Dear Miss Marple,

you have been a wonderful project to work on, but I realise that it’s time that we part ways.
Let’s face it, you are meant to be a shawl, to be folded diagonally and worn that way.
Now we did have some pretty cold winters in the last years, but when it gets that cold I turn on the heater and wear my winter jacket when going outside. Wearing you as an additionally layer would make me feel like sitting in a sauna in the caribic.
You could of course become a wonderful bed throw, but I do prefer bed throws made from yarn that can be washed and dried in the washing machine. With your size, you would have to be washed in the tub and laid out flat on the lawn for drying. Which would only work in dry summers.

When I bought the yarn of which you are made, I planned to knit a Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl for a friend with it. Well. Turns out, that in that friendship I was the one who needed more comfort, and the friendship didn’t survive so I really wanted to use the yarn for something else. For a pretty Shawl with a Lacy Border, in fact.

I was still a knitting novice and didn’t know much about how the weight of the yarn influences the pattern. Never did I thought that you would turn out that big!

We spend 8 lovely months together, though of course you often prefered to stay in the bag, hidden away in the deepest depth of my wardrobe.
But now it’s time that we move on.

I will rib back, and the pretty but unfinished Shawl with a Lacy border will become a pretty and finished Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl for me.
The project might change, but the yarn and the name will still be the same, it’s time that Miss Marple, the pretty Shawl with a Lacy Border becomes Miss Marple, a Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl.

R.I.P.

Tea with Miss Marple

November 15t, 2010 - June 8, 2011

Thank you for a wonderful time and thank you for all the skills you made me learn while working on you.

Erata for the lacy border:

Row 1: YO, K8, Sl1 purlwise, P1, PSSO (10 stitches)

Row 2: Sl1, K1, YO, K2tog, K2, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog (10 stitches)

Row 3: YO, K9, Sl1 purlwise, P1, PSSO (11 stitches)

Row 4: Sl1, K1, YO, K2tog, K3, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog (11 stitches)

Row 5: YO, K10, Sl1 purlwise, P1, PSSO (12 stitches)

Row 6: Sl1, K1, YO, K2tog, K4, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog (12 stitches)

Row 7: YO, K11, Sl1 purlwise, P1, PSSO (13 stitches)

Row 8: Sl1, K1, YO, K2tog, K5, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog (13 stitches)

Row 9: YO, K12, Sl1 purlwise, P1, PSSO (14 stitches)

Row 10: Sl1, K1, YO, K2tog, K6, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog (14 stitches)

Row 11: K13, Sl1 purlwise, P1, PSSO (14 stitches)

Row 12: Sl1, K1, YO, K2tog, K 4, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog (13 stitches)

Row 13: K12, Sl1 purlwise, P1, PSSO (13 stitches)

Row 14: Sl1, K1, YO, K2tog, K 3, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog (12 stitches)

Row 15: K11, Sl1 purlwise, P1, PSSO (12 stitches)

Row 16: Sl1, K1, YO, K2tog, K2, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog (11 stitches)

Row 17: K10, Sl1 purlwise, P1, PSSO (11 stitches)

Row 18: Sl1, K1, YO, K2tog, K1, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog (10 stitches)

Row 19: K9, Sl1 purlwise, P1, PSSO (10 stitches)

Row 20: Sl1, K1, YO, K2tog, K2tog, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog (9 stitches)

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-Long Tail CO with purple.
-Finished the square, picked up stitches with the purple color. Picked up the stitches between the ridges.
-Changed to wine red and knitted two rows.
-Inserting stitchmarkers before doing a pattern row (none garterstitch row) to keep track of the stitches I have to work.
-150cm cable comfortably holds 300 stitches.
-Using two circulars or one circular and one straight needle makes knitting the border much easier and very much more comfortable.

Personal difficulty so far:
-many, many stitches on the cable
-first time I ever picked up stitches from the garter stitch side
-F&F pattern requires either stitchmarkers or good concentration, the mind can relax in all the garter stitch rows.

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12/06/2010 - 23:58

Finished row 60!!!

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12/07/2010

The picture with the #1

As usual I have no idea what I’m doing, but that doesn’t keep me from ploughing on.

Row 60 was knitted. At the beginning of the potential row 61 I simply knitted on 9 stitches, used a stitchmarker to keep track. I don’t know if I did it right, but it looks ok.
Just knit the first stitch but keep it on the left needle and slip the newly-knitted stitch back on the left needle. Then knit a new stitch from the newly-knitted stitch and slip the new stitch back on the needle.

Checked knittinghelp.com; but I couldn’t make head nor tail from their finger gymnastics.

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12/7/2010

Plöde Spitze, ich kriegs nicht hin :(

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12/27/2010

Time to wake Miss Marple!

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2/1/2011

Wip month, wip month, January is the “finish all your wips months”.
And this stupid thing refuses to get finished.
Either there are some mistakes in the pattern for the border (would be depressing), or I’m just too stupid to knit (even more depressing). Maybe even both.

With much carefulness and the help of the lifeline and stitchmarkers I made it to row 14, after this row the decrease begins, and either there’s a mistake in the pattern, or I’m not supposed to have two stitches left over by the end of row 12?!
The same thing happens later again, so I’m inclined to think it’s a mistake in the pattern.

The yarn is already getting hard and fuzzy from all the ribbing back, so I’m taking yarn and needles and try to work out the lacy border first, before touching Miss Marple again.

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01/31/2011

Time to get activ again. Time to figure out the lacy border. In the first weeks I was really confused by all the yo, k2togs and knit x stitches, but now I think I got a brainwave and know how to knit the border. We’ll see. Got some scrap yarn and my new straights and am working to solve the riddle.

Happy, happy, happy! I think I finally worked it out! Going to testknit two patternrepeats but really, it looks correct!

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02/02/2011

One lacy border pattern repeat uses 10 stitches from the F&F border. So far I did 5 pattern repeats.
Miss Marple needs to be washed with some wool shampoo, the yarn is a bit too dry for my liking.

Personal thought: The lace looks nice, but is a bit too simple for a lady’s shawl. Or for something with F&F.
It’s an odd combinition. Elegant waves of FF and then simple triangles for a border…

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Managed 9 pattern repeats in total, 21 pattern repeats to go (for this side), but not today. Finished the ninth pr when I noticed that I keep making mistakes. Won’t rib back though.

April 15, 2011

And I ribbed back! At first I thought, bother, just rib everything back and only leave the center square. But then I had a good look at the huge rows of the border and I hastened to fetch my 3,25 Addi Lace needle. Now (hopefully) all stitches are back on that needle, I have to slip the stitches back onto the original knitting needles, might have to check that no stitches got twisted, but I don’t think that would matter much, as the stitches of the last row are purled together with the stitches of the “lacy border”.

Which reminds me, I found a pattern from Paton, for a different lacy border, this one might suit the shawl/blanket/throw better, but I can’t be bothered to test it.

Look at this border

Time to slip, slip, slip… after I had my cocoa. There’s no way I can cope with this unanaesthetised. Plan to have the whole thing finished by the end of April.

April 16, 2011

Catching up, catching up. 7 pattern repeates of the border are done. Will take MM with me and try to knit at least 3 more today.