I finally figured out how I wanted to edge Damson. I didn't like the plain bound off edge that I ended up with after I ran out of yarn. I did have a 450 yard skein, but I didn't have a size 6 needle, so I used a size 7. Yep, seems like I didn't think it out ahead of time as usual, but it is logical that a larger needle size is going to use more yarn. Dumb! Anyway, I tried a bunch of knitted lace edgings from my Nicky Epstein book yesterday, but none of them looked right, they were too lacy, and this shawl is more simple. I finally decided to pull out a book and work on a crocheted edge. One thing I appreciate about crochet edging is that you can easily try a little bit and see how it looks immediately. With a knitted border it seems like you have to knit the whole thing before you know whether you like it or not. So I wanted a border that was a little bitty scallop, sort of like the edging
Ysolda put on it in the first place.
I wanted at least one row of
sc before the scallop, but I don't like the way
sc looks at the pick-up row, so I ended up doing one row of reverse
sc, which I liked better. Then I did the scallop by
sc 1, ch 3, then sc 1 into the second stitch out (skipping one). Or (ch 3,
sc1)into every other stitch of the row of reverse
sc. I hope one of those descriptions makes sense! :) I'm not experienced at describing crochet.
I like the result. My daughter modeled for me, and she is getting to be a bit of a ham for the camera.
So, to sum up. This is
Damson from
Ysolda. I used
Pagewood Farms Yukon Hand Dyed Sock Yarn in the
Camo colorway, which I think is a horrible name for a beautiful yarn, one skein. Size 7 needles, edging in Opal sock yarn, brown.
Isn't it pretty? I love it.
Next up is another Ysolda pattern project!
And guess who I ran into in the post office this week? JC Briar! Yes, I totally walked up and introduced myself, she was mailing a pair of mittens, and I was mailing yarn I sold in my Etsy shop! Another reason I am really happy this week. (This is only my 3rd Etsy sale so I still get pretty thrilled.) So it appears that JC Briar lives in my town, and I didn't even know this! I wonder if anyone else in my town did? (In my local knitting community.) I was able to mention that I saw her name on the list of teachers for KnitNation in London in July. I feel like a bit of a stalker..eek!
I love the look of seed stitch, even if I don't totally love knitting it, but since this wasn't a huge project, totally manageable. Some lovely wood buttons were found at my LYS to finish it off. I sewed them back to back with other buttons to stabilize them. I still need to tighten down the buttonholes a bit, they tend to come undone very easily.
I know it's a bit odd to model a woolly scarf in a t-shirt on a nice day!
The hood tends to fall down easily too..not sure how to fix that.
I have a bit leftover from the fourth skein of yarn, so the yardage estimation seems right. As another person mentioned I would recommend knitting a few more rows on the short end of the scarf, just before the buttonholes. I think this would make it drape and fit better. Altogether I would say I am 4 out of 5 stars pleased with the FO.
