Finished Swallowtail!

I finished my Swallowtail Shawl! I am so proud of it! I'm going to enter it in my state fair. Here it is in its entirety:

and here is a close up:

I'm thinking of blocking it again, but this time stretching it out a bit more. We'll see!

My Second Swallowail!

I just recently finished my second swallowtail, using Knit Picks Shimmer in Turquoise Splendor. It was a much quicker knit the second time around, and I loved every second of it!

More pictures and details on my blog. Happy Knitting!

First Lace Project!

I am so pleased with the Swallowtail thus far! It's my very first lace project. Here is the beginning of my progress. I pinned it down so you guys can see it, but it's obviously nowhere near done and therefore not blocked.
And here's a close up just to show the detail.
I'm knitting it using Colinette's Jitterbug, I love this yarn! I'm also glad I'm doing my first lace project in fingering weight yarn. Yesterday I casted on for a feather and fin scarf with lace weight and I'm really glad I didn't start with it!

Real Red completed

I finished this about two weeks ago--before starting the semi-insanity that is the Mystery Stole--but had misplaced the camera.

less than one ball Zephyr Wool-Silk in Real Red
size 4 Inox Express 24" circular plus a tapestry needle to aid in nupping (see my earlier post for info on this)

I am really proud of how this turned out; It's my first lace project and I love everything about it. Visit my blog for a few more details. :-) Thanks, all!

I've started a swallowtail! I made an Icarus shawl this year and am in love with lace. It turned out pretty huge and took me five months so a smaller project is looking good. I'm going to visit my grandma tomorrow and it'll be a gift for her when I finish. She loves deep hot pink so when I saw some halcyon yarn zephyr spun in fuchsia I knew it was perfect. I started this weekend and am looking forward to working on it on the airplane tomorrow.



Thanks to everyone on this knitalong whose advice and beautiful finished swallowtails are inspiring me!

my Swallowtail is finished...

Washed and blocked this morning and ready for her photo shoot late this afternoon, my Swallowtail. I'm not 100% pleased with the 3-stitch bobble substitution for the nupps. Next time around, I'll try some of the other variations I've been reading about. The color in the photos is a lot more eye-popping than the actual color of the yarn (Jade Sapphire's Cashmere and Silk laceweight in Blueblood Red) which is a warmer, pinky red. Working with this yarn was a luxurious treat. When I picked up one of my favorite merino wool sock yarns this morning, it took almost an hour not to feel as if I were knitting with baling wire after working with the cashmere and silk. :)

She's Flown the Nest

It was fun. I'd do it again. Here's a pic:
There's more pics on my blog - Something To Laugh About
Specs: Morehouse Merino Lace - 2 skeins in coral
Needles: Addi Turbo Lace Size 5 and for the last row and bind off I used Crystal Palace bamboo circulars Size 8
Some thoughts: I wasn't fond of the transition to the Lily of the Valley border. I ended up liking nups after the first 1 or two rows of them. Watching it grow and bloom when I blocked it was great!

Addicted to LACE

I just started knitting lace over the summer and I must say I LOVE it! I can't wait to get started on this shawl, tho I have to find my missing interweave that HAS this pattern in it...*sigh*

But you will be seeing this off my needles VERY soon!

nope to nupps

I'm in the home stretch, working the Peaked Edging now. I spent several evenings trying all kinds of permutations to achieve the 'nupps'. With the purl 5 together nigh on impossible for me to execute with my Inox greys, I started trying out different things. I finally settled on a 3-stitch bobble which, while not entirely to my satisfaction, is better than throwing down the knitting in complete frustration. ;)

New member and yardage

Hello! This will be my first major lace project (I've done a couple of small scarves and handkerchiefs) and I'm very excited! I ordered a back copy of the magazine, so I can't wait for it to come in to get started! I was wondering if someone could leave a comment with the yardage required for this project? I would like to go ahead and purchase the yarn so I'm ready when the magazine comes in! Thank you!

My 2nd Swallowtail Shawl

Knitting is addictive as it is, but knitting triangle shawls are even more so. I have more or less stopped knitting anything else!!

Here's my 2nd Swallowtail again, using the handpainted 100% wool lace yarn from Handpainted Yarn.

Even hubby was impressed!

Nupps?

