My Sister's Shawl - Clue 3

Clue 3 of the My Sister's Shawl mystery knit-along by Cozy Up Knits was released on Sunday. It felt like there was more knitting in this clue, but since a lot of the rows were getting shorter, there may actually have been fewer stitches knit.


First up was to finish the one side we were already working on. After Clue 2, we had finished the grey lace section and the grey and white stripes afterward. Clue 3 topped these with a garter eyelet section, more stripes and then mesh lace and broken seed stitch stripes to mirror what had already been done.

Only this time, all of the rows were getting shorter on the one side. This came to a point, and I assume this side of the shawl is done. (But who knows!)

The pattern has you decrease the last 10 stitches quickly in the last row while binding off with a regular stitch-over-stitch bind off.

We had all that pretty I-cord edging and I didn't want to interrupt it. So once I reached the final 10 stitches, I bound off the centre four stitches with an I-cord bind off using the first I-cord. This brought the right I-cord around the corner. I finished by stitching the right I-cord to the left so the stitches run continuously. (Basically, Kitchener stitch. It was very fiddly.)

Then we did a complete about-face and the rest of the clue had us working from the beginning, but in the opposite direction. I had used the crochet provisional cast on so I only had to unzip the crochet stitches to reveal the live stitches.

As each crochet stitch came out, I slipped the red stitch onto a needle:

I used a much smaller circular needle because the stitches from a provisional cast on are often very tight if you use the needle size that you're knitting with. Since the size of the stitches are only determined by the needle that's making the new stitches, I can use a much smaller needle to hold the stitches waiting to be knit without any effect. (Besides the intended effect of being able to get my needle in them to knit them.)

Here's the entire new live edge on the needle:

The provisional cast on is right in the middle of a lace section. Assuming this is the middle of the shawl (it may not be since I don't know what the entire shawl looks like), it is natural to put the cast on there. But there would have been less risk of mistakes and the join would have been less apt to be noticed if it had been between one of the lace mesh and the seed stitch sections.

In any case, the way I did the cast on put the YOs (yarn overs) on the needle. I think the cast on given in the pattern adds an extra knit row. (You're making stitches on two needles instead of just one.) So the pattern continued straight into the lace rows with the YOs. I had to insert a row of knitting first to make up for the row that wasn't included in the cast on. This was not a big deal, but when you start doing things "off pattern", you have to be prepared to be adjusting for that in the rest of the pattern.

Here is the second part of Clue 3:

We finished the lace mesh in the center, added a seed stitch section and then some more lace mesh. Looking at the actual shawl, I am not able to see where the provisional cast on. Here in the picture, I notice there is a slight line. (You can see it in the middle of the middle lace section.) I think this is a result of the change in direction of the stitches. But if I had been given this shawl blindly and told to figure out the construction, there's no way I would see the cast on.

Here is the entire shawl after Clue 3:

I've only got a couple yards of the red left and I'm going to need more. (I didn't notice when I purchased the yarn, but all of the balls have less yardage than recommended by the pattern so I knew there was a chance I would have to buy more.)

I was hoping to go yesterday and then today, picking up another ball when I picked up my new special order needle set. But the needles haven't arrived yet. (I keep getting "Tomorrow" "Tomorrow". Well, ok, two times.) Hopefully they still have the same dye lot in stock...

In the picture above, I think the shawl looks pretty short. When you hold it up and the weight of the shawl does it's thing, it's up to my shoulder -- getting pretty long!

Ombre Yarneater: Colours and Underarms

Truth be told, I've already finished my Ombre Yarneater sweater and worn it a couple of times. (Ok, more like every chance I can.) But before I have a chance to get pictures, I'll show you some progress.

Last time I showed you the sweater, I was just to the split for the sleeves and was working with multiple strands. After that I jumped to the next colour, one of the Lana Grossa Olympia balls.

But after working a number of rows, I really didn't like the abrupt colour change. So I ripped back the Olympia and worked a few rows with the Malabrigo Aquarella. I had two skeins of the Aquarella and just happened to start with the skein that wasn't as green. This was perfect as the greener skein blended nicely.

I'm a lot happier with the transition now.

The second thing I'm going to show you is how I do the underarm stitches. I used to do what patterns told me and cast on additional stitches to go under the arm, and then pick up off the cast on edge when working the sleeves. (And in fact some patterns have you cast on for both the body and the sleeves and then sew this short seam later--even crazier crazy pants.)

But I thought, how much better to do a provisional cast on so that there is no tight pulling at the underarm seam. And that's what I did for a long time--a provisional cast on over a piece of scrap yarn. When I was ready to do the sleeves, I just picked up the stitches and continued on.

But after doing so many socks toe up and realizing that it's easier to do a short row toe when I cast on over the cable of the needle instead of scrap yarn that I have to pick up stitches from, I applied the same idea to my sweaters. (I know--you realized I could do this when I started the explanation, but it takes me a while, people.)

So when casting on additional stitches at the underarm while working the body, I did a simple figure-8 cast on over one needle and the cable.

After knitting the body, you can see where those additional stitches are knit down one way, but patiently waiting for the sleeve to be done the other way. The stitches sit on the same cable that is holding the sleeve stitches.

I started knitting the sleeve half way through those stitches so that my end of round would line up with the side "seam" and when finished it looked like this:

View along the side "seam". Sleeve on top; body below.

Like any place that you cast on extra stitches there can be loose stitches or holes at the sides. You can leave a long enough tail when you start the sleeve to close these up and/or work the stitches with a needle or hook afterward to tighten the loose ones and spread the slack out over more stitches in the same row.

I'll try to get finished pictures up real soon!