The other day, I mentioned that my two Aubrey Shawls were less than successful. A few people on Ravelry have commented that, at least from the photos, they don't look so bad.
But they are.
Even my faithfulsister model glanced at one and said, "You want to take a photo of that?"
Ouch.
HOWEVER Honey, the recipient, of the shawls is delighted with them.
So take what I say below with a grain of salt, because what I consider bad might just be an example of excessive self-criticism. (Shocking idea, I know. I'm sure I'm the only knitter who's harsh on herself. Really.)
The problem arose once I had finished the shawl, and noticed that my right side (the side of the decreases) was significantly longer and thinner than my left side (the side of the increases). I ripped back to the central strip and tried again, but with the same result.
There was a similar problem on the second shawl, which my mother made.
The pattern is very clear- maintaining the yarn-over stitch pattern to give the shawl its texture, increase 1 stitch every other row (so they occur only along one side) until you reach the "peak" of the triangle. Then begin decreasing every other row, thereby creating one large triangle, with the "point" forming the widest part of the shawl.
My question- Did I make a mistake whilst knitting, perhaps a few irregular stitches at the beginning of the pattern that threw off the rest of it? Or, does my gauge radically differ from M1 (Make 1 stitch, ie, increase) to K2tog (Knit two stitches together, ie, decrease)? Or, is this something that, after blocking, will work out? (I seriously doubt that.)
I rarely knit shawls, so perhaps this is a common result of left-to-right patterns, in which case, it would be best to either incorporate the gauge variance into the pattern by compensating for the stitch count along the second half. Otherwise, just knit two triangles, reverse one and seam them together.
Has anyone else had this problem? No one else on Ravelry who has done this shawl seemed to have this problem, so my guess is the pattern is fine and this may be my error, in which case, where did I go wrong?
Conclusion
Until I figure this out, I'm limiting myself to top-down shawls, or those which are knitted in pieces and then seamed together.
I find dissatisfying projects most frustrating when they are meant as gifts. If I'm knitting something for myself and I don't like how it turns out, I can always rip it apart and try something new, or shove it in a drawer until I come up with a solution. But when you're on a deadline, whether because you're being paid or a birthday/holiday is approaching, you often don't the luxury of redoing a project or changing it entirely. Plus, Honey is very dear to me and she deserves the best. It upsets me that I wasn't able to make her something "perfect," if such a thing exists.
But if she's happy, I'm happy.
And she's so damn cute, I could have knit her a sack of potatoes and she'd still be adorable :)
But they are.
Even my faithful
Ouch.
HOWEVER Honey, the recipient, of the shawls is delighted with them.
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| This is Honey, a resident at Thosamling. How cute is she? |
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| Isn't she goreous? And very nice henna, Honey! Where did you get that done? |
My Aubrey Shawls
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| The shawl starting on my needles and my lap in my parents' home in New Hampshire. Pretty cool to think it traveled all that way to India, and is now on Honey's shoulders :) (On a completely random note, check out the statue of St Francis of Assisi in my parents' garden. Isn't he sweet? Patron saint of animals and ecology. Bless him.) |
Details
Pattern: Aubrey Shawl (free)
Yarn: Shepherd's Classic 100% Wool in Light Blue from my big bag of blue yarn for Thosamling
Needles: I think US 10's. Might have been 10.5's although, in theory, gauge is irrelevant in this pattern.
Overall
I had 4 skeins of wool left, after completing Chandiram's Vest and Hari's Wife's Sweater. I had promised a shawl to Honey, and I also wanted to make something for Didi, the cleaning lady who just had her gallbladder removed in a nasty surgery that has left her with some pain.
I looked through Ravelry to find a free shawl pattern. The great thing about shawls is that size doesn't matter. This means two things:
1) You don't need to measure the person for whom you're knitting.
2) You don't have to worry about achieving a specific gauge.
