Wednesday 20 April 2011

WIP Wednesday 37: 1st Shawl











Wow, a consecutive WIP Wednesday post ! Having received the lovely laceweight Malabrigo in the colorway 'Jewel' from Susie over at Useless Beauty, I had to instantly find something to make with it.

Searching through Ravelry, I found this free pattern for a shawl: Waves of Leaves. It is written for 4ply yarn, but I really think it will suit the yarn color, so I am knitting it on 3.75mm needles:































The first photo is taken with flash, the second without.

One of the attractions of this pattern was that it had written instructions as well as the ubiquitous charts. However. There is no point giving written instructions when there are not only errors, but they are not clear. Hence two ripping backs to the start - one when I was well into the second set of instructions for the main body.

So I learned to read the charts. These too are oddly set out, which took me a moment or three to understand/visualize the overall picture they were supposed to be showing me. As it happens, this too was not quite as it should be - it ws only while browsing the completed shawls of others on Ravelry that the photos illuminated my darkness, and I now understand exactly what my goal is.

If I didn't think the pattern was the perfect match for the yarn, I would have ripped it back and made something else, in protest. The yarn itself is lovely - very soft, with the slightest of halos; it knits up easily.

11 comments:

  1. That yarn does look amazing. I love the color. Sorry the pattern is so poorly written. I'm sure you will still be able to make it work

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  2. It's looking like a lovely pattern, well done for persevering! I think I'd have given up by now lol!

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  3. Your shawl is going to be gorgeous! That yarn is lovely.

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  4. I'm impressed that you're using straights to knit this. Then again, I avoid straights if I can. I love my circs and the Magic Loop!

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  5. It is frustrating when patterns are difficult to follow, and even worse when there are errors as well. Your shawl looks lovely, that's a wonderful shade of blue.

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  6. Oh no! Patterns not written properly is a nightmare! It looks great though, and I love the yarn. You're right, the yarn is perfect for it.

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  7. I'm impressed that you were able to frog it at all.. Malabrigo Lace likes to stick to itself. It's such beautiful yarn though, and that pattern is lovely! Sorry it's been rough going.

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  8. That's such a bummer that the pattern is hard to follow, but I'm glad you've got it figured out! And it looks like you've come quite far already. FO tomorrow? ;)

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  9. I love the color of your yarn! The shawl is beautiful. I'm glad you stuck with it. I've had similar experiences with patterns. Though you do appreciate the gift of a free pattern, it makes it more difficult when there are errors or the instructions are hard to understand

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  10. Oh that is going to be so pretty!

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  11. That Mmmmmmmalabrigo is working up just lovely. If you feel there are mistakes in the pattern, have you tried to contact the designer? I am not familiar with this pattern, but I would think the designer would want to work it out.

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Thanks ! I love comments :-)