Shelda's Adventures with Lace

Reality sets in

Um... I just posted that I think I'm on schedule for my Mother's birthday shawl (her birthday is November 10th). I was feeling good. And then realized I hadn't done my calculations very carefully. It took me ten weeks to knit "Elizabeth" and I have been estimating that it will take a bit longer to knit my mother's shawl. The yarn is finer and I'll be using slightly smaller needles (3.25mm versus 3.5mm). And I won't be on vacation. I knit pretty steadily on "Elizabeth" so I don't think it's realistic to think I will be able to do this shawl in a shorter period.

So I imagine I need to revise my goal. This shawl would make a lovely Christmas present, don't you think? That seems do-able and less stress-producing. But it still means I need to get moving. It doesn't give me much time to spare.

So next on the agenda:

• Measure my swatch again and check it against the desired dimensions. I can tell a lot from the finished "Elizabeth" shawl.
• Carefully check all the shawl charts that I've drafted with the original Kinzel charts to be sure I haven't missed anything.
• Put together the shawl element charts into the right format for a "Myrna-style" Faroese shawl.
• Draft a vertical mesh half-diamond to go along the sides of the back panel.
• Cast on and get knitting!

Here is a photo of my Kinzel "Springtime" swatch. This was knit on 3.25mm Addi Turbo needles with Skacel's "Merino Fine."

click for larger view. (will open in pop-up window)

Audiobook I'm listening to: Prime Cut by Diane Mott Davidson.

Posted by Shelda at September 8, 2003 06:12 PM