Just a few pictures of my progress on the Laminaria shawl from Knitty.Com. I'm knitting it on US 6 and there are some very big increases in order to knit the "Blossoms" pattern in this shawl. The first picture is of the "Stars" that happen at the back of the neck of the shawl. I hope the pattern will show once it's blocked because it's very dense in this section. The next few pictures are of the "Blossoms" with a close-up of a single blossom. It looks really different if turn the pictures upside-down which is how you will view them on the finished shawl since the triangle will be pointing down. There was a little learning curve on this type of lace for me and I can't say I enjoy knitting it all that much. It's not holding my attention, truth be told. If I was to knit this again, I would also do a SSSK or mirror image on the Start Chart for the left hand side of the shawl so it would look a little better. The yarn is so busy that I left it alone but if it was a plain yarn I would have made the change. On the plus side, the pattern is well written, clear and I think the designer picked really good combinations for the shawl. I'm just not crazy about having to do all those large increases. As for the other pictures. I know I said I would try to knit from my stash, but I have not been able to resist buying yarn I fear. I guess I will just have to knit a lot faster. Did I mention that I did my taxes and will be getting a refund? And, in all seriousness, I intend to help the economy by spending my share of the stimulus package. That and the fact that, my adult niece is pregnant again and it's time to knit a few baby sweaters. It's a girl this time so a bunch of the Auntie's went yarn shopping on Saturday. I picked up some pretty Claudia Handpaints in fingering weight for the baby sweaters. The tatting shuttle is some kind of Horn and I could not make my hand put it back down once I picked it up. It might even make me do a little bit of tatting :-) The baby sweater yarn is from Commuknittyand the tatting shuttle is from Purlescence Yarns Once I started, I couldn't stop. I picked up several patterns for sweaters and I bought some lace weight yarn as well but will save them for a later post. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and that no else one was attacked by squirrels
16 comments:
I'm just itching to do Laminaria but I can't decide on what kind of yarn to use or if I should spin some up for it.
Your yarn purchases are gorgeous and I can see why you had such a hard time resisting! The tatting shuttle is also a beauty. :)
The yarn is real yummy. Of course it had to come with you:-)
What gorgeous colors! And, of course, the knitting is exquisite, as always. I had already designed my own Estonian shawl when Lam hit the public, so I am going to pass on this design. I shall just ogle yours.
Wow! The Laminaria is looking lovely! That is on my to knit list; once I finish the current spinning for it. Thanks for showing the WIP. I love the colors.
Your Laminaria is looking beautiful. Thanks for the closeup pic of the motifs.
If you're searching for a baby girl sweater, the EZ Feb sweater is one of my favorites. It's pretty and sweet and very easy to knit. (I've knit 3 of them).
Sorry to post willy-nilly, but I LOVE the pictures of your HAND SPUN sampler in SpinOff. I don't recall your sharing that tidbit with your loyal readers...
Lovely colors! I like the stitch pattern a lot. US 6's? that is quite a change from Princess :D
Oops! Excuse me, I have to put my socks back on, they were knocked-off by Laminaria! It's beautiful!
Dear Opal,
I can't wait to see what you use for Laminaria. I fear my yarn is too busy but it will also hide any flaws I end up with :-) I could not resist buying yarn and, dare I say it, fiber? Not to mention the tatting shuttle. It's almost like the minute I said I would try to knit from my stash I went into a frenzy lace weight yarn shopping. Sigh. Must knit faster!
Dear agneta,
I wish everything I spun was nice but at least it looks nice in the pictures :-) This yarn is not really soft so this shawl, once it is done, may end up as a "church sale" donation! If I knit this again, I will pick a cashmere yarn instead!
Dear fleegle,
Not having the "design chops" that you have, I must be content to practive my Estonian Lace on this shawl. I'm happy you are liking the color. I like the color but it's not soft as yarns go. The bane of spinners everywhere is the lust to spin something you have not spun before, only to find that knitting it is another matter entirely. You well know, appearances aside, not all yarns are fun to knit :-) Still, happy to give eye candy whenever possible!
Dear rosa,
So glad you like the color! This shawl looks like a popular choice for a lot of knitters and for hand spun yarn in particular :-) Hope you have fun making it too!
Dear Z's momma,
I'm happy to post a few pictures of the stitches. Most of the pictures I've seen have been in solid/semi solid colors so far. The blossoms really are pretty but those increases to 9 stitches are not fun to make :-( I'd do EZ's baby sweater except that my sister makes that most of the time and does it much better than me so I've ceded the field to her. I will post pictures of the ones I picked for my own efforts once I get to them. She's due in Sept. so some of my other knitting will suffer because of the due date!
Dear badcatdesigns,
Busted! I didn't want to mention it until the magazine came out in case the stole looked shabby compaired to the other shawls in the gallery. You must have gotten you copy before I did because mine came in the mail today along with a package returning my shawl and samples to me. I think the pictures came out pretty well :-) The folks at Spin-Off were really nice, Amy Clarke Moore had seen pictures of the stole on Flicker and asked if they could take pictures. I've subscribed to Spin-Off for years on and off again so it was great fun to have something I made in the magazine.
Dear Lartiza,
US 6 is gigantic but I was trying to break my habit of always spinning so thin. I don't want to end up a one trick pony :-) I'm enjoying the bright color and I like the look of the lace, if not the knitting of it LOL
Dear domesticshsorthair
Happy you like it even if you have to take time to put those socks back on :-)I must say that it is a nice combination of lace stitches. I hope that it looks even better once it is compleated and blocked.
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