Aran Lace Poncho Nearly Done!
(Like you) I was beginning to wonder if my Lace poncho was ever going to be finished! I hit that "black hole" point where you knit and knit and knit and it never seems to get any bigger - and you go through ball after ball of yarn and you're nowhere closer to being finished!
Well, I finally reached that magic place where the tape measure agreed with the pattern and I could start working on the hem!
As usual, it was an adventure! The pattern said to go back to using the 2nd smallest size needles you used near the top - right after the collar was done. I thought this was a little strange, especially since the hem is worked sideways - but - the pattern is always right - right? Ha ha ha ha ha!!!
You guessed it! Waaaaay too small! The edge stitches bunched up as I joined the hem to the edging. All the blocking in the world wouldn't fix that! So I ripped it back and tried again, thinking maybe I should use the same size I was working with last? Even that was a bit tight so I went UP one size from the last set (now 7mm!) and the edging is just about perfect gauge-wise. Now when I stretch it out, the way I would to block it, the edging doesn't stretch 'short' and the main body stitches sit comfortably, like they should!
I should mention that I am using a different lace hem than the one in the pattern. Their version was 18 stitches wide and I'm not sure I'll have enough of the white/olive yarn left for that so I used a hem pattern from Stahman's Shawls and Scarves that is only 10 stitches wide at it's peak. It's also a much simpler pattern - and simple is 'good' for me - because it's also faster! LOL! I want to mention that if you're looking for an absolutely smashing book on shawl & scarf patterns I highly recommend it! The shawls are Faroese-shaped which means they fit the human form, unlike a triangular shawl. The patterns are both charted and written out. All are beautiful!
So that's it for today - I'm going to try to get the hem finished this weekend... maybe pull some weeds, work on my books today... etc etc etc
Well, I finally reached that magic place where the tape measure agreed with the pattern and I could start working on the hem!
As usual, it was an adventure! The pattern said to go back to using the 2nd smallest size needles you used near the top - right after the collar was done. I thought this was a little strange, especially since the hem is worked sideways - but - the pattern is always right - right? Ha ha ha ha ha!!!
You guessed it! Waaaaay too small! The edge stitches bunched up as I joined the hem to the edging. All the blocking in the world wouldn't fix that! So I ripped it back and tried again, thinking maybe I should use the same size I was working with last? Even that was a bit tight so I went UP one size from the last set (now 7mm!) and the edging is just about perfect gauge-wise. Now when I stretch it out, the way I would to block it, the edging doesn't stretch 'short' and the main body stitches sit comfortably, like they should!
I should mention that I am using a different lace hem than the one in the pattern. Their version was 18 stitches wide and I'm not sure I'll have enough of the white/olive yarn left for that so I used a hem pattern from Stahman's Shawls and Scarves that is only 10 stitches wide at it's peak. It's also a much simpler pattern - and simple is 'good' for me - because it's also faster! LOL! I want to mention that if you're looking for an absolutely smashing book on shawl & scarf patterns I highly recommend it! The shawls are Faroese-shaped which means they fit the human form, unlike a triangular shawl. The patterns are both charted and written out. All are beautiful!
So that's it for today - I'm going to try to get the hem finished this weekend... maybe pull some weeds, work on my books today... etc etc etc
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