Saturday, June 04, 2005

Birch

Finally, the camera is back in my hands (with batteries).

Here, then, is a picture of my progress on "Birch":



I'm now on the second ball of Kidsilk Haze and as the requirements are three balls, I suppose I'm about one third of the way through. Someone, somewhere, will have the ability to work out exactly how far I am but that person is not me. I did have some yarn in the same dyelot left from the first "Frost & Ice" shawl, so I started with that, which could indicate I am even more than one third of the way through.

I love the way the cast on edge is wavy. Here's a close-up:




While I love Sharon Miller's patterns (clear, easy to follow, good charts - though this pattern is words only) I was not too keen on her pairing of K2tog tbl (for the left slanting decrease) with K2tog (for the right slanting decrease). I prefer to pair K2tog with SSK. Here's the reason why:



This is K2tog tbl/K2tog. See how the decreases on the right (the K2tog tbl) are twisted? Well, I don't like that. So this is what I did instead:



This is SSK/K2tog and looks much better to me. It is still not perfect, and so the hunt for a true pair for K2tog goes on. If anybody has any input on this, please feel free to leave a comment.

I also changed the 3-to-1 decrease she suggests for closing the top of each leaf but discussion of that will have to wait.

Many thanks to all for their comments - my head is becoming quite swollen!

8 comments:

Heather said...

My goodness...how gorgeous! You are so talented with lace. Someday....someday....

FaeryCrafty said...

Wow!

littlelixie said...

'Birch' is beautiful. I have some ksh I don't know what to do with. Where is this pattern from?

MandellaUK said...

I can't help you with the perfect paired decrease, but faced with the same situation you were in, I always do what you did! I guess we both need to keep looking.

Birch is gorgeous!

Heather said...

Birch looks gorgeous! For your ssk have you tried slipping the first slip stitch knitwise and the second slip stitch purlwise? To me at least it seems to make it lie a little flatter. Good luck on the quest to find an exact pair for k2tog!

Jennie said...

Must cast on for birch soon.
Must cast on for birch soon.
My LYS told me that her birch took 3 balls + about 5 yards but then I read on someone's blog that they only used 2. I have 4 balls in my chosen colorway, so we'll see.
The yarn's been maturing for the past year. You've inspired me to start it soon... so pretty...

Suzann said...

It is beautiful. I would try the SSK, slip one as to knit slip one as to purl. It is flat and even. I use it whenever I have to ssk. Makes for a more matching decrease.

Laritza said...

The left slanting decreases will look better after blocking. Your shawl is beautiful!