More of the Moth

I un-pinned the Moth early this morning, so it’s time for a photo-shoot.

Not easy to take a photo of yourself from the back. Just sayin’.

Thank you for all the nice comments on this shawl. I am very happy with it and it is going to the office with me in the morning.

Some questions:

Aubrey asked:
I have a stitch/style question – would it look funny to do a more solid-looking increase in the middle? I know alot of shawl patterns use the YO-K-YO center increase, but I personally think the solid line of holes detracts a bit from the lacework.

I think this is a matter of personal preference. I like the line of holes down the middle. Try it with a more solid increase and see what you think.

Sarah asked:
Does going up 2 needle sizes help with elasticity, or does it affect how the bind-off looks?

The pattern directs you to bind off loosely. I went up two needle sizes on the bind-off to make darn sure I was binding off loosely enough. And it worked.

Michelle asked:
I’m working on the Fibertrends Lace Leaf. Twice I gotten to well over 35 rows. Everythings going good. I get side-tracked and suddenly, I have one too many or one too little stitches. I’ve backed off row after row and have not had to rip and start again for the 3rd time. Is there a trick to recovering from an error. It just isn’t the same as picking up a dropped stitch on a sweater or sock. How in the heck do you know where to begin?

There are a couple of things you should do to keep your lace behaving.

First, use a lifeline — at a point where you know the pattern is correct, thread a contrasting yarn of thread (dental floss works great for this) through the live stitches. That way if you need to rip back, you can rip back to that point where you knew everything is correct, and you’ll have all your stitches live on a thread.

Another thing — separate each pattern repeat with a stitch marker. I find this extremely useful — you are only dealing with one pattern repeat at a time, and this helps you figure out where you went wrong. If you have the wrong number of stitches between two markers, you’ll know the problem is in that repeat. Until you get the hang of the lace pattern, count the stitches in each pattern repeat as you work them — or count them on the way back on the wrong side row. That way you’ll find any errors right after you make them — and they’ll be a lot easier to deal with.

The Rebirth of Keelan

After I finished the Moth, I picked up Keelan, which had been languishing for months. I decided I didn’t like it in the Rowan Scottish Tweed fingering weight. It just wasn’t what I had in mind.

So I went into the stash and found some Jo Sharp SilkRoad DK Tweed and swatched with that. Exactly what I had in mind!

So Keelan has been reborn.

The Silkroad DK Tweed is lovely yarn — 85% wool, 10% silk, and 5% cashmere. It is extremely soft, and really doesn’t feel like wool at all. It has a soft, cottony feel to it. I’m using a 3.5mm needle and getting 20 stitches and 30 rows to 4 inches.

Forgot to Mention

Several of you asked where I got the “flock of sheep” pictured a couple of blog entries ago.

I actually don’t know where any of them came from exactly — they were all gifts, given at different times over the years. What can I say? When you know a knitter, you give her a sheep.

Lucy prefers the concept of giving a side of salmon, but that’s just her.