AtomicKnits

Swallowtail Shawl: My Olympic Gold Medal

I did it!  I finished my Ravelympics 2008 project!  My Swallowtail Shawl turned out beautifully!   This is the first real lace project that I've ever done, and I can see why so many knitters love knitting lace!  While I was knitting this, all I could see was this lumpy, holey piece of purple monstrosity knitting going back and forth on the needles.  I blocked it and pinned it out and finally could see how pretty it was.  As I was stretching it out and pinning it in place, I was afraid that it would just boing back into the lump that it was on the needles.  After I took the pins out, I was so excited to see that it stayed the exact way I pinned it out!  It's flat and drapey and beautiful!

I'm glad I chose this as my Olympics project, because it really did turn out to be quite a challenge for me.  The two Lily of the Valley charts kicked my ass (the middle lace pattern with the little bobbles).  There were many times when I would get to the end of a row and be off by 1 or 2 stitches.  I would investigate enough to discover that my real mistake was 2 rows down.  I usually don't rip out anything if I can help it, but I knew that mistakes would show very easily in this type of piece.  So, like a good knitter, I tinked and ripped back rows and re-did them.  Now, I am glad that I did.  I love the way it looks!

I feel very proud that I completed this project in such a short period of time.  I can't wait to wear this!  I'm already going to have an opportunity to soon!

Swallowtail Shawl
Pattern Source: Interweave Knits, Fall 2006
Yarn:  Lavish Alpaca Sport
Needles:  US 4

The Ravelympics are well under way!

The real Olympics has started and so has the Ravelympics!  The Yarn Harlot oversees the winter Knitting Olympics, and Ravelry has stepped up to the plate to oversee its summer counterpart!  The goal of this challenge is to complete a pre-planned project or number of projects during the duration of the actual olympics.  I choose to start and finish the Swallowtail Shawl.  As you can see I'm already a good ways into it.  It's going much faster than I thought.  I picked this project as a challenge because I have never done a real lace project before.  I have just started the 2nd (more complicated) lace pattern and my momentum as decreased a bit.

The yarn I chose for this shawl is Lavish Alpaca.  It is a little heavier than the yarn the pattern calls for, but I think it will still turn out nice.  I can't wait to block it so I can see it's real beauty.