FO: Sunset Aestlight

Pattern: Aestlight, by Gudrun Johnston, size large
Yarn: Corriedale handspun, dyed by Adrian, colorway Thrive, spun by me, ~500 yds/121 gr of fingering weight.
Needles: US 4/3.5 mm
Start/finish: August 20-September 1 (knitting)/September 15 (blocking)
Comments: This shawl was a joy to knit. I've blogged about the yarn already, so I won't go into details of the spinning, but the knitting was lovely. The only real modification I think I did was to use a smaller size needle, in the hopes of being able to knit the larger size and not run out of yarn. Finished, blocked dimensions are 21 inches deep and 51 inches wide.

It starts off with a big garter stitch triangle, with yarn over increases at the start of every row. These loops are then picked up to knit a garter/lace/garter border around the long sides of the triangle, and then it finishes with a lovely pointed edging that is knit sidewise and attached to the live stitches as you go along.

The pattern was very well written and presented, and Gudrun also has a group on Ravelry, with a KAL thread and lots of helpful tips. I had some issues with the last of the border sections, mostly because I was being an idiot, so there are no issues that I could find with the pattern. In fact, if you're new to lace knitting, this would be a great pattern to start with. Since it's largely based in garter stitch, there is almost no purling at all. And the lace patterns used are fairly straightforward once you get through a couple of repeats.

When I got to the edging, I had an OCD moment and started weight remaining yarn. I made it through 2/3 of one long side before I finished the first ball, so I started with the greeny-bluey-yellowy stuff for the section around the point, and then switched back to the yarn I had set aside partway up. In the end, I had plenty of yarn.

These are going to end up in the Sock Yarn Blanket

The transitions are somewhat abrupt on both sides, but so what. My OCD moment has passed and I'm happy with it.

As always the transition from blob,

through blocking,

to finished object is so, so satisfying. I got some blocking wires while we were in Maine, and this was their maiden voyage. They worked pretty well, although I chose to thread them through the shawl before soaking it, and then had a devil of a time trying to squash the thing together enough so that it would fit into the sink and actually get wet. Never mind, it all worked out well in the end.

It's definitely my favorite part about knitting lace. Devil showed continued interest in photography, and insisted on taking some of the FO photos. Girlfriend definitely needs her own camera.

Holy fuck I'm getting grey...

The colors of this shawl make me think of Arizona sunsets, and are sure to be a huge hit on those cold, grey London winter days that I know are just around the corner. I can't wait.

In which I impersonate an anal knitter

I spent much of last week cruising along on Aestlight, enjoying every minute of it.

The yarn is fun to work with - a little bit grabby but nice and soft. I'm loving the way the colors are going. It looks like a sunset. And oh! the garter stitch cushiness! Gudrun's pattern is beautifully written and presented, and the hold up I had at the end of the lace section of the border was due solely to operator error (otherwise known as I-am-a-dumbass-and-can't-follow-simple-directions syndrome).

Bird's eye lace, how do I love thee? Let me count the purl stitches...

But here's where the OCD kicks in. I finished with the border section in Maine, and had to stop. Because I didn't want to have the edging change colors suddenly in the middle. And I didn't want the colors to be asymmetrical. Harumph. The last few rows of the border were the same blue-green of the center triangle, and there was quite a bit of that left in the yarn cake. But the outside of the yarn cake was that gorgeous pinky-orange hue.

Of course, I was positive that I didn't have enough of the pink section to do the entire edging, particularly since I'm knitting the large size shawl. Erf. So I broke down in a heap, put down the garter stitch, and realized that I needed my niddy-noddy before I went any farther.

Now that we're back at the ranch (and Ironman and the girls have gone blackberry hunting again), I busted out the ball winder and my scale to get things set up for the final stage. First up, the yarn left:

You can see that the part I've balled is bluer then the rest of it. Deciding where to divide between the blue/green/yellow and the orange pink was tough, but finally I bit the bullet and broke it. The remaining pink/orange stuff got wound on the niddy noddy and I counted the number of wraps (19.75).

I set up the ball winder next to the niddy and wound off half of the yarn available. Then I broke the yarn and wound up another ball of pink/orange. The first ball got rewound so that the end that was in the middle of the pink/orange section ended up being the end that I'll start with. That way if I run out before the halfway point in the edging, I'll be able to seamlessly blend in the blue/green/yellow ball (also rewound). Hopefully I'll use up enough of that ball to be able to blend into the second ball of pink/orange without too much contrast.

Yes, there is an orange ball and a pink ball. I'm hoping it won't make that much difference in the final product.

Pink/orange yarn, 18 gr.

(My dubious math skills are up to this one) Blue/green/yellow yarn, also 18 gr. Given that I started with 121 gr total, I have no idea if I'll make it through with just the pink/orange. I suspect I will be weighing what's left after a few edging repeats to see if I'm going to make it.

Gosh, I feel like Grumperina!