12-26-2016

Christmas KAL!

The pattern is so exhaustive that I don’t think there is the need to have my notes, but whatever.I’m doing this to match my pink hat, so the CC is the same yarn held double, MC is white
i’m doing this with two colors only, i think that the garter sections give a nice modulation of the contrasting color.

The central rib (CDD) is obtained slipping knitwise TOGETHER two stitches. I didn’t realize I did it wrong in the first phase, slipping the two stitches individually. If you do this you should be able to obtain a central braid.

12-26-2016

Theres’s a bit of discussion about how the unused
yarn should lay in the bicolor garter section. Some leave it on the behind, i personally prefer to leave it on the front of the work. The end result is a nice bicolor chain slightly offset from the pattern.
Nearly finished the garter wedge, can’t wait to start working the first lace section!

Okay, it’s third time I unravel the falling snow lace section. for some reason I couldn’t get the lace right, then I realized that I mistook the SSSK instruction in row 3 to be SSK. This fixed the issue!

Also, the pattern doesn’t explicitly say until where to repeat the pattern, so for people who like me are used to working with written instruction, I’m putting down the missing instruction for every row, relative to the middle stitch.

ROW 1 : repeat from * to * until 6 sts from middle st
ROW 3 : repeat from * to * until 5 sts from middle st
ROW 5 : repeat from * to* untili 4 sts from middle st
ROW 7 : repeat from * to* untili 2 sts from middle st

ROW 9 : repeat from * to* untili 8 sts from middle st
ROW 11: repeat from * to* untili 7 sts from middle st
ROW 13: repeat from * to* untili 6 sts from middle st
ROW 15: repeat from * to* untili 4 sts from middle st

ROW 17: repeat from * to* untili 10 sts from middle st
ROW 19: repeat from * to* untili 9 sts from middle st
ROW 21: repeat from * to* untili 8 sts from middle st
ROW 23: repeat from * to* untili 6 sts from middle st

there’s an error in the written instruction at row 7: you should be left with 9 sts instead of 8.

12-31-2016

I nearly finished the B section and I’m forced to stop halfway the lace panel because I ran out of the medium pink and I must come back home to grab some more

Some considerations about gauge. The pattern calls for a gauge of 24 sts, mine is 19!! It’s quite a big difference, and since I wanted to use thicker yarn, I embraced the idea of doing some modificatons. If your gauge is lower, you may consider to skip some lines in the garter section; of course, this is going to affect the overall lenght of the shawl, and if you do a lot less of rows you might end up with something you have a hard time wrapping around your neck!

If you decide to skip/add some rows make sure to do it 12x. This way, you will have a proper number of stitches for working the lace sections, which are based on 6 sts.

I decided to do 24 rows less in the middle section. Considering that the right section has one increase every two rows, -24 rows= -12 sts, which translates in 2 repeats less in the lace pattern. At the end of the garter section I thus have 98-12 = 86 sts on the right side.
My example:
My gauge ratio is 0,8, so in order to get the same width, I should end up with 176*0.8 = 140 sts on the right side, which is a staggering 36 sts difference just on one side! This would entail a significative reduction in lenght too, so I won’t skip so many rows. I’m trying it on as long as I work it.

01-08-2017

Some info about snowfall stitch two. This section is similar to the first, with the only difference being in the last stitches of the left edge. The missing instruction for the stitches between the last repeat on the right side and the CDD are then exactly the same for snowfall stitch one!

There are some errors in the remainder count:
Row 3: you should be left with 8 sts not 9
Row 7: you should be left with 10 sts not 11
Row 15: you should be left with 7 sts not 8
Row 23: you should be left with 5 sts not 6

03-02-2017

I’m progressing in the last lace section and I’m using a multicolor hot pink yarn.
I was so angry I had to frog the garter section because instead of the expected 128 sts, (152 - 12 - 12) I had 110, and I realized when the lace wasn’t working out!

Unfortunately, a single skein is not going to suffice for completeing 48 rows, so I’ve accepted the fact the last section will be smaller than expected :)

the considerations about the sts to the end and the sts between the last repeat and the middle st are identical to those for the first snowfall st 2 section!

03-05-2017

Phew!
I’d never believe I’ll finish this eventually!
Here in Italy we’re starting to have the first spring signals so I think I’ll use this just on rainy days.
Unfortunately the Ella Rae merino wasn’t sufficient for completing the expected 48 rows of the last lace panel, so I did 36 instead. This allowed me to both close any yarnovers, and to preserve the basic minimum repeat of the lace, which is based on 4 rows.
I was not so sure that the amount of yarn still remaining was sufficient for it so I decided to use some unnamed burgundy yarn I had in my stash for the BO.

In the KAL thread we asked Frenchie to advice the best bindoff for the snowfall lace, and she suggested to close it with an I cord. I’m so happy I’ve followed her advice since I hate the frilly look at the edges you get if you use a traditional technique!

Then a light bulb appeared and I wondered why couldn’t I make a loop out of the Icord in order to keep the shawl wrapped around one’s neck? The shawl is very large indeed and I thought it would be easier to wear it with this little help.

LOOP MOD: How I did it

Row 1: with the yarn used for the lace panel, sl 1, kfb, k until 1 st from middle st, CDD, k until two last sts, kfb, k1

Row 2: drop old yarn, join the yarn you’ll be using for the icord. Sl 1, p until 4 sts to the middle st. Bind off 9 sts (4 sts before middle st, 4 sts after), p1 until two last sts, pfb, p1.

Row 3: using the cable cast on, create 3 new sts and then proceed to work an icord bindoff as usual. Once you arrive at the last live st before the bound off sts at the center, knit a row without picking the st, cable cast on a fourth stitch then continue working as desired (I
went on for roughly 7 cms).

Note: I’ve felt the need to add another sts in order to make the icord consistent in width and to help it be more threedimensional,but I’m not very satisfied with the visible bump on the icord. Were I to do this another time, I’d probably cast on the additional stitch just after having passed the live stitch.

Once you have reached the desired lenght, knit the next live sts after the bound off sts, then pass over two stitches instead than just passing one; this way, you’ve decreased to the usual 3 sts of a typical icord bindoff.
Continue as usual, then, when you reach the end, thread a needle with the working yarn and pass it in the loops from right to left, cinch it and then pull the yarn inside the icord.

The two additional rows before the actual icord helped the edge to be more “solid”.
Unfortunately the icord doesn’t lay flat yet, but the loop does his job nicely, keeping the shawl tail in place :) I’m confident that, with a little blocking, the edge will curl less and the point of the arrow will loose a bit of his banana shape.

Final n° of stitches: 205 (57 in the left edge + 1 st of the central spine, 147 in the right edge)