Look Up to the Stars

Look at me....I'm a star. Or rather, I'm wearing stars. The Celestarium shawl I started for the Ravellenic Games in February has been finished!

The basic structure follows the "pi shawl" formula popularized by Elizabeth Zimmermann. Simply put, every time the diameter of the shawl doubles, you double the number of stitches. Since knitting is stretchy and flexible, it works to make a circle.

That is why the shawl looks like it is made of concentric bands. Each time you double the stitches, they are close together and make a dark section. As you knit out to the end of that band, the stitches are more spread out and the shawl looks lighter.

When the knitting was done, I wasn't sure where I was going to have room to layout and block the shawl. I finally moved all the furniture in the living room to the edges and laid the mats in the middle.

Weaving some blocking wires through the eyelets at the edge made it easy to pin the shawl into shape.

I put the wires in and pinned it when it was dry and then drenched it with a spray bottle of water. Apparently you don't want to over-handle silk when it is wet because it is much weaker. But pinning when dry and then soaking it does the trick. The shawl took to the shape beautifully.

As I said previously, I went with a fancier border than the original pattern. Someone had published an alternative edge that they used on their shawl and I went ahead and used her pattern.

I noticed afterward that some people blocked peaks in the edging (giving the shawl a scalloped edge) but I think the round shape works fine. Maybe next time I'll try the scallop edge.

The shawl is knit from the center out, so the rows go around and around the shawl. When the center part is done, you cast on a few stitches for the edge and then work those rows perpendicular to the edge of the shawl. All the shawl stitches are still on the needle and every other row you knit one of those stitches with the last stitch of the edging row. In that way you incorporate all of the live stitches into the edging as you work around the whole edge of the shawl.

In addition to adding interest by changing the direction of the knitting, this also solves the problem of how to bind off the shawl stitches. Most conventional bind offs are not stretchy enough and prevent the shawl from flowing properly.

Here is the star chart from the pattern which marks all the stars included. I have not looked to see how it matches with the picture of  my shawl above so I very much doubt it is in the same orientation.

As you may recall, the shawl was knit in 100% silk. It is very drapey and heavy for how thin it is (compared to wool especially).

It's warm but doesn't have that "cozy" feeling that fuzzy wool gives.

How to wear this thing?

I could fold just a bit of the curve under and then wrap it around my shoulders, securing with a wood shawl pin.

I preferred it worn shifted to one side instead of perfectly centered.

From the back, you can see a good part of the star pattern.

I could also wear it gathered around my neck with the ends wrapped back to the front.

Or gathered around the neck, but with the ends pinned at the back of my neck because the ends are too wide and thick to be able to tie them.

This does run the risk of some discomfort if the pin moves wrong!

A couple places you are unlikely to find this shawl just hanging out:

Project Stats
Started: 10 Feb '18
Finished: 21 Apr '18
Pattern: Celestarium by Audry Nicklin and Stellar Wave Edging by Kimberlee Johnson.
Materials: Dk/worsted weight silk raveled from an Oscar de la Renta sweater, 300 grams. Many size 6 clear silver-lined crystal beads.

What to Bring? (Or, A Status Update of All My Projects)

I'm headed on a short trip and it is time to face the question of what project(s) to pack. Let's keep it easy and make it multiple choice:

A) Brioche Cowl

I only have a few rows left and could be wearing this before I even get home!

B) Wool-Aid Vest

This is pretty mindless knitting, although I'm past the arm split so there is more shaping and such going on now. It's also pretty big and bringing more wool would be pretty bulky. Also, the thick yarn and tighter gauge tires my hands so I can't do it for too long at a time.

C) Wool-Aid Socks

These have the same issue of tiring and hurting my hands. Also, I didn't wind the balls on the ball winder and since I'm working with two strands, I have two huge balls trying to roll around all the time.

D) Insulate Gloves

The first one is done and fits. I just have to try and duplicate it. This would be a lot of thinking and interpreting notes. Also, maybe I should block this one to make sure the fit will still be ok. Maybe I could do that before I leave yet.

E) Celestarium Shawl

Last week I blocked the edging that I had knit so far and it came out great.

The eyelets on the outside edge really opened up, you can see the mock cable, and it lies flat. (I also found a mistake two or three repeats back so I had to rip them out. I'm back on track now though.) I don't nearly have this chart memorized (yet) so this will involve referencing the pattern continuously.

F) Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses Quilt

Look at that! I finally got it all organized in a binder. I was wondering how long it would take me to give into the urge.

