The Elegance of the Swallowtail

I have to preface these photos by reiterating that this shawl isn't for me, although I kind of wish it was because I really like it! I didn't think I'd be able to pull off a triangular shawl (and honestly I'm still not sure it's something I would actually wear) but it's pretty in the photos. Dave took a ton of photos, most of which got thrown out due to my arms looking more akin to those of a linebacker or the sudden appearance of a double chin, but some were good enough to display on the blog: I think this is how I would be most likely to wear something like this, and it certainly adds a degree of elegance and sophistication to an otherwise very plain black dress. Here's a good "from the back" photo. Please ignore my apparently gigantic arms. I think some of that is the light. Hopefully.
And then a "demure" pose, although I was probably glaring at the wall or sticking my tongue out or some such silliness that is thankfully well-hidden.
And finally, a close-up of the nupps which I went on and on about in so many posts. You can see that they really do add quite a nice texture to the lace and thus were well worth the effort.
Project Stats: Swallowtail Shawl
Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl, by Evelyn Clark, from Interweave Knits Fall 2006.
Yarn: Zephyr Wool-silk, colorway curry, about 475 yards. Yarn purchased at Acorn Street in Seattle.
Needles: Size 4 Knit Picks Harmony bamboo. These needles are great - I can't say enough good things about them. You should get some.
Time to knit: Mid-January to March 24, 2008, with about a month of laziness mixed in. It went pretty quickly considering it was my first real lace project, but there was a deadline involved which provided motivation not to slack.
Modifications: The shawl as the pattern directs is pretty small, so I made mine larger by adding five repeats of the budding lace pattern (the main section), for 19 total repeats. I followed the instructions provided in this post by Pepperknit, and had no problems with the math working out correctly. I did the nupps as instructed in the pattern, and although they were tedious it wasn't so awful once I got used to them. I think the super sharp needles helped a lot in that regard. My shawl ended up being 60 inches across the top by about 27 inches long, which I think is a good size. It's perfect for me. The recipient is a bit broader in the shoulders, but hopefully it will be okay for her as well. I will be gifting it this weekend so I'll update about that soon!
Impressions: I love it! While it's not the first laceweight project I've started, it is the first I've completed, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I made my only mistake early on and got it over with (bet you can't see it! I can't and I know where it is), and although I had to tink back a few stitches a couple of times, I really didn't have any issues. This is a very simple pattern because it's so repetitive, and I'd recommend to any new lace knitter. I put in lifelines but thankfully I didn't have to use them. I was a bit concerned about the color but I really like it in the end - the photos are fairly accurate, especially the close-up of the nupps. I was going for gold and this was the closest color I could find. I have a ton of yarn left, and gold is not my color, so I need to come with another gold shawl giftee! I'm all inspired to knit more lace, although I'm still not really sure it fits into my dressing style. I'm thinking rectangular stoles like the Hanami will be more wearable for me, but I jumped at the chance to make a triangular shawl when I thought of a recipient I knew would appreciate it.

We'll have a March goal recap and April planning post later today or tomorrow!

Magic!

The Swallowtail Shawl is blocking! It went from this: To this:
in a matter of minutes. This was a group effort - I borrowed the blocking wires (which I only used on the top) from Jennifer, and Anne-Marie came over for moral support and to help with the pinning. We were both impressed by what a difference the blocking made. It is true that it's quite a transformation. I was able to block the shawl to about 60x27 inches, which is, I think, an acceptable size. It's still pinned to the futon although it's pretty much dry already. I must admit I'm a bit afraid to unpin it for fear that it might snap back to its unblocked state, although I know that's unlikely. I tried to get a good shot from the side but didn't really succeed. This is the best one. I'll take more close-up shots so you can all appreciate the nupps (and muse about the project) when it's finished blocking! I am, in all honestly, amazed that I knit this...

Something is missing...

Swallowtail Shawl, unblocked
Originally uploaded by Emily E.M.

The needles! I finished binding off the shawl last night, and I think it looks great, in that crumpled mess sort of way :) I'm going to get some more pins tonight and Dave is going to pull out the futon so I can get blocking. I'm really excited - first lace project almost complete, and I'm very much looking forward to the blocking magic. I have NO idea how big this is going to turn out, although I don't think it's going to end up much larger than the pattern even though I did five extra repeats of the main pattern. But, we'll see - I'm new to this, maybe it will grow by leaps and bounds? Fingers crossed!