Provided you have enough yarn, are happy with the fabric your yarn choice and needle size provide, and flexible on what the final size turns out to be, you can knit any shawl pattern in any yarn on any needle. Obviously, there are logistics to consider (you don't need to try knitting a super bulky yarn on super tiny needles to know it won't look good), but shawls (and scarfs) are wonderfully flexible and adaptable.
The Aubrey Shawl pattern calls for Crystal Palace Yarns Mini Mochi on US 10.5's. Mini Mochi is a pretty, multi-colored fingering weight (195 yards per 50 gr. skein) yarn. Knitting it on bigger needles produces a lacy effect. My yarn is a worsted weight (220 yards per 100 gr. skein). My needle size, however, was the same (or very close). This tells me that
-my scarf will be "denser" (thicker yarn on same-size needles = less air between stitches)
-the finished size should be relatively similar (same-size needles = same distance between stitches, even if thicker yarn sucks up space)
-my yardage will be more (dense fabric = stitches are closer together, so you get less fabric per yard than you would at a looser gauge)
The pattern is a simple yarn-over repeat that is perfect for "mindless" knitting- in front of the TV, at the movies, in the car, or any place where you can't/don't want to concentrate. It is knit left-to-right, which means you cast on a few stitches and increase along one side, thereby creating a triangle. When you've reached the desired width (or you've used up half your yarn), begin decreasing along one side, thus creating the downward slope of the other half of the triangle.
I incorporated the rest of my sparkly yarn (which served as an accent on Chandiram's Vest and Hari's Wife's Sweater) as a strip down the centre of the shawl.
Trouble....
The pattern is a simple yarn-over repeat that is perfect for "mindless" knitting- in front of the TV, at the movies, in the car, or any place where you can't/don't want to concentrate. It is knit left-to-right, which means you cast on a few stitches and increase along one side, thereby creating a triangle. When you've reached the desired width (or you've used up half your yarn), begin decreasing along one side, thus creating the downward slope of the other half of the triangle.
I incorporated the rest of my sparkly yarn (which served as an accent on Chandiram's Vest and Hari's Wife's Sweater) as a strip down the centre of the shawl.
 |
| Modeled by my sister this time. |
The problem arose once I had finished the shawl, and noticed that my right side (the side of the decreases) was significantly longer and thinner than my left side (the side of the increases). I ripped back to the central strip and tried again, but with the same result.
There was a similar problem on the second shawl, which my mother made.
The pattern is very clear- maintaining the yarn-over stitch pattern to give the shawl its texture, increase 1 stitch every other row (so they occur only along one side) until you reach the "peak" of the triangle. Then begin decreasing every other row, thereby creating one large triangle, with the "point" forming the widest part of the shawl.
My question- Did I make a mistake whilst knitting, perhaps a few irregular stitches at the beginning of the pattern that threw off the rest of it? Or, does my gauge radically differ from M1 (Make 1 stitch, ie, increase) to K2tog (Knit two stitches together, ie, decrease)? Or, is this something that, after blocking, will work out? (I seriously doubt that.)
 |
| See the irregular angles? They clearly don't match. |
Has anyone else had this problem? No one else on Ravelry who has done this shawl seemed to have this problem, so my guess is the pattern is fine and this may be my error, in which case, where did I go wrong?
Conclusion
Until I figure this out, I'm limiting myself to top-down shawls, or those which are knitted in pieces and then seamed together.
I find dissatisfying projects most frustrating when they are meant as gifts. If I'm knitting something for myself and I don't like how it turns out, I can always rip it apart and try something new, or shove it in a drawer until I come up with a solution. But when you're on a deadline, whether because you're being paid or a birthday/holiday is approaching, you often don't the luxury of redoing a project or changing it entirely. Plus, Honey is very dear to me and she deserves the best. It upsets me that I wasn't able to make her something "perfect," if such a thing exists.
But if she's happy, I'm happy.
And she's so damn cute, I could have knit her a sack of potatoes and she'd still be adorable :)
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| So cute!! Honey la, I miss you so!!! |
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| Adorable!! |
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