September 19, 2015

• Cast on today because yarn arrived too late and knit first repeat of body pattern.
• Pattern is written well, but need to look both at charts and written instructions to figure out what to do. The combination of Body Part A (the RS) and Body Part B (the WS) and in addition the cable chart is a bit confusing, but maybe it’s just at the beginning.
• Not very overwhelmed with the yarn, it rubs off massively on my fingers. Guess it’s the dark color, but never experienced something like this with Madelinetosh yarn so far while knitting.
• Washed the second skein for a test - it bleeds massively! Washed it twice with Soak so far and rinsed it at least 20 times… still no change… Not sure if I should change the yarn, because I like the color so much….

September 27, 2015

Frustrated (and work-related) pause… no time to fiddle with bleeding yarn issues. Continuing with my bleeding yarn, but not sure if I make it until end of KAL… I’m mostly too tired during the week after work to do anything… and only knitting at weekends doesn’t add to progress very well…

Decided to call the shawl “Bramble Hedge” because of the color, the thorn-hedge-like lace pattern, the rough start and autumn in general. :) Oh and because I’m obsessed with my new perfume “Blackberry & Bay” ;)

October 11, 2015

Knitting goes well, at body pattern repeat 8 of 9 now. RS rows are a little exhausting (I tend to miscount), but WS rows are easy.
I’m trying to keep some easy workarounds in my mind for not having to look at the charts or the braid instructions all the time:

1. The center cable/braid A always turns up in the same rows of the pattern repeat: Row 1, 5 and 9 which are all RS rows. But as the braid A pattern is a 8-row-repeat opposed to the body pattern (12-row-repeat), knitting with the cable needle held in front (my shortcut: 1) alternates with holding it in the back (2) like this:

   Row 1 (RS): …Braid 1/1, 2/2, 4/1, 5/2, 7/1, 8/2, 10/1, 11/2 etc…

   This means, in Row 1 I knit the first repeat of the braid with cable needle held in front (1/1)….

   Row 5 (RS):…Braid 1/2, 3/1, 4/2, 6/1, 7/2, 9/1, 10/2 etc…

   …followed by Row 5 where I knit the first repeat of the braid with cable needle held in the back (1/2)…

   Row 9 (RS):…Braid 2/1, 3/2, 5/1, 6/2, 8/1, 9/2, 11/1 etc…

   …followed by knitting the second repeat of the braid with cable needle held in the front (2/1)… and so on.

   Might seem a bit confusing, but works for me pretty well. I marked the braid rows in the written and charted instructions and write down the numbers next to the respective rows.

2. Secondly, the non-braid rows are always the same when it comes to the stitches you have to knit instead of the braid: On RS rows, it’s always sm, p1, k9 ,p1, sm and on WS rows, it’s always sm, k1, p9, k1, sm

   So this means, in every row, where you don’t have to knit the braid using the cable needle, the 9 center stitches are always knit stitches on the RS and purl stitches on the WS.

3. For all WS rows, the knit stitches are always knit into the yarnover stitches from the RS before. And all purl stitches are knit on purl stitches from the RS before. In all variations. So I don’t pay attention to Body Chart A (RS) or B (WS) while knitting and instead try to keep this in mind for not getting confused.

November 17, 2015

Finished November 12, didn’t have time to make decent photos so far. The color is most accurate on the Flickr- photos, not on the phone photos (too purple). A smooth knit, once you can remember the pattern. I quite like the look as it’s a nice little accessory - more suited for leisure activities than for office or business outfits.
Solved the problem with the massively bleeding yarn by washing it in the washing machine for 20 minutes… the original color was a lot deeper and less reddish, but I like it more now as it’s not so dark any more.

Anyhow, loved knitting my little Bramble Hedge shawl!

P.S.: I will add measurements and amount of used up yarn once I get the chance