I have a section for the finished (sewn) blocks (right up front of course):

 and a section for the ready-to-sew blocks:

and a section for block ideas or partial blocks:

Anyway, back to the decision at hand. I could pack my binder, bag of thread, scissors and needle pack and be all set to travel.

This is certainly not social sewing I could do during a visit however. My eyes have to be on what I'm doing all the time.

G) Something completely new, like the True Hope cowl kit I picked up at Vogue Knitting Live Chicago:

H) All of the above

I) None of the above - just hit a quilt or knit store on the way and buy something new.

Ravellenics Wrap Up

The Olympics finished quite some time ago and so did the concurrent Ravellenic Games. Although I made a list of several projects I could do during the games, I concentrated all my knitting time on one -- the Celestarium shawl by Audry Nicklin.

It was an ambitious project but you can get a lot done in 15 days of focused knitting.

Since my last update, I did more knitting while watching curling:

Row 89 finished (16,659 stitches, 28%)

It wasn't a great year to watch the Canadian teams, but I enjoyed the round robin play.

We took a road trip to Missouri. I found a way to do charted, beaded knitting while riding in a car.

Row 101 finished (20,115 stitches, 34%)

As with almost anything, the key is to be a vigilante of organization. (I'm proud to say I only ever lost one bead.)

I can continue to show progress pictures, but the pictures pretty much all look alike -- big blue blobs.

Row 111 finished (25,875 stitches, 44%)

Alas, I did not get enough done to finish the shawl before the closing ceremonies. I got as far as 132-3/8 rows (38,187 stitches, 65%). That means the only additional recognition I got (besides my one medal in Aerial Unwind) was:

After a brief break, I continued to make progress even without the promise of a Ravellenics medal. And then I received this treat from my sister:

A gold medal cookie! So sweet of her!

This past Monday I completed all 156 rows of the charts (51,795 stitches, 88%):

How can I be done the charts, but only 88% done the shawl? About 10% of the knitting is in the edging! The shawl is written with a plain garter border that circles the outside and finishes off the live stitches.

The designer linked to a different edging that another knitter had adapted to the shawl and I decided to try that instead. It has a pretty wave pattern and is wider than the original edging. My row gauge is smaller than the patterns and I decided I could use the extra width.

I started the edging and have finished a few inches. Although it was hard to break the rhythm and stop, I made myself do it so I could block or steam what I have so far and see how it behaves. (This is why I should do a swatch, but I just foolheartedly experiment with my actual project.)

I have some concerns about how the silk is going to behave. Wool will take to blocking wonderfully and I can be confident the lace pattern will open up and show, but I'm not sure about the silk.

I'm still deciding whether to steam or wet block and how to do it, so for now the shawl is on hold.

No Time Now, Gotta Knit

Have you noticed the Olympics are going on? I haven't caught any prime time network coverage, but I have been bingeing on events through the CBC website. It's been fantastic to just watch the event, in its entirety, without it being edited and packaged for prime time. And much less annoying commentary. :)

Anyway, that is all secondary to the real event -- the Ravellenic Games. If you've been reading this blog for a while, then you know that the knitters and crafters on Ravelry hold a huge event each time the Olympics Games are on. There are multiple events you can enter (like Cowl Curling, Aerial Unwind, Hat Halfpipe, Sock Hockey, and more) and you get virtual medals when you finish projects. The only one you're competing against is yourself.

I warmed up with an easy project I've already mentioned -- I raveled this sweater

 to harvest this yarn

and earned myself a medal in the Aerial Unwind event:

I made a list of projects I could work on as I had time or interest, but I really have one main project, the Celestarium shawl by Audry Nicklin. If you follow the link, you'll see that it is a round shawl that makes a map of the night sky as seen from the north pole. I have been fascinated with it for quite a while and had planned to make it from the yarn of this blue silk sweater:

I raveled the sweater in December and got 669 grams / 2,273 metres. The pattern calls for 1,097 metres so it looks like there's no trouble there.

I mentioned I started the project last weekend and had decided that I needed to start over. I ordered beads and they arrived on Wednesday already. I re-started on Wednesday night but didn't really start knitting until Thursday. I watched a lot of curling and got to row 62, which is 8,307 stitches out of a total of 58,707 sts. That's about 14%, which I think sounds better.

On Friday I got in a lot more good knitting while watching snowboard cross, ski aerials, and more curling. By the end of the day I had finished row 80 -- 14,067 stitches or 24%.

And now the sooner I can stop typing here, the more knitting I can get done tonight (while watching some short track).