Guilty
I am guilty of ignoring the projects on my “in progress” list. I am guilty of casting on for no less than four new projects in the last ten days. I am guilty of a little knitter’s envy. I started Birch.
This is the start of Sharon Miller’s Birch shawl in KSH Dewberry (umm, yes, it’s pretty much the same colour as the Zephyr I used for the Paisley Lace Shawl). I’m knitting these on US 7 (4.5mm) Addi’s, a size smaller than recommended. I heard about people running out of KSH and since I bought these three balls of KSH in Seattle a few months ago, I can’t have that happen.
Heh heh. I also heard that it would be a good idea to mark every ten-stitch repeat with a stitch marker — yeah, it would have been good to do that. It would have saved me tinking back the first row only to have made yet another mistake on the first row. I fudged it and am moving on. Now that the pattern is relatively established, it’s easy to see where things are supposed to go. Besides, who is going to look at the first row of the right-hand corner of the shawl? Right?
Since discovering that Sharon Miller was the designer of both Birch and the new “River” stole in Rowan 38, I decided to look her up. Have you seen her amazing Heirloom Knitting site/book/patterns? I think I’ll be knitting up more of her lace shawls… just gorgeous. Yes, my eyes knit faster than my hands.
Tags: Birch, Sharon Miller
OH I’m ready to cast on for Birch myself! Honestly though the cast on method seems beyond me but I’m smarter than the knit!
I also love Birch and have been wanting to try it but I really, really need to use some of my stash. And there is no KSH or anything close to it in my stash. I’ll just enjoy watching your Birch’s progress!
Oh yeah, I have knitter’s envy too, lol! I love Birch, its beautiful, but I am still scared of the 299 sts cast on. I plan to face my fear soon enough b/c I want to make River also.
Lace knitting, here I come!
P.S. I have that same condition, the eyes knit faster than the hands.
Oh man, Birch is everywhere! I may have to order that magazine. I have been wanting to try out the KidSilk Haze (after hearing EVERYBODY talk about it)!
Oh man, Birch is everywhere! I may have to try this one out. I have been wanting to try the KidSilk Have (because EVERYBODY is talking about it)!
Sharon is truly an amazing knitter. I used her book heavily when designing my veil - esp. the section about framing the center panel and how to distribute motifs. I heard a rumor that she has another book in the works (but it may not be ready for a long time).
I’m so happy you’re using your KSH, it’s going to look just as nice as your Paisley Lace Shawl. Thanks for answering my questions about it. I placed an order for Zehpyr and I can’t wait to start it. And no need to feel guilty, you’re using up stuff in your stash, it’s a good thing!
I think you’ll be fine with 3 balls. I didn’t swatch, I used sz.8 needles, I even lost a few yards of yarn because I had to cast on twice and it’s a pain to rip out the stitches you cast on with. All of that and I still only used less than 3 balls of yarn. 4 if you want to count half the ball of yarn my husband sucked up with the vacuum cleaner :).
i’d be really surprised if you ran out of yarn. i am a tight knitter and have to go up a needle size usually, so with birch i did the same. i still ended up with over 1/2 a ball left. i’ve heard of 2 people running out … and one of them i know is a notoriously loose knitter. so if you have a rough idea of your usual tension just compensate slightly if need be. i wouldn’t necessarily recommend going down a needle size unless you have to, because you could end up with a much smaller sized shawl.
Oh, remember our KSH deal about 6 months back? I got the KSH specifically to make Birch and I still haven’t cast on…..maybe watching you work on yours will inspire me. But wait, can’t start yet, have too many projects on the go as it is. Too many office hours, too little knitting time!
what a beautiful color for birch.
Hey hey Birch! I had to re-do it at least twice - besides the first try-out that i have put aside as there was no way i could undo this mohair mess. I also took smaller needles size - i am a very loose knitter.. anyway what happened is that i ended having almost a complete ball left off - and a very short version of Birch (see it on my blog) it is still really nice thought.. but i wanted to do another one - in dewberry !- trying this time to get the size right.. Anyway i also found out that there are new colors of Kidsilk Haze - Spray - in color Medici and Regals that are quite nice too !
I love Birch… She does beautiful work, thanks for linking! Thats a great idea to mark every 10 stitches… Maybe that is my problem with my shawl
oh, yes indeedy…birch is not fun if you lose your place. there is NO ripping KSH, as far as i’m concerned! and mistake, schmistake. they add character, right? i do think the bryspun needles make a huge difference with lacework as fine as this. having just (ahem, finally) finished birch, i am now proceeding to another KSH dream…butterfly.