Oh my gosh!

Deb from the Woolery put this blog in her newsletter!  I wasn't expecting it at all, and it feels like Christmas morning and being asked to the prom all at the same time.  Hi to everyone who clicked over from the Woolery newsletter.  I hope you feel welcome and enjoy the ride :)

I actually stopped in today to grab some more skeins for swatching.  I tend to swatch much larger than the 4x4 square the books recommend, just because the items I make are so much larger.  I don't get as much use out of the 4x4.  I did bring shawls 1-3 with me to show off, and the lovely folks there allowed me to be silly and excited.  Thank you for the hospitality and the fun!

I had forgotten Deb is in Scottland this week, so will have to stop by again soon to say thank you in person and give her a surprise (shhh).

I have to admit to being something of a pusher, though.  I met the lovely soul behind Lizzi the Clown.  I can't find a web presence for her but if you are looking for someone to enliven your special event she is the perfect choice!  (amoksu@aol.com, 603-465-7509)

I pushed a nice fingering-weight cotton & silk blend and when I got home realized I hadn't managed to put pattern or advice together with it.  Shows what kind of melon head I can be.

So, without further ado, here is my favorite travelling pattern to knit.

pattern shows right half of triangular shawl, click for high-res image

Every 2nd row is a plain purl back, the pink section shows the pattern of the increase, and the blue section is the repeat.  I showed only 3 motifs, as it is reflective of the way all of the other repeats will be knit, but putting all of the repeats takes up a huge amount of memory/space.

If you were going to read this, from right to left it would go something like this:
knit 2, yarn over, knit, yarn over, knit one
This is the right side of 1/2 of a shawl.  The knit one after the 2nd yarn over is the center stitch.

So to do the entire shawl, you would read from right to left, and then from left to right.

So both halves would be knit 2, yarn over, knit, yarn over, knit one (center stitch), yarn over, knit, yarn over, knit 2.

I find it helpful when I'm learning a stitch pattern to put a marker before and after the center stitch;  that way I know when I should be knitting back the other direction.  I will work on a picture rich tutorial (and find a way to get a screen capture of the stitch definitions) for tomorrow including the cast on.  All are welcome to play.

Any weight yarn will do, lace isn't just for the skinny weights.  And this simple pattern is a good way to show off some of the beautiful hand-paint yarns.  Welcome!