Everyone who has finished a shawl is a true artist!! They are all beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!!
I am trying to do the nupps on the first chart. I always come out with the wrong count. I've been doing the cheater method.
Could someone just tell me the sequence of the abbreviated 'real'ones? I don't understand the symbol.
Even with a broken arm I can knit for awhile, but I'm on the verge of packing all mt stuff away upstairs. Can someone help me? thanks so much.... Star

My Swallowtail So Far

Thanks Lois for inviting me. Here's a picture:
This is my first shawl. I'm a fairly new lace knitter, and I love it. I'm almost to the next section, and I can't wait to experience nupps! (I hear groans)
Yarn: Morehouse Merino Laceweight, in coral
Needles: Addi Lace Size 4

More shots at www.donnac368.blogspot.com

Getting started

I am loving my Swallow Tail Shawl. This is really the first substantial lace pattern I have attempted. While I am having some stupid moments *i don't understand why this row won't work out... OH i am trying to knit the wrong row...* I keep gently ripping to get back, I feel like I am accomplishing something wonderful. The yarn is Blue Sky Alpaca, which I bought years ago, before the Swallow Tail pattern graced the pages of Interweave Knits. I have intended to knit this yarn in this pattern for quite some time. I am also knitting on US 10.5's because the yarn is fairly thick, and I want a big shawl :) I also read a comment on some one else's post that stated that after the 14 repeat of the Budding Lace, 5 repeat sequences will make the Lily of the Valley charts work out correctly. Has anyone tried this and had it work successfully or unsuccessfully?
More details about this shawl's life posted on my blog.

my humble beginning

It's taken me months to get started, but I finally settled on a yarn for this project and have gotten underway. The yarn is Jade Sapphire cashmere and silk in Blueblood Red. I chose this yarn and started my knitting before I saw Dana's red in Zephyr! Gotta love the reds. :)

First Swallowtail

I love this pattern so much! And using Sea Silk didn't suck either. I took a few pictures of the finished shawl at the Missouri Botanical Garden and posted them on my blog. Now I want to do another one, but I can't decide what yarn to use. I'm so glad there is this KAL so I can see so many possibilities!

Nupp tip

Hello everyone! I am new to this KAL--I started the shawl a couple of weeks ago as my first lace project. I am using JaggerSpun Zephyr (silk/wool blend) in color Real Red on a size US4 Inox Express circular. I just completed row 6 of the first border and, whew--I'm kind of glad I started without reading this KAL--I think the nupps would have scared me off. Now that I'm there, though, it's exciting to learn a new skill. (You can read more on my blog should you be so inclined!)

I wanted to share the technique I'm using for the nupps just in case it helps anyone else in my situation.

After all the swearing and the poking and the feeling desperate, I discovered a method for nupping that is less painful and more efficient, for me at least. Each time I come to the p5tog, I carefully slip the five stitches onto a metal tapestry needle and hold it to the front, sort of like using a cable needle. I then purl the stitches together from the tapestry needle rather than the left knitting needle. The smaller diameter of the tapestry needle gives me the wiggle room I need to clear all five stitches, wrap the working yarn, and purl it through. It's still really fiddly, but the nupps look great. There are a couple I could have done better, but even my perfectionism balks at ripping back to my lifeline unless I really have to.

Nupp said.

Mine is finished too!!

Hi, everyone.

I also managed to finish my shawl some time ago. About a month or so. And yes, it did not take too long to knit even though I've been so busy lately that I did not knit as much as I would have liked and it has taken me even longer to find some time to blog about it and upload some pictures.

I used under one skein of lace wool from handpaintedyarn.com on 3.5mm needles and may make another one in the same dusty pink colour.

Finished!!!

I finished knitting Sunday evening, then overdyed & blocked it Monday and I love it..... You may remember I was not happy with the yarn colours, it wasn't so much the colours but the fact they fought against the lace pattern and won.... so the plan was to overdye the shawl once complete and I absolutely love the result.....

so we have gone from this....


to this...


and finally (the above photo reflects the true colous)...


There are more photos and details on my blog. But I would definitely do more of these in the future....

Nupps, Nupps & More Nupps....

I have now finally finished Lily Border 1 and have progressed to Lily border 2.... the Nupps are getting easier