I am tackling a lace shawl at the moment. I think it is going to be pretty. I am using a self striping sock yarn. It is a rectangle shape, so no shaping involved. Yeah! It’s hard enough to keep track of everything without having to worry about that too. It is a 16 row repeat pattern officially but since every other row is purl only I try to think of it as only an 8 row repeat. The mind is a wonderful thing. :). Whatever works to trick it.
I have almost finished 6 pattern repeats and this is what I have learned:
1. Use a lifeline at least once per pattern repeat. Dental floss works great, it’s cheap and doesn’t get caught in the fuzziness.
2. Count the stitches after EVERY row. This will separate the yarn overs so you don’t accidentally stitch a yarn over with a stitch and come out short of stitches. And you can catch a mistake early on.
3. Use someway to highlight the row you are working on. I haven’t used a chart yet, just text, but it is way too easy to look at the wrong row in the middle of stitching. I use my iPad and an app called Knit Companion. There is a learning curve but if you watch the tutorials it is awesome.
I took a picture of my progress so far. See below.
Wish me luck! I think I might need it. 🙂
Until next time…..Happy knitting and weaving – Caroline
