Tag Archives: Bryce Canyon Shawl

Humpday Update – Bryce Canyon Shawl and Prayer Shawl

Knoontime Knitting

I finished the Bryce Canyon Shawl today. The last step was to add a 6 row garter stitch border to match the edges of the shawl and the bottom of the triangle. Then I used a knit one, purl one bind-off to make sure it would be elastic enough. The edge took a while to finish but I’m pleased with the results. I’ll share the bind-off here since I’ve used it a couple other times and really like it.

1. Cut the yarn 3 times the width of the edge and thread a yarn needle. Insert the yarn needle purlwise into the first stitch. Pull the yarn through. With the yarn needle behind the next stitch, insert it knitwise into the purl stitch and pull the yarn through.

2. *Slip the first knit stitch knitwise and insert the yarn needle into the second stitch on the needle purlwise. Pull the yarn through.

3. Slip the first stitch purlwise. Go behind the next stitch and insert the needle knitwise into the next stitch. Pull the yarn through. Repeat from the * in step 2 until all the stitches are bound off.

The next step is to block the shawl. It is stretched out of the way because of the lace. It needs to be stretched to allow the lace to lay flat. I’ll post pictures of that, but here are the images of the finished shawl (below).

In addition, I finished the prayer shawl for a friend of a friend who has colon cancer. It’s a triangle shawl like the Bryce Canyon Shawl, but with an allover lace pattern that’s K1, *YO, K2T. The edges are a 3-stitch garter stitch border with a YO, which is where the shape comes from. I used a picot bind-off which is quite pretty, along with 3 tassels.

This is an overall view of the shawl that shows the 3 lace diamonds and the lace outline, which is a vertical lace trellis stitch from Barbara Walker.

This is the bottom, center, medallion, also from Barbara Walker.

This is the medallion on the left.  When worn, this appears over the left shoulder and down the arm.

This is the right medallion and, like the left, appears on the arm.

This shows the bound-off edge with the garter stitch edge and the sewing needle bind-off.
This is the first comprehensive picture of the Prayer Shawl.  I used Lion Brand Homespun, in Harvest colorway.  The shawl is too large to show flat (it’s on a Full bed), so I folded the edges.  I used tassels on each of the 3 corners.

I stepped back to show the shawl again.  I love the way the yarn stripes.

This is a detail of the picot bind-off, on the inside left; ont he inside right you can see the garter edge with yarn-over increase.  The bind-off takes a while, but as you can see the results are worth it.

The preparation of the Prayer Shawl will simply be to wash and dry it.  It doesn’t require blocking, since the yarn doesn’t pull out of shape.

Journey Into 3-D

Knoontime Knitting

This weekend I had an object lesson in the difference between 2-D planning and 3-D execution.  Namely, yarn estimation.

When my baby Bryce Canyon Shawl was nice and small, it was easy to imagine I’d only need a few skeins of yarn.  I’d done other triangle shawls and wanted this one to be “bigger” (technical term) so I knew if I got more yarn, I’d be fine.  So I got a few skeins.

Then I threw in the wrinkle of the two extra lace medallions.

But this also means that there are continuous increases, all the way up the shawl.

Those of you who already knit know what’s coming.  I ran out of yarn this weekend.  We went and picked up six more skeins, after running my new estimate by my husband who isn’t as geometrically challenged as me.  We shall see.

Here’s a couple progress photos for you.

The center medallion is now done, as of this weekend.  I put it on my dress form to take this picture, which turned out surprisingly well.  However, the fabric I already had on the dress form clashes horribly, which is why I’m not showing you the view from the front.

The side medallions are getting really big.  I love the way they get set off by the lace on either side; I think it’s coming out really well.  I love it when a plan comes together!

Humpday Update: Designing the Bryce Canyon Shawl

Knoontime Knitting

The design of the Bryce Canyon Shawl is coming together.  I selected two more lace diamonds to incorporate; they’ll start at the midpoint of the center medallion.  I’m estimating the shape on the fly, rather than working it out mathematically; I decided I didn’t want to draw it out but am trusting my gut.  We shall see.

I’m loving the colors and the way the yarn looks in the pattern.  Lion Brand did a nice job with this fiber.

As an aside, my birthday present arrived from KnitPicks and now I’m all excited.  I want to play with it (16 balls of electric dark blue and 16 balls of maple syrup brown), but I’m staying focused on the shawl at the moment.  I don’t know if I want to make one blue sweater and one brown, or do two mosaics with both colors.  We shall see.

But for now, here are some pictures of the Bryce Canyon Shawl so you can see how the design progresses:

This is a picture from last week, and you can see the start of the center medallion.  It will be a diamond and has a 3 stitch border in plain stockinette stitch on either side, with a yarn over (i.e. a hole) just inside that.

The two small clear crystals aren’t beads, those are stitch markers and they sit on either side of the medallion (this is one way you can keep track of knitting pattern changes).  They don’t have to be fancy, and in fact I have several plain steel rings on the needles but I wanted to use my fancy rings for the medallion since I have them and they’re pretty.

They’re actually a little annoying to work with, to be honest.  There’s a bar that hangs down from the ring, and it’s twisted metal.  That’s what is used to attach the crystal.  The problem is that a) it attaches to the stitches sometimes, and b) it gets in the way of the needles when I’m knitting.  I make it work, because I like the way they look as I’m working, but they’re not the most practical of beasts.  I prefer the plain steel rings my husband made for me from heavy-gauge steel wire.

Here is how it looks today. The faux cable look of the center “V” is deceptive; that’s just because the needle isn’t long enough to let the pattern lay flat.  But in this view, you can see the center medallion progressing up to its middle panel (a helix laying sideways that mimics the vertical one you can see).

The little white bit that looks like a scrap of paper on the left is a scrap of paper.  🙂  I was knitting outside yesterday, sitting on the grass by the river, and dropped one of my rings.  The grass ate it.  I spent quit a while looking for it, too, but no luck.

I decided to stop increasing the lace lattice that is on the outside.  Since I’m adding two medallions and they have their own increases/decreases, I stopped adding stitches at the sides and will let it grow from the stitches within the medallions.  I may change my mind once it grows some more, but we’ll see.  (That’s the geometry I mentioned earlier.)

This final image shows the right-hand medallion just beginning.  There are only about 6 rows so far, so it’s not easy to see in this image, but you can at least get an idea of where it will go.  The lattice will continue between the medallions on the sides and the center panel, to keep the overall feel of the shawl consistent.

That’s our Wednesday update.  Happy knitting!