Swallowtail shawl progress is afoot

Look what I'm making - a giant blob of orange gold! This is my Swallowtail Shawl, 14 repeats of the main lace pattern finished. I'm enlarging the shawl so I plan to do 19 repeats as per Pepperknit. This is a semi-secret gift project. Semi because I want to be able to blog about it, but secret because I'm not telling you who it's for. See, semi-secret? Right...

I need to figure out how to make Flickr embed photos in my posts without doing the weird formatting it's doing up there! Anyway, this is Zephyr wool/silk in curry. I think the color in the first photo is pretty accurate. I'm worried it's going to be too orange, but really it is a lovely color and hopefully the recipient will like it. I was going for gold but I couldn't find any gold laceweight in Seattle or on the internets. So, curry it is! I'm very much enjoying knitting this now that I'm into it, although that took a little while. Now the rows are longer and thus the stitches are more stable on the needles so I feel more confident, plus I have the pattern pretty much memorized and I'm learning to read the lace to make sure I'm on track. This has to be done in about a month, which should be okay at my current rate of progress, although the nupps may slow me down. Pepperknit also has a different nupp method that I think I'll borrow to avoid the purl5together stitch, which sounds painful even with the Knit Picks Harmony needles (which are great, and not garish as I initially feared). Here's a close-up of the pattern. Thanks to Dave for stretching it out so I could take the photo!

Now that I'm back and not that busy there's no stopping me - I'm posting all the time! Oh, and I've been messing with my sidebars a bit - if you're a blog I read and I haven't added you yet don't feel bad. My computer at work crashed when I was making the list and I haven't gotten back to it yet. Then again, I read a lot of blogs so I might not be able to list them all...

A bloggable project!

Finally, something I can blog about! I've been doing quite a bit of knitting, especially considering all the "work" related stuff I've had going on, but sadly none of it has been bloggable! However, I'm charging along on my January list. I've finished the secret gift project (#2) and the Carpathia Hat (#5). I have also started #4, the hat for Rembrandt, which is going to be a joint project between Dave and I. I cast-on and did the bottom ribbing, and now he is going to knit up to the crown decreases. This way the hat can be from both of us without me having to do all the work! Dave is a good knitter (albeit not the fastest), but he has no interest in purling (Nor do I, really, but it's tough to avoid if you want to knit anything interesting!), so he's doing, as he put it, "the part of the hat that doesn't require me to purl."

So, that brings me to item #8 on the list - "Pick out a pattern and yarn for a semi-secret gift that I'll probably blog about whilst being coy about the recipient and occasion."

I have done this, and had actually already done it when I posted the list, but once I get going on making lists there's no stopping me. Plus it felt good to have already accomplished something! I've decided to make the Swallowtail Shawl from the Fall 2006 Interweave Knits. I'm not going to mention who or what it's for, to keep it secret, but I'd like to blog about it as I go since it's my first triangular shawl. Plus, otherwise I'll have nothing to talk about. I cast on last night, and got through the first Budding Lace pattern and one repeat of the second Budding Lace pattern:

The color is less orange in person - more of a deep gold. I'm suspecting it's going to be a difficult color to photograph accurately. This isn't a color I would have chosen for myself, but light gold was suggested to me and I did my best to find appropriate yarn (Which was NOT easy - there is a dearth of gold yarn out there.). This is Zephyr wool-silk, the same yarn as I was using for the mystery stole (Yay, no need to swatch since I already know it'll work on these needles!), colorway "Curry." It's similar to Oliver's lighter orange bits, and he's pretty interested in it. Or in the blocking pins - just before this photo he had one paw on the yarn and one paw in the pins:I realize it still looks orange. God, now that I'm looking at it in these photos I'm a bit worried about the color. Eep. Last night I ordered some Knit Picks Harmony needles to work on this, but I'm using my Clover bamboos until they arrive. I'd continue with the Clovers but the tips really aren't sharp enough for the complicated stitches that are going to come up later in the shawl. I resisted the urge to even look at the Knit Picks yarn and just ordered the needles, which even with shipping were much cheaper than the comparably sized Addi Turbo Lace needles I was eyeing at Acorn Street when I bought the yarn. Plus, I really prefer wood needles, especially for lace with slippery yarn. I have enough problems keeping my stitches on the needles without the needles conspiring against me!