Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Blocking the KISS Pi Shawl


I blocked my KISS Pi Shawl this morning. I pinned it out on our bed, I was afraid of leaving pins in the carpet. I decided the easiest way to block it was to fold it in half. I stretched it out to 31" from center to point. I don't need it any bigger, even in my teens I never was 5 foot tall.

The blocking went okay, but it isn't as even as I'd like. It's not a lot of work, I can always try to improve the shape if it's obviously lopsided.

The second picture is fairly accurate for color, and I like to see the patterns all together. It's not an elaborate shawl, but darn it, it's DONE! The yarn is not sitting in my stash, waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect pattern, the perfect time.

I'm sure you have noticed the green gingham fabric. My SIL made curtains for her first nursery, and passed them on when I had my children. I didn't hang them for long, but have used them twice now for blocking shawls. It was especially handy to block my daughter's wedding stole. When I blocked Diametrag's shawl, I considered sewing the curtains together to fit her rectangular stole. I decided against it, and now I was able to use the gingham for my shawl.


Details for the knitters: KnitPicks Shadow, lace weight yarn, color Oregon Coast, 4 skeins, not much left, size 5 needles, Elizabeth Zimmermann's Pi Shawl with lacy patterns selected with simplicity in mind, blocked to 31" radius.

Would I knit another? You bet! In fact, I am seriously considering knitting a similar one for my Mom in Texas. I would give her this one, but I know she would dislike the brown. A lot. I am also thinking of another shawl for me, maybe not a Pi, but a shawl based on garter lace, so there is not the problem of right side/wrong side. I would like it lacier and a vibrant dark color. I feel some pattern hunting and swatching coming over me. Must clean house, must wash dishes......augh!

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6 Comments:

At 12:50 PM, February 07, 2007, Blogger Abigail said...

Wow!
It's beautiful, I love the simplicity.
Congratulations on a gorgeous work well done!

 
At 7:37 PM, February 08, 2007, Blogger Alwen said...

Wow, it looks great. Can't wait to see it off the needle!

I'm down to one repeat!

 
At 2:14 PM, February 21, 2007, Blogger Norma said...

Lenore,
Due to having to frog back quite a bit, I'm just now to the edging. If my math is correct and there are 32 rows in the pattern, and 580 sts on the needle, I need to decrease some stitches to get the right number for repeats. Correct?
PS.This is probably not where I should be asking. Do you have an e-mail address:

Thanks,
Norma

 
At 3:28 PM, February 21, 2007, Blogger tatt3r said...

Hi Norma, you are right. I decreased 4 sts in my last round, which gave me 576 stitches and 36 repeats around the shawl. I also moved my markers in the last round, I think I had 64 sts in each section, 9 sections.

 
At 9:29 PM, February 21, 2007, Blogger Norma said...

Thanks Lenore,
One more question, did you backwards e-cast on your 15 stitches or knit them on? OOps, make that 2 more questions, and do you slip the first stitch on the cast on row?
Thanks,
Norma

 
At 10:10 PM, February 21, 2007, Blogger tatt3r said...

I did not slip the first stitch on the first row, just get them on as best you can. I tried both knitting on and e-wrap, and can't remember which one I went with. I finally decided I would tolerate a seam, and just do the best I can.

Good Luck, Norma!

 

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