Short Rows, Not So Scary After All!
Oh my goodness, does My Sister Knits have a shawl for you! I saw this when I walked into the shop on Tuesday and immediately knew I had to write about it! I now want to drop the sweater I’m working on and cast on for this delectable beauty! One has to have at least two projects going, right? One social knitting and one that takes more concentration and focus.
We all know that doing something new multiple times in a row enhances confidence with a recently acquired skill. If you’re hesitant about short rows, then this is the project for you! Short rows are a wonderful way of shaping and adding curves or triangles to a project.
Repeat after me, “short rows don’t need to be scary”. They struck terror into my heart for years and now I love them! This pattern calls for the tried and true Wrap and Turn method. You can successfully substitute the Shadow Wrap Short Row technique which I have used and like. It’s easy to do and easy to see where it was worked.
Oh Dang! from Farmer’s Daughter Fibers comes in several colorways. Be assured there’s one that will call to you!
Spring’s Kelias, designed by Berangere Cailliau, has sections of garter stitch, short rows and lace, and short rows and stripes. It’s finished with an icord bind off which gives a stretchy, professional-looking edge. Go to the Ravelry project page to see the different looks achieved with different colors. The project notes indicate that people love knitting this shawl! However, if you click on ‘more’ to read the full note, you’ll see they’re mostly in French! Berangere has designed 35 shawls and you might want to make more than one!
The instructions for the two lace sections are both written and charted. The charts are large and easy to read which is always a bonus. There is nothing tricky in the lace sections, just k2tog (knit two stitches together); sk2togp (slip 1 stitch, k2tog pass the slipped stitch over); and ssk (slip two stitches as if to knit, insert left needle into the fronts of the two stitches, knit them together).
Foxy Lady also comes in many colors, from solids to variegated.
This piece of fluff uses two skeins of fingering weight yarn and size 4 needles. Our sample is knit with Farmer’s Daughter Fibers yarn; one skein of Foxy Lady (70% Merino/30% Silk) and one skein of Oh Dang! (74% Suri Alpaca/26% Silk). Oh Dang! is lace weight but it works beautifully.
In addition to having good-sized charts, Berangere gives us detailed instructions including stitch counts all the way through to keep us on track. When, not if!, I make this I will enlarge the pattern as the font is small. I’ll also color in the charts using a different color for each symbol, I’ll use highlighter tape to keep track of which row I’m on, and I’ll use markers to indicate where I worked a short row. That will make it easy to know where to make the next one. I will also take the time to make a swatch first; I don’t want to risk running out of yarn or have a sizing surprise.
Please take this shawl down and try it on! Marvel over the softness of the Oh Dang! lace section. You’ll be hooked!
Upcoming Monthly Sock KAL:
Each month we will choose a sock pattern for that month. February’s sock is Intersections; the pattern can be found in the 52 Weeks of Socks book or on Ravelry. You are invited to join in the fun! Tiina will host a Cast On party on Wednesdays. This month it will be Feb. 9th at 11:00. If you’re not able to attend, you are welcome to start your socks whenever you like! For more details, call the shop at 970.407.1461.
Happy Knitting,
