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 . . . .
