Fiber Corner

Daily life of a knitting designer/publisher of handknitting patterns

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Indiski Shawl

Progress has been made on the Indiski shawl since the last post.

After separately knitting both borders, sts were picked up along the straight edge of each one.
Want a closer look? First the sts are picked up (as opposed to picked up and knit, they're just placed on the needle) in the front loop of the chain selvedge edge. Placing them on the needle first lets you make doubly sure you've got the correct number and that they're all heading the same direction before they get stretched out in the process of knitting them.
Then, you knit the sts through the back loop which causes a little twist in them making a pretty join.

From the back you can see the twisted sts and the straight horizontal line is from the other loop of the chain selvedge edge.
The really important part when working the selvedge st on a piece like this, is that needs to be done very loosely; probably two or two and a half times looser than a normal edge st. This allows it to stretch along with the lace pattern during the blocking process.

After the inner border, the zig zag pattern, on each piece is finished, the miter is grafted together to join them together . Sorry no pics of this as it was an early morning maneuver without light enough for decent pics.
The inner triangle is then started, working from the sts on the left inner border and attaching them to the sts from the right inner border. There is a small error in stitch count in the pattern on the first row of the middle triangle but it's an easy fix.

For my peeve of the week, let me present my June Tactile club fiber. Isn't the color lovely. The solid is Osage Orange overdyed with Indigo making a lovely sage-y green and green aqua (not as blue as the photo shows). But...
the fiber content is Bamboo/Wool/Alpaca (49/28/23). Now, this is supposed to be a "luxury" fiber offering; you pay a premium for this fiber as opposed to the wool/wool blend club fiber. Never should bamboo, basically a rayon, be classified as a luxury fiber. Yes, there is alpaca in the mix but last month's offering was an alpaca blend and when I signed up, no where did it state that this was an all alpaca fiber club. Plus, I can get much nicer alpaca just outside of town. Last month we had to sign up again for the next three months and with this delivery of a pseudo-luxury fiber, I'm wondering now if I made a mistake. So, why does it matter? Just spin it up, you say? Well, bamboo and I are not friends and life's too short to work with fiber you don't like. If you'd like this fiber, just let me know, it's looking for a new home.

5 Comments:

At 2:48 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

can't believe how much more youv'e done on the shawl, it is beautifl!!
Diana
caston41

 
At 8:54 AM, Anonymous keri said...

That shawl is amazing!

I might be interested in the roving....if you wouldn't mind bringing it wednesday night if you come I could fondle it and see if it wants to come home with me?

 
At 2:52 PM, Blogger Melanie said...

Thank you so much for the "how to" on picking up stitches from the border pieces. Your work is so beautiful.

I used your drive band splice method last week ;-). It makes the wheel run so smoothly!

So sorry that the fiber is a disappointment. I'm sticking to Etsy for just that reason.

 
At 8:39 AM, Blogger Roberta said...

What a beautiful shawl this is, the blue, the cashmere. It is fit for a queen. Thanks for the tutorial as well.
As for the fiber, I'm in agreement - bamboo is not considered a luxury fiber. Send it back!

 
At 6:45 PM, Blogger June said...

Oh, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love with that shaw!! It's drop dead gorgeous, girl!

Yah, and you know, you should send it back or complain a little at least. They won't know how you feel unless you tell 'em!

 

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