Tag Archives: Evelyn Clark

Knitting Lace Triangles – Session Two

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Man, this is the kind of blog entry I love to write! In this blog entry I will do nothing buT brag about my incredible students! They are so smart, so intrepid, so daring and so enthusiastic it is just a joy and a privilege to get to spend time with them. I don’t feel like I teach so much as steer!

Last week, after a three week break between classes, we met for the second of three classes based on Evelyn Clark‘s wonderful book Knitting Lace Triangles. I had asked the students to work through one or two repeats of a lace pattern in the book, and if they could, to work at least one transition and be ready to start another one by the beginning of the second class.

WELL!

They came to class waaaaaaaaay past that point. Some of them even FINISHED AND ENTIRE SHAWL, CAST ON FOR A SECOND AND WERE A THIRD OF THE WAY THROUGH THAT ONE!!! I ask you, what do they need a teacher for?

So, without further ado, here is a gallery of these fantastically inspiring women and their work:

Mikako!

Mikako gets to go first because she FINISHED an entire shawl between the first and second classes! Mikako is an overachiever, yes, but also a joy to have in my class. She took the Summer Flies Shawlette class with me and did the same thing – made three in the time the rest made one! She is well on her way to doing that here, too. Her completed triangle is made with an alpaca fingering weight – we think it’s Misti International – and her second is going to be made with Malabrigo Lace. She sent me by email some pictures of her first shawl with a little happy note and some music! I just love her! Here are some of those pictures . . . .

Mikako - Blocking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ya gotta love this woman

Sitting next to Mikako was another star student, Tracey. Tracey is working with some beautiful Madeline Tosh Lace and she, too, is off to the races on this. Tracey is a newish knitter, and she’s been having a long distance conversation with her sister, a lifetime knitter, about the shawl she is knitting and came to find out that her sister does not know how to read charts! And of course, that is what this class is all about – learning to read charts. So she is encouraging her sis to learn – and probably lording it over her a little, too, that she knows how to do this and her sister doesn’t! Here’s Tracey and her work:

Tracey!

Now, one this I absolutely love about Tracey is she went home and on her own initiative decided to add beads to her design in places Evelyn doesn’t talk about beads. Tracey added some beautiful silver luster beads, size 6, to the centers of her leaves. This isn’t the best picture, but see if you can see them. They glow!

See the beads?

What she did was, when it came to the SK2P symbol (slip 1 stitch, k2tog, pass slipped stitch over), she worked it and then used a tiny crochet hook to slip a bead over the finished stitch. TRY IT!

Next to Tracey was my dear friend Sheri. Sheri has had a tough time with lace in the past. She has fought my admonitions to use stitch markers (“I can’t!”) and lifelines (tho not too strongly) and was very resistant to the idea of learning to read charts. But she has made a major, major breakthrough with this shawl. Sheri is using Ella Rae Merino Lace yarn AND MARKERS AND LIFELINES AND CHARTS!!!!!! And her piece is beautiful! I am so happy and so proud of her. I also love that she NEVER GIVES UP. If she has to rip back, she rips back and goes right on again! She is going to make tremendous leaps in her knitting now because charts open up a whole new world to the knitter. Here’s Sheri’s shawl:

Sheri! You go, girl!

Last, BUT SO NOT LEAST, in last week’s class was Fikirte. Now, I love this woman. In our first class, I told the women that if they had any trouble they could come into the shop the next day when I was working and I would help them. The next night, in walks Fikirte, who had never done lace before, and I say “Oh, no, what’s wrong?” And she says, “Nothing’s wrong! I just wanted to come by and tell you how happy I am that I took this class and how much I am loving making lace!” Can you imagine how incredibly satisfying that is for a teacher to hear????? She absolutely made my week. I am still high from it. Fikirte is using Madeline Tosh Lace, too:

Fikirte

Tell ya what I also love about her – she came in with her shawl and about 3 inches was messed up – something was wrong. There were holes where there should not have been holes. She very cheerfully ripped back and then we went over what she was doing stitch by stitch. We found a couple of glitches in her knitting – when you make an Sk2P you slip the first stitch as if to knit, not purl and you have to be sure to pass the slipped stitch over, not the previous yarn over. And the next day in she came and all was well! She has already purchased ball of yarn number two – Madeline Tosh Lace in the Baltic colorway – and will have this one ready to bind off by the next class.

Missing from the last class were Sarah (camping) and Laura (orientation for volunteering) but I am sure they are rockin’ and rollin’ too!

THANK YOU LADIES FOR MAKING MY WEEK! I LOVE TEACHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Knitting Lace Triangles – Session One

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Kntting Lace Triangles

This entry is intended for the students of my “Knitting Lace Triangles” class at K2Tog, which is based on the book of the same name by Evelyn Clark.

My poor triangle women! I have abandoned you for a week. It’s been a long week! A good one, but a long one. You have my apologies. But here’s a recap of what we did in session one.

All the triangles begin with a tab cast on.

The triangle construction is achieved by making 4 increases (yarnovers) on every RIGHT SIDE row – one after the right garter border, one before and one after the center stitch, and one before the left garter border. These yo’s are purled on the WRONG SIDE.

