I bought the kit years ago. It’s time to queue it up. LOL

I’ve started work on this shawl. I’m not loving the yarn; it’s spun very unevenly and is very thin in some spots, but I’ll soldier on and hope for the best.

1-28-12 Well, Spider Queen is on hold. I completed entire repeat of the first spider-web motif and I just hate the way the thick-and-thin nature of Thistledown spoils the delicate look of this pattern. So Spider Queen will have to wait until the J & S cobweb that I just ordered arrives from England.

I have a ton of Thistledown because I bought 2 kits that include it. I don’t know what I’ll use it for, but I’ll find the perfect project.

2-22-12 The J & S cobweb yarn arrived a couple of weeks ago, but I’m not going to restart this project until I finish the shawl I currently have OTN.

5-15-12 I restarted Spider Queen using J & S cobweb. It is also a single, and it also a little thick and thin, but much less so than Thistledown. The picture at the bottom shows what I knitted in Thistledown, which you can compare to the second last picture, which is in J & S. In the Thistledown picture, you can see fuzzy sections; those are places where the yarn is thicker. In the J & S picture, you really cannot tell where the yarn is thicker.

I also changed to a smaller needle, 2.75 mm instead of 3.0 mm because the J & S is a little thinner (and a lot stretchier) than Thistledown.

5-21-12 I have completed one repeat of the center pattern, 54 rows. I was expecting this pattern to be challenging because every row is a pattern row, but it’s really a pretty simple lace pattern, and the knitting is easy to read. Also, I’m enjoying working with the J & S cobweb. Although it is very thin, it’s quite strong. My yarn hasn’t broken so far.

5-25-12 I finished the second repeat of the center pattern last night and got a few rows of the third repeat completed. So far, so good.

5-26-12 I got 23 more rows of the center finished last night. I just might get the center done this week end. Then the difficult part will begin.

5-31-12 The center is finished, and so is the Dewdrops band of the first border.

I decided to knit the first and second border as written except for the addition of a yarn over at the beginning of every row to replace one of the increases. The yarnover is then ktbl on the return row.

When I knit the side borders, I will attach them to the top and bottom borders by knitting the last stitch together with the yarnover loop. I got this idea from EZ’s Stonington Shawl.

I’m working the row increases in the second last stitch of the row (excluding the yarn over stitch)

6-10-12 I’m progressing quite nicely. I’ll finish up border chart iii tonight and get started on chart iv tonight. So far, I haven’t found a single error in the pattern, and the yarn is very sturdy. I’ve broken it only twice so far. :-)

6-22-12 Well, the first border is finished and border #2 is under way. I’m working the increases the same as in border 1, i.e., I begin each row with a yarn over (increase one) and work a kfb in the second last stitch of the round (not counting the yo from the previous round), then knit into the back of the yarn over at the end of the row. When I knit borders 3 and 4, I will do kfb increases, and knit the last stitch of the row together with the yarn overs I made on the other two borders.

7-11-12 I’m nearly finished with the edging on border #2. Then comes the test. Will the corners be stretchy enough? Or will I have to rip the border back?

7-15-12 Border #2 is completed and border #3 commenced. I’m joining border #3 to the other borders thus:
I knit in pattern to the end of the row.
I pick up and knit a stitch through the yarn-over loop on the other border.
I pass the last stitch of the row over the picked up stitch from the other border

Once I have worked the yarn-over loop, the corner edge becomes stretchier, so I’m thinking that maybe this technique will work just fine.

8-11-12 The 3rd border is completed and the mitered join is plenty stretchy. And it doesn’t look bad, either. All in all, I am pleased with the results, but only washing and dressing will tell the ultimate tail.

9-18-12 I’m almost half-way done with the final edging. I should definitely have this shawl finished before the month is over.

9-22-12 The knitting was completed today and I even had a little yarn left over. I used almost all of 6 balls.