Friday, October 31, 2008

Snowdrops, Shawl Pins, and Socks











Won't you be glad when I move on to a project that doesn't trigger my alliterative reflex?

Here's the gorgeous dragonfly shawl pin that I got on eBay. It's about 7" long and theoretically pewter, but it's pretty shiny (does pewter shine?), and I love it.

I finished the body of The Harlot's Snowdrop shawl. I'm embarrassed to say that I had never done an I-Cord bind-off before. What in the world was I thinking? It's super simple, and makes a fantastic edging. I'll be using that technique more often from now on.

I also picked up 438 (!!) sts around the outside edge of the shawl, and I started the lace edging. The repeat isn't difficult, but it's going to take awhile. The edging rows go from 9-18 sts, and it takes 2 rows to advance 1 stitch around the edge of the shawl. That's a bazillion stitches and not many fewer rows. I've worked my way through about half of one side. I am a little anxious about getting to the bottom point at the right place in the edging repeat, but I'll worry about that when I get there (which may not be for days). And if it's not exact, I'll do what I always do when it's not for publication: fake it.

And some sock progress- Christmas socks for an honorary Granddaughter: Twisted Playful (heavy fingering weight, superwash merino), Tulip colorway, with pink heel and toe yarn. I'm using up leftover yarn, which is why I am working on both at the same time-I have plenty of Tulip, but not a lot of the heel/toe coordinate. This sock has a very simple texture: Rnd 1: *K 1 P 1*, rep around, Rnd 2: *P 1, K 1*, rep around, Rnds 3-8: K. It's enough to keep the knitting from being boring, but not so complex that I need a chart.
Have a Safe and Hilarious Halloween!

4 comments:

Karen said...

What is this i-cord bind-off of which you speak? Sounds intriguing...and the Playful socks look fantabulous! (So does the shawl, and the pin...I believe you've hit the trifecta!)

Kate/Massachusetts said...

Both your socks and shawl are lovely! I like your new-found interest in lace knitting. Do you read Badcat? She is a very helpful read for lace knitters. Here's her blog addy:
http://www.badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/

OzKnitter said...

Love the dragonfly and the socks, I'm sure, will thrill the recipient on Christmas morning. Your lace shawl is beautiful, wonderful job!

Anonymous said...

Never posted here before but...been there knit that, well almost. In fact, adding the edging is the point where I put it down for a while. I take fits and starts with lace anyway and the slow pace of the edging made me frustrated. I just wanted to get it done. Better to set it aside for a while, I figured, than let my frustrations show in the piece. So its resting for now.

By the way Kathleen, love your Freebie Friday patterns. I've made several of them, but the Picot edge cap seems to be my favorite and the most popular. I have 6 graddaughters/nieces to make gifts for this Xmas, so I'm working on 6 of these (with earflaps if you don't mind) and mittens to match for them. Will post on Ravelry, I'm woundedknitter.