…the one in which I lose my mind and decide bigger really is better…

I’m upsizing this to make it a throw for my husband but it’s still wearable as a shawl if I can sneak it out of the house :)

10-13-2013 - just need to block it…how do you block something this enormous??? hmmmm… (eta: you think about it for a month ~ hehe)

Girls in Sheep Clothing Summer Solstice Knitalong ~ come join us if you’d like!

color choices inspired by the Folk Art Museum print in our home ~ left to right: MC pumpernickel, C1 fossil, C2 sap, C3 embers, C4 long johns

Total Yarn Usage for Project:

• MC - 573.5g (12skeins)
• C1 - 62.5g (2 skeins)
• C2 - 54.5g (1 full skein with NONE leftover!)
• C3 - 64.0g (2 skeins)
• C4 - 67.0g (2 skeins)
• Total: 821.5g = approx 2300yds

Shelter:

• 7 skeins wound so far ~ all generous & weigh more than 50g ~ no knots in yarn ~ uniform thickness ~ just enough VM to send me daydreaming about the whole sheep to shawl process but not enough to feel the need to pick it out (if that makes sense?)
• excellent for spit splicing (thank goodness, did you see how many skeins I have???!)
• I presoaked the hanks of long johns (red) since it is right next to fossil (natural) in my color sequence and I was afraid of bleeding…holy, cow ~ 5 basins of water before it ran clear so I’m really glad I took the time to do this!
• skeins varied in weight anywhere from 48g to 54.5g (fossil skeins both weighed under 50g and the yarn actually seemed a bit thinner than the darker colors)

The Pattern:

• on first read through, everything makes perfect sense (especially with having done this type of construction before on a JF pattern) ~ the only thing that strikes me at first glance as being difficult is the color coding on the chart (the colors are so close that it is really difficult to see the different sections distinctly…and the MC key color and actual chart color are completely different)

project notes:

• followed directions for larger size but used worsted weight yarn for an even bigger size (Churchmouse Yarns estimated I would need 30% more yarn than the pattern called for…so I bought 50% more just to be on the safe side)
• used US8 40” circular for garter square
• spit-spliced skeins together to save every inch of yarn
• switched to US8 60” circular when I picked up stitches around the center garter square ~ not big enough ~ connected a 60” and two 47” cords together to do the Old Shale Chart
• I took the right interchangeable needle off the cord, replaced with a cap and used just the needle (kind of like a dp) in my right hand when I did the attached border…less wrestling with all the weight on the cords at this point and the knitting went much faster
• I used removable stitch markers for landmarks when doing edging : you repeat the chart 31 times between each corner section ~ each chart repeat incorporates 6 live shawl stitches so I placed a marker every 12 stitches (15 markers) so I knew at each marker I should have done 2 chart repeats (and then 1 more repeat after the last marker before the corner to pick up the last 6 side stitches) ~ probably not necessary but I did the same thing with this project, and this project and it made the border seem more manageable and less daunting :)

Center Garter Square:

• took 6.4 skeins of yarn (approx 896 yds / weighs 332.0 grams)
• 36,856 stitches :)
• 30” x 30” unblocked

Old Shale Chart:

• row 1-2 (MC) - used 9.0g
• row 3-4 (C1) - used 9.5g
• row 5-6 (MC) - used 8.5g
• row 7-8 (C1) - used 8.5g
• row 9-14 (C4) - used 27.5g
• row 15-20 (C3) - used 31.0g
• row 21-24 (C2) - used 21.5g
• row 25-26 (C1) - used 11.0g
• row 27-28 (C2) - used 10.5g
• row 29-30 (C1) - used 10.0g
• row 31-34 (C2) - used 22.5g
• row 35-40 (C3) - used 33.0g
• row 41-46 (C4) - used 39.5g
• row 47-48 (C1) - used 13.0g
• row 49-50 (MC) - used 13.0g
• row 51-52 (C1) - used 10.5g
• row 53-55 (MC) - used 18.0g

Set-Up Row & Knitted On Edging:

• took 185.5g (MC)

Measurements & Blocking:

• measures approx. 50x50” before blocking
• could have blocked to about 73X73” but not enough mats (I will eventually borrow extra and reblock again)
• blocked on my mattress to approx. 63x63” (this is still huge but it can be bigger & better…someday!)

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