Archive for the 'Revontuli Shawl' Category
My Noro Silver Thaw version of Revontuli is finished and blocked, and we’ve had cold evenings of late, so it’s been getting use.
Aren’t the colors wonderful? Normally, I am not big on purple/violet, but pair it up with the right green and I just can’t get enough of it.
This pattern is such a quick, intuitive knit once it gets going and yields such wonderful results, I expect I’ll be working it up more than twice.
My Cameo Shawl is completed as well and awaiting blocking. I’ll be pestering Melissa to photograph it and upload the picture this weekend. I almost made it through the entire shawl with four skeins of malabrigo in bergamota, but ran just a bit short. (I should have made it. The pattern calls for 847 yards; I had 864. I must face facts: I appear to be a loose knitter.) So, I pulled out a skein of malabrigo in sealing wax and worked the last few rows in that color. I love how the shawl feels over my shoulders: all thick, soft sponginess. I’m still ambivalent about the change in color. It looks just fine, but since it isn’t what I’d pictured as I was working on the shawl, I haven’t quite accepted it yet. I need a little time enjoying its warmth to help me reconcile my mental image with the reality of the finished product.
Have any of you had a similar experience? Is it possible to accept that a knit isn’t the fantasy-item I dreamed it would be and to still fall back in love with it?
P.S. If you do not normally stop by Rose-Kim Knits for “Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?,” you might want to start. Today’s entry defies description.
December 13 2007 | Cameo Shell Stitch Shawl and FOs and Malabrigo Worsted and Revontuli Shawl | 6 Comments »
First off, I present you with the finished Revontuli.
I am delighted with this piece and expect to get a lot of use out of it.
I knit it in Kauni on U.S. 9 needles. This yarn blooms a good bit during blocking, so the needle size, while seeming somewhat large as I worked, was just right.
If you look closely here, you’ll be able to see the one change I made to the pattern. At the top center (the bright apple green), I am working the double decreases as written: Sl1, K2tog, PSSO. This results in a leaf-like or woven-looking decrease A bit further down (the gold-green), I changed to my favorite double decrease: Slip 2 together, K1, Pass Slipped Stitches Over Together. This decrease gives a raised vertical stitch, with a straighter, more architectural look.
When I was a kid and my mother sewed clothes for us, she used to say that she really felt she’d gotten her money’s worth if she used a pattern twice. In that spirit (though money’s not an issue, as this was a free pattern), I’m knitting a second Revontuli in Noro Silver Thaw (on sale now at Little Knits!).
Because this is a heavier yarn, I used U.S. 10.5 needles and I knit 9 fewer rows than the chart calls for, which allows me to end with a set of eyelets, followed by a K row and the bind off as in the original. This version is done now except for that bind off—and my fingers are itching for the moment when I can leave work to head home and get it done.
I’m also done knitting the Wanda’s Flowers Shawl from Wrapped in Comfort, though I haven’t blocked it yet. (Melissa takes great delight in doing little cheerleader moves while chanting “Block that shawl! Block that shawl!”)
The colors are a bit washed out in this shot, so imagine rich forest hues as you look at the photo.
The leafy lace pattern goes perfectly with the Malabrigo.
I modified the pattern slightly, beginning a few rows in for a wider neck band and moving up several needle sizes to suit the yarn. I’ll write those changes up and post them soon with a picture of the blocked shawl.
Meanwhile, I am itching to try another shawl from Wrapped in Comfort.
I’m also thinking about using my Malabrigo in the Bergamota colorway to make this shawl. And I love this shrug (though I don’t know if I love it enough to justify buying a $15 pattern book). Yum!
November 28 2007 | FOs and Malabrigo Worsted and Revontuli Shawl and Wanda's Flowers Shawl | 13 Comments »
Here’s a close-up shot of the Revontuli in progress.
I actually managed to finish it last night. It’s now blocking on my bedroom floor, which means poor Spartacus is locked out of the house for the duration. He is completely unable to resist the siren-song of damp wool.
And now that Revontuli is done, I’m planning to knit it again. This time in Noro Silver Thaw.
This yarn is a completely different weight than Kauni, so I’m not sure what the results will be, but I figure that everything will work out, since guage isn’t crucial on a shawl—at least not as long as one is willing to knit until it’s the right size and to stop when that moment is reached.
The Kauni version will be a “wake-up and embrace the world” shawl; the Noro will be a “settle in and get cozy” shawl.
November 12 2007 | Cats and FOs and Revontuli Shawl and Spartacus | 6 Comments »
The Golden Fleece got in a shipment of Kauni, and I am happily knitting away on my Revontuli. I took some time reading the instructions and taking notes before beginning, but the pattern is quite easy to follow once you get going.
Sadly, I have no pictures to show you, as I didn’t get to spend any time with Melissa, she-who-works-the-camera, this weekend. The cats are still haven’t jumped on the we’re-all-one-happy-family bandwagon, and I just didn’t trust them enough to leave them unsupervised for a night. Melissa attended Philharmonia Baroque without me and bought a recording featuring their guest artist, Marion Verbruggen, so I can listen to that and have my own little fascimilie concert experience.
November 05 2007 | Cats and Music and Revontuli Shawl | 2 Comments »
… done on the shawl. I’m definitely going to have enough yarn to make it longer. I just finished skein number two and got twenty rows out of it. I’ve got two skeins left and twenty-one rows to go if I follow the pattern. This shawl is going to be soft, soft, soft. I’m already pawing through my malabrigo stash and thinking about which one I’ll start next.
I’m also thinking about a yarn for Revontuli. I love this colorway of Noro Silver Thaw, but I’m not sure it would produce the striping effect the shawl is designed for. If I’m doing my math right the pattern calls for a worsted/heavy worsted yarn. Any suggestions of wool or alpaca yarns with big self-striping runs? I vaguely remember something from a Patternworks catalogue, but I’m not sure. Oh, I’m going to be thumbing through catalogues and magazine ads when I get home from teaching today. If you have sources/ideas (especially if they’re reasonably priced) do let me know!
Meanwhile, we have made more cat progress than I’d anticipated. I still put Penny in the bathroom to sleep in order to prevent late-night altercations (George Bush isn’t the only fool who knows how to go all pre-emptive), but for an hour or so in the evening all three cats were stretched out in the same room, dozing and mostly ignoring one another. Bea seems to find the closed bathroom door with a cat behind it much more unnerving than a real-life cat across the room from her. And, having backed Penny into a corner under a dressing table, Sparky has decided she doesn’t merit any more than the occasional growl.
October 19 2007 | Beatrice and Cats and Penny and Revontuli Shawl and Spartacus and WIPs | No Comments »
