Pages

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Round and Round......

Yes, my friends, two posts in one day - and I really have been going round and round in circles - 256 times - all to construct a shawl for my daughter and her husband for their first baby due in little over three weeks.  




Here is the shawl in all it's glory - laid out on a dark blue sheet.  It was knitted in what we know as three ply wool - for those familiar with threads, it is similar in weight to two strands of pearle 5 thread.  I knitted it on size 3.25mm needles (size 3 US).  For those who are really interested in statistics, I cast off 1,848 stitches......  after six months of knitting.


Here are some other shots of it somewhat closer - this one shows the centre, which was started on double pointed needles, four to start, and then up to eight, before a 1 metre circular needle, then a 1.5 metre circular needle.


The ribbed pattern is very effective, but oh so boring by the third panel of it!!  The round outside of the petals was the most difficult to master.


This shot shows the next step, with the second round of the rib pattern.





I altered the pattern sightly on the final rib panel - if you look at the smaller round, you will see that above the point of the petal, the rib is fractionally narrower that all the others - this was a real pain when knitting as I found I was constantly missing the change and having to reverse, so in the final panel I made it the same on each (four stitch) repeat.


The shawl 'consumed' 15, 50gm balls of wool and cost more than I like to calculate to knit, by the time you add in the cost of the needles....  but I do know it will be appreciated - which makes it all worth while.  


Now to start the next one, which will be finer, for my DS and DIL!!!


Thanks for calling by and tolerating my going round in circles.

11 comments:

Sherry aka Celtic Dream Weaver said...

Hiya Maxine, Your shawl is beautiful!! Truly it is. Can I ask how big the shawl turned out and where you got the pattern for it. Beautiful ....beautiful it is. Thank you muchly for sharing.

Elizabeth said...

It looks fantastic Mum - Luke admired it also... we are looking forward to being able to use it for Lydia :-)!

Elizabeth

Anonymous said...

That shawl is lovely. Well done. I have knoitted a couple of tablecloths, and shawls too, - many, many years ago, so I can appreciate your effort.
congratulations.

Liz, in Oz.

Gwen said...

Wow, this is so gorgeous! What a blessing for your grandchild!

Melanie said...

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lovely Linda said...

Hi Maxine - you are amazing!! This is one gorgeous 'work of the heart!' I have knitted for years but Maxine, I take my hat off to you! I have kept the shawl my Mum knitted for our children - it too is a treasure! Time and money well invested my friend! God bless you! {{{hugs}}}

Anonymous said...

WOW! It looks great, Maxine!
Your DIL. :o)

MariLynn said...

WOW!!! That is amazing!! That is a wonderful creation!

Helen Dooley said...

This is amazing!! I can not knit, crochet yes but knit no. This is so beautiful. Your grandbaby will love it. Has she had the baby yet? I became a follower you have some fun stuff.

paige said...

Maxine, this is stunning! I'm in awe of the time and talent and love that went into making this!

Marilyn said...

Wow... this is beautiful and what a piece of work! I love the design and it's so fine and delicate. I can crochet but cannot knit and I wish I could. I used to be fascinated watching my Mom knit... those needles would just click, click,click!
There is nothing you can buy that will ever come close to this... these pieces become heirlooms and family treasures.