Sunday, March 11, 2012

My Echo Flower Shawlette!

 Lace knitting, has been always a knitting technique that I've tried to avoid since I started to knit. I've done like three or four lace projects, but nothing to complicated. The thought of making a shawl, made me dizzy.How could I ever knit a shawl? with its infinite rows and thousands of yarn overs, not distraction allow between stitches and very long and complicated charts!!! Well as I said on last post, I came out of my comfort zone and I started to knit my dream shawl, the big and beautiful "Echo Flower Shawl".
When I started this project I didn't know that lace knitting was so different from normal knitting! ha,ha! New patterns on the chart, new way to cast on, new ways to do the yarn overs. Very interesting I have to say.
Before I started the project I needed to figure out  the way to cast on the first stitches, the pattern called for a crochet cast on; I looked it up and I found this website with a very clear tutorial for crochet cast on and an explanation about how the Echo Shawl is shape (which for knitters like me, new in the shawl world was very helpful) I'm not a fun of  that technique so I found a very similar way to cast on that really worked for me, it's call garter stitch cast on and Stephen West has a great tutorial for this technique.
Also, before hand I wanted to find an easier way to make the Nupps, because I didn't wanted to deal with the purl 9 together headache (I had the experience in the past when knitting the lily of the Valley scarf, not matter how careful I was I will always lost a stitch when purling all the 9 together!So, this time I wanted to be prepared). I found this wonderful video for the Nupps. You have not idea how much easier it is using this technique! You are going to be watching TV when purling!
Also there is one more link that I wanted to share just in case that you don't know how to knit this row, here is a great helpful video for the knit 3 into9. 
After all that research I started to cast on!!!
I choose to knit my shawl with a very pretty yarn Cascade Yarn Heritage solid colors, in a fingering weight, pink color.
They way you have to read the pattern is tricky if you are not used to knit shawls.
The first chart is divided in three parts, side, middle, side. Starting on right side of the pattern, You have to knit the side only one time, then repeat ONLY the middle part, until 12 stitches before the middle Stitch. Then continue knitting the second part of the chart, knit the side only one time,  then repeat ONLY the middle part, until 12 stitches before the end. (Remember to always keep the 3 stitches for the edge at the begging of each side, this stitches are NOT in any of the charts).
Keeping track of the number of stitches is crucial for the pattern to work in the next knitting row. It's very easy to miss a stitch! and if this happens to you liked it happened to me you will be very mad!! hahaha.
I hope this post can help you!
                                          This is how my pattern look after all the annotations
Today at 11:30pm I finally  finished this wonderful shawl!!! Such happiness I'm feeling right now! I can't believe my needles are free after almost 3 weeks of hard work!
Now is time to go to sleep.
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This is how it looked before blocking


At the end of the tunnel there is light!

Now is going to take a bubble bath to get relax!

and now is when magic happens....

The waiting game!

Almost there!
Finally... My shawlette is completed. I'm in love with it! So much work but so worth it!
My Echo Flower Shawlette
This is how it looks now


The back of my shawlette
Happy Face!

Right size




What did I learned with this pattern:
  1. Garter cast on
  2. Crochet cast on
  3. To understand my own knitting
  4. Reading complicated and long charts
  5.  Easier Nupps
  6. 3 into 9, 2 into 9
  7. Blocking lace
  8. Tension holding  fingering yarn
  9. To understand my own knitting
  10. Patience is the key to knit lace shawls. 
Have a great Sunday and I;m going to enjoy this beautiful day wearing my beautiful shawlette!
Hugs for you
Sabrina

3 comments:

melissa said...

magic is right! your shawl is beyond amazing!
wonderful wonderful work!!

Sara said...

Very well done. It's amazing how different it looks once it was blocked. So gorgeous!

Sabrina's Creations said...

Thank you so much Melissa and Sara! I am so happy with this project, I feel like I really knit something difficult and different. I might have to knit something else like this!