I can’t quite remember if I’ve mentioned this here yet, but I have cast on my Forest Canopy Shawl. This isn’t the best photo – it wasn’t good light and for some reason I couldn’t get the focus. Maybe I should have zoomed in or something? Anyway! What you can see here is about half of the set-up section of the lace pattern. I’ve now completed the set-up section and I’m about to start the first body repeat.
Project stats:
Pattern: Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl by Susan Lawrence.
Yarn: Posh Yarn Eva 4-ply (55% silk, 45% cashmere) in Tuscany.
Needles: 4.5mm (bamboo straights for now, to change to a circular when it gets wider)
I’m actually kind of confused about this pattern. Not about the knitting of it as such – the pattern looks straightforward enough in terms of knitting the stitches. But it’s the construction of the shawl that’s stumping me. It’s not making sense in my head. You see, the pattern describes it as a “top-down” shawl. To me, the top of a shawl is the widest part, the edge that goes across the shoulders. Am I mistaken? Because the shawl starts out with… um… I’ve forgotten how many, but only a few stitches for the cast on, and then you increase from there. That would indicate to me that I’m knitting from the bottom point upwards.
I would have just assumed I’d got confused with what top-down meant. But. When you’ve knitted the desired number of pattern repeats, it then tells you to knit the border along the bottom edge and follow the directions to get the scalloped cast-off, etc etc. It doesn’t say anything about casting off the top edge and picking up along the bottom. Yet, if I’m starting with a pointy bit….. argh! Perhaps I’m missing something vital about the shape of the shawl because I haven’t yet started knitting the main pattern. I know I’m not knitting from a corner, either, because I’ve got the centre stitch right where it should be for knitting directly up or down.
Can anyone give me any clues? Anyone? Help?
Wow…
Thank whichever god it is that you chose to pay homage to that I am not at your house right now. My claws would be all over that yarn, and I’d probably end up choking myself!
Keep up the fantastic work for your charity! You’ll make it to the end!
The shawl starts at the nape of the neck. The garter edges that you work at the beginning and the end of each row eventually become the top edge of the triangle. The stitches you cast off at the very end of the knitting become the 2nd and 3rd sides of the triangle–the ones at the bottom of the shawl.
Zeus – I’m very thankful! I’m also glad that Xander is oddly indifferent to yarn.
Congrats on completing the ‘thon yourself. Love the self-portrait!
Susan – thank you so much. It’s ‘clicked’ in my head now you’ve explained that. And now I’m even more eager to get more of it knitted and see it grow! :-)