Season Shawl Finished!

I'm behind! I have much to post and haven't been keeping up with it. I have some time this morning (before I keep my date with Mr. Potter), so hopefully, I can write some posts and catch up!

First of all, a Finished Object. A Big Finished Object. Meet my completed and blocked Fall/Winter Seasons Shawl. (That's a Ravelry link.) I purchased the kit to make the shawl from Knitpicks, but once it sold out, that haven't re-offered it (hence, no Knitpicks link). Click this link, and see my blog posts relating to the shawl.

I have knit lace before, but never something this large, so it was a New Experience for me. I liked it!

The shawl is designed to move from the beginning of fall (the green section) through several autumn colors in a leaf lace knitting pattern. The fall season fades to winter as burgundy transitions to blue. The blue section is "snow" followed by midnight blue "snow drifts" and then the final granite "icicles." I liked the concept, and I like the finished project.

I had a few challenges with is. First, I must knit at a gauge that is larger than that of the test knitters at KnitPick. I read many posts on Ravelry about the shawl, and some people were running out of yarn. I ordered extra -- great idea, since as I ran out, I had what I needed.

There are a few errors in the pattern, as noted on the Knitpicks site. Anyone knitting it should go and get the errata page! I also found a difficulty in the row that knits into the triple yarn overs -- it's very near the end of the pattern. There is an extra stitch that is not accounted for in the pattern. I just knit it, but I'm not sure that is the best result -- the point of each icicle is a little off to the side because of the extra stitch. No big deal, but I would rather it be symmetrical.

So, its specifications:

Pattern: KnitPicks Fall/Winter Seasons Shawl (not available at this point from KnitPicks)

Yarn: KnitPicks Shadow lace yarn (held double) as follows (number following color name is the number of hanks of yarn I used):

Forest Heather -- 1
Persimmon Heather - 1
Sunset - 2 (one more than kit)
Vineyard - 1
Nocturne Heather - 3 (one more than kit)
Midnight - 2 (one more than kit)
Basalt - 2 (one more than kit) -- I only needed the second hank for two rows!

Needles: I used KnitPicks Harmony needles, US size 5, and I just kept changing the cord as I needed it to be longer. I bound off with double pointed, US size 9. It didn't need to be double pointed, but it worked just great.

Size: Oh, bigger than the pattern says it will be (which explains the extra yarn). It measures 104 inches across the top. I can't remember the back to point measurement. I like the size. It's large, but great to wrap up in.

Images: I took the shawl with me for a college visit with my son. I knew we would be in places that would make great backgrounds for a photo shoot. The first one -- the official "finished object" photo, is on the campus of West Virginia Wesleyan College. The next one is in our room, and it shows the transitions and stitches to best advantage. The last one is at Stonewall Resort, outside at sunrise. I picked it because it shows the holes (isn't that a strange reason to pick an image?).

Seasons update

How about an update on the Seasons shawl? I like the colors -- each one more than the last. I could leave behind the green beginning color and the orange one that follows. The two of them together look like peas and carrots.

I've run out oaf yarn a coupe of times --at the end of the sunset section and the noctune section.

I'm enjoying the knitting, but will be grateful to be finished.

Next up -- gloves.

Knitting Update

The Seasons Shawl is moving along. I have finished the 7th row of the sunset/vineyard section, and I ran out of sunset. Luckily, I had ordered extra, so I'm still moving along. It looks a little crunched right now, but I imagine after blocking, the leaves will pop right out.

I haven't had a chance to take pictures of the cable shawl, but once it gets cool enough so that I'm not sweating with the wool shawl, I capture its bit and bytes.

I'm almost done with the movie scarf -- Kavanagh scarf. I almost finished the fifth skein, and am contemplating fringe with skein six. It has been great movie knitting because I can do it in the dark. Last Friday, just as the movie started, my knitpicks option needle fell apart, dropping all my stitches. I was able to hold it together for a while and knit, but I finally gave up. After an email to Knitpicks, the needles have been replaced. Great customer service.

Knitting Seasons

First, the Kilkenny Cable Shawl is finished! Once I block it, I'll post pictures and all of its finished stats.

I've started a new project -- Knitpicks Fall/Winter Seasons Shawl (that's a Ravelry Link). The picture is of half of the beginning of the shawl. It begins with green and then switches to a green/persimmon combination for one pattern repeat. After that, I'll drop the green and pick up more persimmon. It's knit with two stands of Shadow lace yarn held together.

I'm enjoying watching the leaves appear in the pattern. I haven't knit a lace yarn shawl before, so this is new. I have knit from charts (love charts!) and with the stitches necessary for a lace shawl, so this is kind of a next step.

The Kavanagh one row scarf is still on the needles, as well.

Stash and Shawl Update

I recently placed an order with Knitpicks. What did I pick up?

• A skein of Stroll Tonal in DeepWater. I love the color. It is HOT and BRIGHT outside today, and I think my pictures of rather overexposed -- the colors look lighter than they really are. The Deep Waters is darker than the picture seems. It's a lovely combination of blues and purples.
• I have been thinking of a scarf that would match my red and black jacket. Most overdyed yarns I find are not those two color combinations. I found Shamrock at the Knitpicks site. The Kavanagh colorway has a red main color (3 ply) with a fourth ply of black/gray/white. I was going to a couple of movies Friday, and wanted to be able to knit while I watched. The cable shawl is too complicated to knit in the dark, so I took a skein of the Shamrock yarn and needles with me. I cast on (30 stitches) at lunch and knit in the dark -- the whole skein. It wasn't until after the movie that I was able to look at what I had knit. Kind of a cool experiment. It's the Yarn Harlot's One Row Scarf pattern (not really a pattern, but a fun and easy knit that results in a fabric I like a lot. Details of the pattern are at my Missouri River Scarf page. In that one, the colors in the overdyed yarn kind of zigzagged. They are doing that in this scarf, too, which I love.
• Knitpicks put out a new pattern called the Seasons Shawl (Ravelry link). I bought it in Fall/Winter. I think it will be my next project after the Kilkenny shawl is finished. The yarn that came with the kit is all Knitpicks Shadow. Below (lighter than they really are), are, from left to right: Basalt, Nocturne Heather, Vineyard, Forest Heather, Sunset, Persimmon Heather and Midnight.

Speaking of the Kilkenny Cable Shawl, it's moving along. I have between 24 and 25 inches finished. It goes to 28 inches. I'm very ready to be finished and to block that baby!