Read on for helpful hints and stitch counts not included in the pattern.

The following is a list of the number of stitches you should have on your needles when you finish the last row of each section.

Section 1 - 87 stitches

Section 2 - 135 stitches

Section 3 - 171 stitches

Section 4 -247 stitches

Section 5 - All sizes except shawlette - 283 stitches Shawlette size - 280

Section 6 - 367 stitches

Section 7 - 487 stitches

Section 8 - 533 stitches

I just wanted to mention another hint or two that I have found very helpful in knitting this pattern:

Most lace I have knit has been from charts, so I am used to “seeing” the lace pattern on the chart as I knit it. Sometimes I find myself losing my place on some of the longer lines of written instruction in this pattern where there might be multiples of K2tog x 6, (yo, k1) x 6 etc. It all sort of runs in together.

HINT #1

I decided to highlight in different colors sets of stitches on the really long pattern lines. (see photo included for example)

It makes it much easier for me to find my place in the pattern and see the next set of stitches I need to knit. So, the “(yo, k1) x 6” are all in green, and the “k2tog x3” are all in orange, etc.

HINT #2

Put stitch markers on either side of the “spine” stitches.

Explanation: Most shawl patterns have a center “spine” and the pattern authors usually have you set off the spine stitch(es) with stitch markers. Terpsichore has 3 spines. Each one is a k1 with a yo on either side of it. This is consistent throughout the pattern. On all the odd rows, there will be a yarn over on either side of each of the k1 “spines.” If get off by a stitch or two in knitting the lace patterning I know almost immediately because the yo, k1, yo in the next spine will not fall where it should. This way I don’t knit all the way to the end of a row of 200-300 stitches only to find I made a mistake in the first 10!

HINT #3

PLEASE NOTE: Each section of the pattern will end with an even row. However, sadly and frequently, the author has not written instructions for the last row at the end of the section!

FOR EXAMPLE: Section 4 has a Row 16. But there is no Row 16 printed on the pattern after Row 15. Instead, the instructions for Row 16 are all the way up at Row 4! It would be very easy to miss this fact, finish knitting Row 15, think to oneself, “Aha! Another section FINISHED! Yay!” and happily skip on to the next section. Alack and alas! Should one do this, they would then find themselves knitting the next section with their front rows on the back of the shawl and their back rows on the front of the shawl. :-(

This is true for Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8! The last row of the section is not printed at the end of the section. If you have any concern about going into auto-pilot mode and breezing past that last row (like I almost did), I humbly suggest you pencil in the last row of each section on your pattern!

BORDER HINT: Use lots of stitch markers on the border section of the shawl. The pattern repeats inside the brackets on all the border section rows are 23 stitches. On Row 1 of the border the author has you “k2, yo, pm” (place marker) then knit several repeats of the lace pattern, then end with a “pm, yo, k2.” There is no law keeping you from going marker crazy and placing one at the end of every 23 stitch lace repeat. Then, on every row of the border you will knit a little to the first marker, then do the lace pattern in the brackets. When you finish a repeat of the lace pattern, you should be at your next marker. If you get off on any of the pattern repeats you will know when you get the next marker, not the end of the row. When you get to the last marker, you will have another set of stitches that mirror the beginning of the row. It would look something like this:

(beginning stitches) (marker) (23 stitch lace pattern repeat) (marker) x 12 (ending stitches)

--I ran out of yarn in the middle of Section 7! Saw it coming and just did a few rows of garter stitch to finish it off.

--Note about this pattern: If it were free, I would not complain. However, since I paid for it, I expected it to be more thorough and clearly written than it was. The pattern is not bad, and I am happy with my shawl, I just think it needs some editing and extra information added for clarity.

--I feel the author should have included stitch counts for at least some of the rows to help people know if they are where they should be.

--Also, there are some inconsistencies that made it more confusing than necessary. For instance, there are at least 2 rows (Row 5, Section 4 and Row 3, Section 5) that are written “k2, a long series of stitches x 3, all the same stitches that are in the brackets, k1” when it COULD have been written “k2, a long series of stitches x 4, k1 and a lot less confusing to look at.