I predict that I will knit a lot of shawls this year. There are a couple of reasons for this, my wedding is coming up in June and I plan on knitting shawls for my bridesmaids. I have this new silk yarn that is so yummy and perfectly suited to shawls. There are so many great patterns out there, (I'm already planning on casting on for this next.) and basically, I just love knitting lace shawls! I love the complexity and the challenge that they present. I love the way that they transform from a bumpy mass of stitches pre-blocking into a stunning work of art post-blocking. And I love wearing them. So, 2010 will be the year I knit a lot of shawls.
Unfortunately, that means that there will be a lot of WIP shots that look like this:
Voila my Percy shawl. Hopefully I'll be able to get creative with my photography and figure out a way to make those pre-blocking blob shots a little more interesting...
Until this shawl, I thought that I hated knitting nupps. My only previous attempt was on the Swallowtail shawl that I knit for my mom for Christmas 2008, and it was not fun. I couldn't figure out how to make them loose enough to comfortable p7tog, but this time I think I got it! It actually wasn't rocket science, I just knit my nupps carefully and made sure to hold the stitches loosely in place, a little finicky, but definitely worth it. So far so good!
A couple more nights of knitting and I should be able to have this finished. Chart B has you purling in pattern on the wrong side, which is something I'd never done before. I'm glad that I did it, but it's shocking how much more complicated it made things for me! I thought that since I was used to knitting in pattern and purling is no big deal, that purling in pattern would be just like knitting in pattern. Whatever. But somehow working every single row in pattern and never having a break to just purl back without concentrating made it way more difficult for me! I had to be totally focused on my pattern and my knitting for every stitch. I'm now on Chart C (the last chart!) and am so relieved to not be working every row in pattern. Even with the finicky nupps, it feels so much easier.