Brachyura - Finished!

The garter stitch body was a quick and easy knit.  I did not bother wrapping stitches when I did my turns, I never do when working short rows in garter stitch.  I did not do a stretchy lace bind off but instead opted for a regular bind off using a US size 6 (4 mm) needle to give the shawl more of a crescent shape, which I prefer.

So, after finishing up this shawl I pulled out the first Zodiac Club offering - Taurus.

The colors are good - a lovely blend from spring into fall, but the pattern...well, the pattern just didn't appeal to me.  The construction is certainly intriguing, but the lace pattern didn't look complex enough to hold my interest long enough to finish the shawl.

So I went looking for another pattern to knit.  The yarn is a generous 1500 yards, so I had a lot to choose from, and a base that I have never used before - Green Sheep Fingering, 100% superfine merino wool.  In the end I picked a lacy cardigan by Bergere of France.  I love their patterns.  The good news is that I could get the pattern, and for free.  The catch?  The pattern is in French.  I did take a year or two in high school, but that was a long time ago.  The pattern is 343 - Cardigan Ajoure.  So along with the fun of translation, I also have to figure out how I want to use the gradiance yarn.  But first, I need to knit a project for a friend of mine.  Fortunately it also uses Unique Sheep yarn, so I will be able to get my fix.


Pattern:  Brachyura by Trish vanKuyk
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Moonshine (lace edge) and Stardust (body)
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm) lace edge, US 4 (3.5 mm) body, US 6 (4 mm) bind off

Brachyura - Lace Edge Finished!

Actually, the entire shawl is finished, and is upstairs blocking, but it is too dark to get a picture.  All week long I have been chipping away at the lace edge and this morning I finished up the last two repeats.  I will confess that it was getting a bit boring.  That is my only complaint about patterns like these where you're repeating the same lace motif over and over.  They are lace, so I have to pay attention, but they are boring, so my attention wanders.  It works best if I have something to watch or listen to while working on them.

Pattern:  Brachyura by Trish vanKuyk
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Moonshine (lace edge) and Stardust (body)
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm) lace edge, US 4 (3.5 mm) body

Brachyura - Seven Repeats Done

The pattern calls for 15 repeats so, I am almost half way done with the lace edging.  I felt a bit like Penelope last week because I kept ripping back my first repeat.  Part of the problem was the yarn overs on the top edge.  I always have issues with yarn overs when you are going from a purl stitch to a knit stitch or vice versa.  When going from a knit stitch to a purl stitch the yarn overs always come out larger than when going from a purl stitch to a knit stitch.  You can see the Zodiac symbol marching along, and the wave motif on the bottom edge.  When I'm done with the lace edge I'll pick up stitches along the top edge and knit the body.

Pattern:  Brachyura by Trish vanKuyk
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Moonshine (lace edge) and Stardust (body)
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm) lace edge, US 4 (3.5 mm) body

Brachyura - One repeat done

This is the second offering in The Unique Sheep's Zodiac Shawl Club - Cancer.  The shawl name is Brachyura, which is the order that crabs belong to.  I really like the colors that the designer worked her shawl in - gold for the lace edge and a blue/gold mix for the body of the shawl.

The construction of this shawl is a bit different.  The part that I am knitting now is actually the lace edging.  Once I am done with 15 repeats I will bind off and then with a second color pick up stitches along the left edge and knit the body.  It took me several tries before I got the start looking the way I liked, as well as the left edge.  The instructions call for slipping the first stitch with the yarn in back on every row.  On right side rows I slip the stitch with the yarn in back, but on wrong side rows I slip the stitch with the yarn in front.  I think the "yarn in back" should be interpreted as "yarn on the wrong side of the work".  Once again I am using my Knit Companion App on my iPad.  It is great when you are working lace charts.

I know this violates my recent knitting monogamy, but I need a more complex project in addition to my simpler one.  I had actually wound the yarn up for this project while I was working the sleeves of Goldenrod, planning on working it next, but then I needed something simple to knit while reading documents at work so I cast on Crimson Lake.  But I still really wanted to work on this shawl because I love working with Unique Sheep yarns and find myself missing them when I don't have a project using them on my needles.  I am beginning to suspect that Laura and Kelly are yarn faeries and that they enchant their yarns.  It is a spell I am happy to be under.

Pattern:  Brachyura by Trish vanKuyk
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Moonshine (lace edge) and Stardust (body)
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm) lace edge, US 4 (3.5 mm) body