Sunday, January 24, 2010

Enchanted Wood Spoiler

Just to prove that I am, in fact, knitting a lace shawl--successfully!--here are some crummy progress pictures. I took them indoors, at night, with my point and shoot, and this is the best I could manage. You'll have to take my word for it that the yarn and beads are so much prettier than this in person.

I'm about halfway through the second clue and working on my second skein of gradience dyed yarn. These pictures don't show the gradual color change that is starting to happen. This is a much better picture of the yarn:

I started with the blue yarn on the far right and I'm working toward the green on the left. The structure of this shawl is odd (to me). The cast on consists of the two short legs of the triangle (which will become the bottom of the shawl), and steady decreasing at both the middle and the edges draws the edges steadily together to create a triangle as the work progresses upward toward the long, straight edge at the top.

Here you can mostly see the beads. It's not nearly as difficult as I imagined to knit with beads, but it is time-consuming. It's also really, really fun! They're like sparkly little stitch markers you don't take out.

I definitely foresee more beads in my future...and maybe even some more lace, too.

14 comments:

marit said...

The photo on the bottom, with the sparkly pearls, reminds me of how the snow sparkles when it is as cold as it is here these days!
Beautiful colours too. And the biggest advantage of starting the shawl at the bottom? The rows get shorter and shorter...;-)

stephanie said...

That is beautiful! I am making a shawl with beads, but it is different from the way yours looks! I can't wait to see how it looks with the gradient when finished.

Mo said...

You're doing a beautiful job on knitting your shawl. I love the shawl's colorway you picked too!

Holly said...

Oh my goodness, it is working up to be absolutely gorgeous!

Unknown said...

You certainly work quickly and choose lovely yarns/patterns to knit up. I think you must have at least one clone, if not two.

Steph B said...

Beautiful! And I agree, you must have a knitting clone or two stashed away somewhere - you get through an unbelievable amount of knitting. I am in awe.

Wanderingcatstudio said...

It's beautiful so far!

sophanne said...

That's got stunning written all over it.

Melanie said...

You started at the bottom. Yikes! I need to start at the top, just to prove to myself I'm making speedy progress. I leave the many-hundreds-of-stitches-per-row/why-am-I-doing-this-to-myself-edge to the very end. I suppose you're done with the hardest part; it'll be a breeze now that the rows are getting shorter...

Do the beads weigh down the shawl at all?

PS: Yes to candied ginger!! :)

sheep#100 said...

Oh, wow, how pretty. I'm normally not one for the beads, but that just sparkles and is lovely.

Haley said...

looking lovely!

Becky said...

It's so pretty!

The A.D.D. Knitter said...

Totally enchanting!

Strickmuse said...

That is an intriguing pattern. I would have had the same issue with casting on over 350 stitches and adding beads. Yours will turn out beautifully. And I love the yarn. The colorway is a great choice, my favorite too.