Swatching Birch

For Project Spectrum Elements Earth, I'm planning on the Birch Shawl by Sharon Miller (Ravelry link). I knew it was going to be dark green, both because of the theme of PS Elements, and also as a nod to the leaf lace pattern. But I didn't want to use the recommended Kidsilk Haze - I'd like to avoid knitting with mohair as long as possible. I decided to use this project as an excuse to try a lace yarn I hadn't used before, and decided on Morehouse Farms Merino Lace in Hemlock green.



On Earth Day, I swatched the lace pattern. I used the Fern Leaf Lace from Barbara Walker's first Treasury, as it's the same pattern without built-in decreases. I used US size 8 needles, as the original pattern called for, and love the result:



The yarn is single ply, so feels fragile. It's not as soft as other yarn I've been using lately - there is a lovely rustic-ness to the yarn that is perfect for the pattern. I've never used such large needles on such fine yarn before (it's thicker than other laceweight I own, but thinner than the fingering weight I'm used to using), and so have never knit something so "holey."



I have 880 yards, and want to make a generous shawl. Thing is, you cast on the long end and knit up to the point (which means the finished lace pattern will "hang" in the opposite direction of what is pictured above). So if I want to make the shawl bigger, I have to cast on those additional repeats and hope I don't run out of yarn.



Luckily, Fig & Plum has already knit this shawl in this yarn, and she used approximately 770 yards, so I've got a benchmark to start from. I'm thinking about casting on 20 extra stitches for two extra repeats. If anyone had any advice on how to know if I can fit two extra repeats in 110 yards, I'd love input.

New Shawls

I loved knitting lace so much that I'm already working on two more. (Even though those unmade Xmas gifts are still nagging at me, and the cold weather we've had recently makes me want another scarf.)

I cast on the Falling Leaves Shawl (Ravelry link) by Katy Wight first.

The pattern is very, very easy lace (an eight-row repeat, and four of those are all purls). This has become my take-anywhere project because it’s so easy to pick up and knit without much thought involved but still complicated enough to stay interesting. The pattern looks similar to Foliage but the decreases are all k2tog, which ends up producing a slant to the knitting, making the shawl into a parallelogram.

I started out thinking a garter stitch border would help the mostly stockinette stitches lay flat, but after knitting two repeats decided I didn't like the border. So I frogged it and started again without a border. However, almost four repeats in, I realized I cast on 9 stitches (one repeat) too few. That would make the difference between the shawl being 22" or 24" wide after blocking. Aargh! I've now put it aside while deciding whether or not I care enough about those two inches to frog and start all over or not.

So I pulled out some gorgeous baby alpaca yarn that I received as a gift some time ago and swatched for the the Shetland Triangle (Ravelry link) by Evelyn A. Clark.



I have tried to swatch this at least twice before and finally realized that the swatch has to include the increases that help build the shawl for everything to line up correctly. Finally, success. Not sure which size of needles to use with this German yarn for a lace project, I tried out both 6s (the lower repeat) and 7s (the upper repeat). I think the 7s are the winner.



I haven't actually cast on the actual shawl yet - it has taken every ounce of self-control I have today to work on getting ready for a class I have this evening instead - but certainly will before the weekend is over.

Knit Picks Score

More yarn arrived.


Gloss fingering weight yarn, 70% merino and 30% silk, in Burgundy


Alpaca Cloud lace weight yarn, 100% alpaca, in Iris Heather


Shadow lace weight 100% merino in Vineyard and Sunset Heathers

I balled up four skeins of the Burgandy. This may sound weird, but it smells good. I think it's the silk.



I love my ball winder.

I cast on and knit a swatch.


Kimono Shawl from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls. If this looks familiar, that's because I tried it once already in a different yarn - only to realize I did not have near enough of the gray alpaca to make a shawl.

I knit the upper half in US size 6 needles, the lower half in US size 5 needles. I'm not sure I can see the difference, but I'd love opinions on which size needles to use.

Aran-style bag

I bought the yarn for this baby over a year ago.


Tahki Donegal Tweed, 100 % wool


I really love the color, the tweediness, and the slubiness of this yarn.

I really like to knit cables, and the more they look like old Celtic or Viking knotwork, the better. I love Aran sweaters, but I live in the Pacific Northwest, where sweaters are not really needed, and well, I don't feel ready to knit a sweater yet. So I decided I would make a bag in the Aran style, something big enough to carry a book and a wallet for when I wanted to take a walk or go read in a coffee shop for a little while.

I tried out many different cable patterns (see how handy that sampler blanket project is?) and settled on the patterns I would use. Swatching commenced. I first tried US size 7 needles, a little smaller than the recommended 8s because I want a tight fabric, but found the cabling too hard to work. I frogged the swatch and tried again in 8s.





I found the yarn a little hard to work with. It's fairly scratchy and the homespun style means it's one ply, without the sproinginess of plied yarn. The yarn itself tends to curl up in corkscrews as I pull it out of the wound ball, which is a bit annoying. The kicker, though, is that I can't get all the stitches I want in the pattern I've designed and keep it to the 16 inch circumference I'm headed for. The swatch pictured above is 17 inches, but I don't have quite all the elements I want in the piece.

I'm afraid this yarn may be destined to become something else. Any suggestions for 100 g of worsted weight 100% wool? It's 183 yards...

Yarn Combination Experimentation

After finishing the diaper bag for Mama J, I was ready to knit for another of the babies on the way. My mama friends told me that baby blankets are always useful and appreciated. Baby blanket it is, then.

Well, with so many pregnant friends, I decided that buying yarn in bulk was the way to go. So I bought 5 cones of 3/2 mercerized cotton with the intent of mixing colors into one nice tweeded result. (Mixing coned yarn was recommended by my knitting mentor, who combines strands of 2/14 cotton to make his socks).

I knit these swatches in December 2006:


Here are the three cones of 3/2 mercerized cotton and the swatches I knit on a #9 (larger swatch) and #10 (smaller swatch) needles.


I knit the swatches to check what size needle to use, and to figure out how many stitches I needed for a baby blanket... and then forgot to measure the swatch before I frogged it.

I also knit this swatch to try out a pattern for said blanket:


Pattern from Barbara G. Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, using Valley Yarn's Berkshire Bulky 85% wool/15% alpaca in Lime.