.

While I was downtown, I decided to stop in at my LYS and see if they had anything left over from their Fall Sale, not that I need more yarn right now. And sure enough in the backroom corner there were some balls of yarn for 99 cents each. I got six balls of Naturally Dawn 2 ply silk-wool lace yarn. I'd bought three balls of this last year and have been hoarding them ever since - the yarn is so soft, and I surely do love some soft, silky yarn. So I jumped on these six. And I surely do love a bargain.




I'm making good progress on my Shetland Tea Shawl, but it's still very much in the lumpy bag stage and not an interesting photo op. Same for the Gathered Scarf - it's longer, but that's the main change. Although I did wind up the second hank of Silky Merino for the shawl: 600 yards down, a whole lot more to go!

Oldest WIP

This is my oldest WIP (work in progress):


That's the Shetland Tea Shawl(ravelry link) from A Gathering of Lace. I began knitting it up way back in the spring of 2007 with Blackberry Ridge Silky Merino from my pal Madam. Now, the yarn is fabulous stuff. I used the same in white to knit my wedding stole, which, for the record, I knit much more quickly than the Tea Shawl.

I stopped about 10 rows after you increase to 574 stitches - 574 stitches is a lot. Especially with blunt bamboo needles. What was I thinking when I was advocating bamboo needles for lace? Sure, the stickiness is great, but the pokiness leaves something to be desired. Another argument for the Knitpicks Options set I've been pining for. This pattern is based on the Pi Shawl formula, so you only increase in certain places, not continuously. Since I picked it back up again this weekend I've knit about 7 rows - so that's over 4000 stitches. Maybe an inch? Tops.

But it is pretty and I feel a commitment to it. Here's hoping I can get this finished and off the needles before the new year, taking into account my various Christmas projects.