So far I've used up exactly one skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk in knitting Tuscany. I'm trying to decide how big I should make the shawl. The pattern calls for knitting the 16-row pattern repeat 11 times and I've done it 17 1/2 times. As for measurements I haven't measured it across the top yet because it is all bunched up on my needles. But at the deepest point when I stretch it out is almost 26 inches. I've never blocked Sea Silk before so I don't know how much it might grow or not. At this point I'm sort of thinking I will keep on knitting this shawl and make it bigger with my second skein of Sea Silk that I have. What do you think?Sunday, May 6, 2007
How big should I make it?
So far I've used up exactly one skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk in knitting Tuscany. I'm trying to decide how big I should make the shawl. The pattern calls for knitting the 16-row pattern repeat 11 times and I've done it 17 1/2 times. As for measurements I haven't measured it across the top yet because it is all bunched up on my needles. But at the deepest point when I stretch it out is almost 26 inches. I've never blocked Sea Silk before so I don't know how much it might grow or not. At this point I'm sort of thinking I will keep on knitting this shawl and make it bigger with my second skein of Sea Silk that I have. What do you think?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
It's beautiful!!
I would stop now and use the second skein for another project, but that's just me.
Good grief woman! Stop now! Save the silk!!
I think it depends on how tall you are and how you'll wear it. Do you have a shawl larger than this one in depth? Maybe your best bet is to put it on a waste yarn so you can see how big it really is. If you did a swatch and blocked it, did it grow a lot in size?
It looks great as is...!! I'm sure it will look just as great if you add more. If it were me, I'd be with Holly Bee and Lisa re. saving the silk for something else... but that's just me. Also, I don't usually wear shawls so it does look more than big enough for me.
Lovely work!
I think it depends on your body size -- if you're tiny, stop now. If you're a big girl like me, i'd keep going. I saw one fully blocked in Sea Silk and she used 1.5 skeins. It was a very generous size.
It also depends on the size needle you used. Sea Silk will block out quite a bit (stretch and pin, THEN spritz with water and let dry fully) and stay beautifully open.
Summary, I have no idea. :-) I'd want to see it ON YOU before I could really tell.
How long do you usually like your sweaters? If it's 26" deep now, and that's how long you like your sweaters, I'd stop. I'm not sure it'll block much longer (it might), so there's a good chance it's around the depth you like now.
So pretty! I think Carina's on to something - you don't want that point hanging down to much farther than a sweater would. You could block it per Amy's instructions while still on the needles to get a sense of any length changes that might occur. (Personally I worry less about wingspan since you can always tie or pin it.)
My advice: Knit a small swatch of lace, measure it, block per Amy's instructions, measure it again. Then, thread the shawl on waste yarn and measure. Then calculate an approximate blocked size for the shawl. Decide if this is large enough for your purposes (how you want to wear it). I personally like them really big, but if you don't want a huge one, you might as well save the Sea Silk, perhaps for Amy's scarf in the latest IK, which I think is reaaaaaally cool...
Post a Comment