Shelda's Adventures with Lace

A blast from another project

Well, after starting my "Elizabeth" shawl, I seem to have become caught up in finishing up older projects. Maybe to "clear the decks," who knows? ;) I don't have many older projects, so how long can it take? (Don't answer that!)

When I first started my "Shawl Shaping Adventure" earlier this year, the first shawl I wanted to knit was JoAnn Besold's "More Than Circular" shawl. This pattern was published in Knitters No. 38 (Spring of 1995), and I remember being fascinated when I originally saw the magazine. Only 8 years of germination! The pattern has since been reprinted in The Best of Knitter's Shawls and Scarves.

This shawl uses a doily pattern knit with progressively larger needles as you work outward to make a circumference that is "more than circular," i.e. more than 360-degrees. This extra circumference makes the shawl curve around the shoulders and stay on.

The knitting of this shawl went very quickly, but then I got to the bind-off, which was really slow going. But I finally finished it. Here's the shawl spread out on my bed (not blocked, or dressed, however). The shawl is way more than circular (I'll try to get a photo of me holding it up to show you), but I think I can get it to lie flat for dressing.

Here's a close-up of the center. I like the pattern. I think it's an adaptation of a doily pattern called "Snow on the Mountain." At least that's my memory of it!

And here's a not-great picture showing where I have attached little beads to one point of the shawl . Also not a fast process, and I have many many points to bead. I'm not sure how steadily I will work on this, but I imagine it will be done eventually. When I get the beads on and get the shawl dressed, I will share more photos. I wrapped it loosely around my shoulders, and though I can't tell a whole lot with it all crumpled like this, I think it's going to lie nicely.

Posted by Shelda at June 27, 2003 03:51 PM