All About Love (a full-of-love shawl)
This shawl is dedicated to all the amazing people in my life Thank you for all the support everyone has given me.. The name of the shawl is inspired by bell hoks' bok All About Love. And a special thanks goes out to Caitlin Ffrench for always being an amazing model. Check out softsweater's blogat http://softsweaterfibres.blogspot.ca/ Check out Caitlin's blog at http://wewilltellyouallofoursecrets.blogspot.ca/
Legend:
yo = yarn over k =knit p = purl RS = Right Side WS = Wrong Side k2tog = knit 2 stitches together k3tog = knit 3 stitches together ssk = slip a stitch, slip another stitch, knit the two slipped stitches together
Notions:
400 yards (approx) of worsted-weight yarn A set of 4.5mm circular needles at least 24" long A set of 5.5mm circular needles at least 24" 1ong An embroidery needle for weaving in ends
Shawl Breakdown:
This shawl is knit bottom-up. That means you'll be casting on a bunch of stitches at the bottom of the shawl and then knitting the lace border up to the short row stockinette section. Gauge:
Gauge doesn't really matter! Yay!
Knit All the Love
on 188 sitches with a 5.5mm circular ne Switch to 4mm circular needle for the rest of the pattern. Garter yarn over border Row1 (WS):knit Row 2 (RS): K2tog, (yo, K2tog) repeat stitches in brackes until end of row Row3(WS):knit
The Lovely Lace Border
Row 4, 6, 8 and 10 (RS): k1, k2tog, k2, yo, k1, yo (k2, k3tog, k2, yo, kl, yo) repeat stitches in brackets until last 5 stitches. Work last 5 stitches as follows: k2, sk, k1. Row 12, 14, 16 and 18: k1, yo, k1, (k2, k3tog, k2, yo, k1, y0) repeat stitches in brackets until last 9 stitches. Work last 9 stitches as follows: k2, k3tog, k3, yo, k1 Row 20, 22,24, 26 (RS):k1, k2tog, k2,y0, k1,yo (k2, k3tog, k2,yo,k1,y0) repeat stitches in brackets until last 5 stitches. Work last 5 stitches as follows: k2, ssk, k1. Row 21,23,&25(WS):Purl
While you're knitting the lace:
Keep an eye out that everything is lining up. While you're knitting the lace your Yarn overs should stack up and your k3togs should be stacking on top of one another. Check your stitches while you're ! Better than getting to the end of the row and realizing you've made a mistake Garter yarn over border Row27(WS):knitRow 28 (RS): K2tog, (Yo, K2tog) repeat stitches in brackets until end of row. Row 29 (WS):knit
Short row stockinette section: Row 30: knit 99 stitches, turn your work Row 31: purl 1l stitches, turn your work Row 32: knit to 1 stitch before turning point, ssk,knit 3 stitches, turn your work Row 33: purl to 1 stitch before turning point, p2tog, purl 3 stitches, turn your work Repeat last two rows until all stitches have been worked. After all stitches have been worked knit eight rows to get the garter ridge. Bind-off all stitches with the sewn bind-off method or with some other alternate stretchy bind-off.
How to block shawls
Step one: knit a shawl Step two: find someone who loves you very much Step three: ask them to block it. All done! What? That didn't work? DAMN. Well, I guess we gotta block that shit all by ourselves.
Here's how I do it:
I get my shawls wet, I usually fill up the sink in the bathroom, mix in a bit of wool soak (I have an ancient bottle of eucalan from when I started knitting - it has lasted for ever) gently wring out the water, if it's a heavy wol or alpaca I use a towel to gently (and I mean gently - you don't want it to felt at all) squish the water out of the shawl. My blocking area is just the living room floor. I put down cardboard, or foam matts (I got mine from toys 'r' us) with plastic on top of them. I just use black plastic garbage bags (the plastic helps the water evaporate evenly so it doesn't just soak into the cardboard and keep everything moist. I use T pins (seen below) instead of any other type of pins, they are sturdier (they don't bend!) and they are just easier to grasp. I start pinning at the top middle (1), moving to the left tip (2), then right tip (3) then I go half way between 2 and 1 and then half way between 1 and 3. Keep it up that way (pinning half way between two pins) until your top of the shawl is blocked out. That gives you a sturdy base so you can start pulling and pinning the bottom of the shawl. Pin 10, then, 1l, then 12, then 13 etc. Always pin in the middle, between two pins.
Let's block the hell out of this hypothetical shawl!
Pull tightly! Pin tightly! often my shawls rise up off the ground onto the pins while they're drying as the yarn tries to shrink back down. Emphasis on 'tries'. Everyone develops their own blocking ways, this is just my personal favourite! Blocked wol shawls drape like no other fabric. It's a pleasure to experience. Blocking opens up the lace so you can see it in all it's beauty. Once you've cast off a lace shawl, you'll notice it ends up lo king like a little crumpled mess of yarn. You know it's lace, you've knit it to be lace, but it doesn't lok anything like a lace shawl should. That is why we block the hell out of it! Happy blocking!