After the cast on, all the triangles have a special “Beginning” – 18 rows you use ONLY when you are starting your shawl (page 35). After that, you move on to one of the four Lace Repeats, found beginning on page 41.

Use the charts, not the words. Only the RIGHT SIDE ROWS are charted. For all WRONG SIDE ROWS, K2 (or 3, if you did a 3-stitch garter edge), purl across all stitches to last 2 (or 3) and K those stitches.

The charts are read from bottom to top, from right to left. You work the sections of the chart thus:

Mine!

1. Border stitches (2 or 3, always in garter stitch)

2. Right section (sits to the right of the 10-stitch repeat on the chart) once

3. The 10 stitch repeat as many times as necessary, placing a stitch marker between each repeat

4. Left section (to the left of the 10-st repeat on the chart) once

5. The center stitch.

REPEAT STEPS 2-4 ONCE AGAIN, and end with the final border stitches.

Got it?

When transitioning form one lace pattern to another you must replace the LAST 4 ROWS of the pattern you are working on with the approriate 4 Transition rows. These can be found beginning on page 46.

USE LIFELINES between the 10 (or 20) pattern row repeats.

For homework, you were to work your lace beginning and at least one repeat of any of the four lace patterns. If you can work more than one in the time before the next class, I’d like you to work the first 6 rows of a pattern and then any of the transitions into another lace pattern. Come to class next week ready to start and new lace pattern.

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK! And reminder – we are meeting at 6 instead of 6:30.

 

Haruni Knitalong

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Haruni Yarn

The first session of the Haruni Shawl knitalong started last night at K2Tog and it was really fun – an enthusiastic set of 7 knitters, game for anything, and a very pretty collection of their yarns, shown here.

In this first class, we covered an overview of the whole shawl with an emphasis on the things I learned/discovered while knitting it. We spent a good bit of time on how to read charts and on the garter stitch tab cast on, which I always say confounds you because it is so weird – until you do it! Then you say, oh, that’s it? YES, THAT’S IT.

So here’s the reason to take a knitalong – you get the benefit of knitting with someone (me) who has done the pattern before, learned its ins and outs, and maybe a way or two of improving it or finding an easier way. And that’s what we did last night with the tab cast on.

In the original pattern, designer Emily Ross begins with a provisional cast on of 3 stitches, then slips the first stitch of every row as she makes a 6-row garter stitch tab. I found that super fiddly. I just did a standard tab cast on, a la Evelyn Clark in Knitting Lace Triangles. In my opinion, this cast on works just as well in terms of design, is less fiddly on the fingers and is lots easier for the knitter who is tackling it for the first time.

Another thing we covered – as I knit the class model, I found I repeatedly made a simple mistake: on the right side rows, I would sometimes forget to make a yarn over. Then on the next wrong side row, I would purl back, not knowing I was a stitch short. Then on the next right side row, I would find myself a stitch short because I had forgotten the yarn over 2 rows back.

How to fix this without taking out 2 rows of knitting? Simple: when you get to the place where your yarn over should have been, spread the needles apart to spread out the knitting. Where the missing stitch should be, you will see two horizontal strands of yarn, one on top of the other. The top strand will be longer, and we’ll call this “ladder one.” The lover strand will be shorter, and we’ll call this “ladder two.” With a crochet hook, go into the knitting from the front to the back UNDER ladder two. Reach up and grab ladder one with the hook. Pull it UNDER ladder two to the FRONT of the knitting. Now pull it up and place it on the left handed needle. That will both create the hole the missing yarn over was meant to create and give you back your missing stitch. Work that stitch on the left handed needle as the pattern requires.

One more tidbit – Emily tells us to slip the first stitch of every row, but does not specify whether this should be as if to knit or as if to purl. It is best to do it as if to purl, so you get a nice edge to your shawl. SO – slip the first stitch of EVERY ROW as if to PURL.

More to come as we work through this great pattern . . . .

Haruni Shawlette

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Okay, I’ll admit it. I have a problem. I am addicted to shawlettes.  Been knittin’ “Summerflies” like they are potato chips; taught a “Summerflies” knitalong at K2Tog and scheduled another one for the summer; designing a shawlette I haven’t yet shown here, and yesterday I cast on a brand new one I found on Ravelry – the Haruni Shawlette.

Haruni, by Emily Ross

I found this pattern when I was just casually poking around on Ravelry for a cool free pattern to share on K2Tog’s Facebook page, something I try to do for our customers once a week, but end up doing more like every two weeks. It is designed by Emily Ross and she has very graciously made it a free pattern! I downloaded it immediately andam very impressed with its format and thoroughness – Emily has given directions in both charts and words, so this is a good pattern for someone who wants to learn charts. She also writes out “overviews” of each section, explaining what you are going to do and why before giving the instructions – very nice.

I also love that it is done in sock yarn – 460 yards of it. This means it does not have to break the bank and it is a great way to show off those beautiful handpainted sock yarns I have stashed away. BUT . . . .

