Note: This is the writeup I did for the LiveJournal Knitting community about the Devil Irish Diamond Shawl. Some of you have seen this. People who read my blog but not my LJ haven’t seen it. I’m proud of this, and I felt I needed some good things in my blog after the last crushingly depressing post.
Pattern: Irish Diamond Shawl from Cheryl Oberle’s Folk Shawls
Yarn: Harrisville Designs New England Shetland, 7.5 skeins
Colorway: 12 – Seagreen
Needles: Knitpicks Options, size 7
Dimensions: 48″ square
Started: March 5, 2008
Finished: June 12, 2008
Details: I got Folk Shawls as a Christmas gift and knew that I’d knit at least one of the patterns out of it. I drooled over this one and knew that my mother would love it, but with the yarn requirements and the tight budget we were on, I figured it’d be a while before I got the chance to do it. My birthday rolled around, and my big present from my partner was a trip to the yarn store. I’d been making noises about wanting to get yarn and start a big project to enter in the state fair, so I decided on this one. We went to the store, and I got 11 skeins of the New England Shetland in the only colorway of which they had enough yardage.
Changes in the pattern as written: None. I’m a big baby that way. I was petrified to change it. I thought about adding the corner yarnovers all the way out to the edge, but decided against it when it came time.
Things I learned: Lace is not for the faint-of-heart. It’s not a “Let’s watch TV and knit” project, nor is it a KIP/knitting group project, until you’ve done much more of it. Yes, this seems like a “duh” thing to learn, but after knitting Branching Out a couple of times, I figured (mistakenly) that I’d be okay. The inner repeats of the pattern were easy to memorize while I was knitting them, but I was surprised at how easy it also was to get off track and miscount. I learned very early on to love lifelines (by the end of it, I had about 20 lifelines in the shawl; I had dental floss at work, at home, and in my knitting bag at all times). I also learned to read my knitting and, more importantly, how to tink my knitting. Sl 1-k2tog-psso is easily un-knit when you see the construction and deconstruction at work.
This was a very humbling project for me. I was confident enough in my knitting skills to get the thing done, but it also took me a month longer to knit than I wanted. The deadline for registration for the Ohio State Fair is next Friday, the 20th, when I’ll be taking it in. I’m scared to death about that part, but if something gets judged higher, there was either something wrong with my construction (which I’m hoping they’ll tell me) or the other project just absolutely deserved a better score (in which case, I’ll definitely congratulate the knitter).
I’ve been a monogamous knitter for the last 3 months, and I’m ready for a little break before my next project. My mom has already shown the pictures to half of the courthouse where she works, and she’s also gone through a dozen Kleenex while crying.
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