Monday, July 31, 2006

Close Call

Do you want to know how close?? I'll show you ..


That's all that remains of my Habu wool, after finishing up the Flower Basket Shawl.

When I had completed three extra pattern repeats, the post office scale indicated I had 30% of my yarn remaining. The mystical shawl calculator indicated at that point in the shawl, assuming I was going to add an 11th pattern repeat, I had completed 72.1%. I knew I was cutting it close and with each row I became more anxious and more obsessed with finishing.

Even after adding four pattern repeats, the shawl is actually a scarf. I was expecting it to be small and am quite happy to have a red lace scarf. I will probably get lots more wear out of it this way, and the Habu seems appropriate for an everyday scarf. It softened up some with washing and didn't lose a bit of it's rich red color. (Hard to capture, but that bit in my palm comes the closest.) AND there wasn't a single knot in the whole 808 yards. I had exactly two ends to weave in. I'm pleased with it. (Though now that I've fallen prey to this lace knitting addiction, I'm thinking about the next shawl and imagining a more luxurious yarn.)

It doesn't look like much right off the needles:


But let the magic begin:



and finally...



Flower Basket Shawl
Yarn:
Habu Textiles 2/26 Geelong Lamb Wool / 808 yards/2 ounces - used double throughout
Needles:Susan Bates 29" circular-US 3
Pattern:Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn Clark/Interweave Knits Fall 2004
Modifications:
Aside from using different yarn and needles, my only modification was to knit four extra pattern repeats.
Finished Measurements: 52" long x 21" deep
Started:July 13
Finished:
July 30

Thanks to Nick, for patiently photographing the shawl and me, in the rain.

10 comments:

Brenda said...

Your shawl is gorgeous and I am glad you had enough yarn. The deep red is really beautiful in that lace pattern. I am just getting into lace knitting, working my way to finer and finer yarns. Seeing your beautiful shawl inspires me anew!

Kim said...

Absolutely gorgeous! What a beautiful color. I'm so glad you had enough yarn to finish and so sorry that you had to agonize over it so much. I just finished my first lace project, Icarus by Miriam Felton and ran out of yarn a little over halfway thru the BO. Fortunately I had another skein that I used about 2 yard of. Whew!

Hilary said...

Kathy it is SO gorgeous! I can't believe you finished it already, and that it's your first try at lace. It's AMAZING. Congratulations! Did you like knitting it, aside from the fretting?
The 12 Corners store is having a 50 percent off on Debbie Bliss yarns this month ... I'm thinking there must be SOMETHING I need.
(Oh, and when you title your posts 'Close Call' you scare the peanut gallery!)

Dropstitchknitter said...

It's absolutely beautiful!! I love that color! And, is that a long sleeved shirt your wearing??? It's cold enough somewhere to wear a long sleeved shirt??? Oh, I miss Alaska!

Anonymous said...

That shawl-ish scarf just perfect in every way, including size. Nice work! I wish I liked knitting lace more, it looks so fine when its done right.
ps. I love seeing 12 Corners mentioned in your comments.

Ketchikan Choc said...

Your shawl is beautiful. It's good that you had enough yarn. Using the scale at the post office is a great idea.

Leanne said...

It's just lovely! What a beautiful colour and makes a lovely scarf. I'm sure you'll enjoy wearing in. Lace knitting is so addictive.

j a r e d said...

great work - you coulnd't have picked a better color! It makes me want to pick up that crimson laceweight I have in the closet...

thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Oh, this turned out so absolutely gorgeous, what a great job you did with it, and with the blocking as well!
Running out of yarn is my biggest knitting-horror, no matter how much yarn I have at hand, I'm constantly worrying of running out of it - and gosh, yours has certainly been a close call! So great that you still had enough to finish!

Anonymous said...

Lovely scarf! Lovely blog and pictures,too. I'm a Finnish girl, but I lived in Juneau for a year. I still see dreams of Alaska. Loved that place! It's amazing that there is still places with so much wildlife left.