Last week at the store, we got a huge shipment of Cascade Yarns and among the boxes was a new yarn for the store, Cascade Yarns’ Heritage Silk. It’s a blend of 85% superwash wool and 15% silk and as I put it on the shelf I thought HARUNI. I just loved the feel of the yarn – soft and silky and flowing, but also durable and washable! So I bought a skein in Lilac on Saturday before I went home for 3 days off, and I simply couldn’t help myself from casting on yesterday afternoon. Nevermind the Revidere Shawl is only half finished, nevermind there is a summer sweater on another set of needles, nevermind I have another shawlette I am actually trying to design myself. I had to try this one.

And I am very glad I did! For those of you who have done “Summerflies” or have ever worked a triangular lace shawl before, you will be familiar with the garter stitch tab that starts this one off. The construction is very similar to “Summerflies” and to many of the lace triangles designed by Evelyn Clark – one large triangle formed by making two smaller triangles by increasing at the ends and in the center every right side row. The wrong side rows are freebies – k3, purl across, K3. I LOVE IT>

And here it is (so far). I wasn’t feeling very well yesterday afternoon, and KQED was running a “Downton Abbey”

My Haruni

marathon all day (!!!!) and I felt that was a sign from the knitting gods that I was to pour myself a glass of red wine, sit my hiney down in front of the tube and knit away. I managed to complete 3 of the 5 repeats as Lady Mary and Matthew danced close to each other and then away; as Anna and Bates discovered they love each other, and as World War I broke out, casting a pall over them all. Ah, Downton! Can’t wait for season 2. I’ll probably have a bunch of Harunis knit by then!

Sock Lobstah

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Ummm, if I ever tell you that I am going to knit a lobster, put me out of my misery.

What was Knitty thinking? This just proves the Sandy Olsen theorum: “Just because you can knit it, doesn’t mean you should.”

Okay, now on to the socks. While I was in Italy, I knit socks – 1.5 pair, to be exact. Here they are:

Embossed Leaves Socks

Embossed Leaves Socks

I knit this pair in its entirety on the trip. Got lots done on the trains we took and the terraces we had. Ah, the views, the wine, the knitting under the influence! I think these will appear in my Etsy store soon. The pattern was from an old Interweave Knits magazine

The next pair I made with Koigu. I already had one sock done – don’t ask me when I did it,probably another trip – and I took the completed sock and the yarn to Italy and stitched away on the plane there and had it finished by Trento, city number two. Ah, Trento . . . medieval castle, delicious pizza, frescoes on many of the town’s buildings. Also great modern art (which Italy define as post 1830 or so). Loved it, love the socks. The pattern is an Evelyn Clark pattern from an old Interweave Knits.

Evelyn Clark socks

Evelyn Clark socks

If you are interested in either of these patterns, you can go to my Ravelry page (search under my Ravelry name, “Bobo”) and in my projects list you will see these socks with links to their patterns.

Now I am knitting another pair of socks with some yarn I bought in Italy – in Florence, to be specific. I’ll put those here soon.

Wedding Invitations and Cards

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My mom and dad are here visiting my husband and me for a few days so we can all go to the wedding of dear family friends. Earlier in the year – before I had this blog – the bride and groom (Allison and Tom) came over to my house and we all made their invitations. They designed them and I cut them out and we all pasted them together. Here’s a pic of what we all came up with.

Allison and Tom's invitations

Allison and Tom's invitations

Mom had this great idea that when she made a wedding card for the couple, she wanted to repeat their color scheme and layout. She brought some fuschia ribbon and borrowed some cardstock, stamps and ink from me. She designed the outside and then we asked Randall – her husband – to design the inside. So Allison and Tom will get a nice card inspired by their own design and created by both my parents!

While they were making their card (and bickering!!! Oh, the bickering! My tender ears! Almost had to separate them.) I made the card you see on the right, also using Allison and Tom’s scraps and design. EASY! The cards measure 4.75 inches by 3.5 inches.

Our wedding cards

Our wedding cards

Meanwhile, I went to my knitting group yesterday and all of us were pretty much in the middle of things, so not too many new and exciting things to report from there. It was probably because Sarah the over-achiever wasn’t there. Probably at home too busy SPINNING HER OWN YARN TO COME AND BE WITH US. But Barbara brought her in-the-works Great American Aran Afghan:

Barbara's Afghan

Barbara's Afghan

And Carolyn was working on a stole (because you know, Carolyn just doesn’t have enough stoles) that she adapted from a Fiber Trends washcloth pattern called “Bathing Beauties” by Evelyn Clark. If you’re interested, we have that pattern at K2Tog.

Carolyn's stole

Carolyn's stole

And I’ve been a bit busy with jewelry and other things – the next post will have pics. And I’ve been in knitting Limbo with a pattern for a tank top I’ve been working on from Classic Elite. UGH. Tell you more about that in the next post. And I can’t wait to tell you about the 96-year-old woman who came into K2Tog yesterday with a needlepoint canvas she had finished. When I grow up, I wanna be an old woman, just like Mrs. Barbara Carson. More on that later . . . .