Wednesday, August 12

Finished: Swallowtail Shawl

The Swallowtail was my first triangular shawl. I think I'm hooked! (But I still need to figure out how to photograph them to show off the lace best.)


Swallowtail Shawl Finished, cropped


I've said it before, but I am a much better knitter when I'm using an interesting pattern stitch, instead of plain stockinette or rib. It's like, if I'm not forced to pay attention then I won't at all. I knit this whole thing without lifelines, marking up my chart, or even writing down what row I was on. And I didn't ever need to rip more than two or three stitches. (I did need to correct a lost yarnover from the previous row a few times though.)

I'm saying this not to brag or feel like a superior knitter (I'm definitely not), but to prove how important learning to read your knitting is. It's something I struggled with for a long time. It actually took me years to figure out that the row where the two stitch leaned together wasn't the decrease row, but the row where the loop passed through both of them at once was.

The Swallowtail is a simple enough pattern that I could tell what row I was on by a glance at what I had done in the previous row. Pattern repeats were easily counted, and the repeat section across the chart was short, intuitive, and easily memorized.

Plus, I think I got lucky.


Swallowtail worn, cropped
I'll probably wear it like this, under my coat.



Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark, Interweave Knits Fall 2006
Yarn: Wisdom Yarns Poem Sock, in color #955
Needles: Addi Turbo Lace in 3US
Started/Finished: June 2009 - August 3, 2009



Swallowtail Shawl
I really tried everything when it came to the photo.

No comments: