Lotus Dreams Shawl…a Wednesday WIP
She thought the journey would take forever…
Nights of skimming across the ocean darkness, mornings of sunshine and schools of dolphins dancing in the waves beside her, evenings of fog and cloud where only the whispers of the rigging creaking above her head assured her that all sound had not left the world.
Finally she reached the shore, stepping onto moss-covered rocks – stony steps leading down to a pool sparkling with all the shades of the sea she had just crossed.
Vibrant lotus blossoms dappled the surface, their shocking colour a welcome relief after the voyage of blues and greens.
Far in the distance, a sudden flare of music sounded an alarm, and she looked up, startled.
That’s when she saw it.
This Wednesday WIP is a shawl I’ve been looking forward to knitting for a long time – the spectacular Lotus Crescent shawl by Keiran Foley of knit/lab. Lace, Lace Intarsia, Stranded Knitting…so many interesting techniques are included in this one pattern.
I selected KnitPicks Palette for it, in Marine Heather, Seafaring, Caribbean, Lichen, and Fairy Tale.
(And yes, sometimes I do make up stories about my knitting! With a yarn named Fairy Tale, how could I not?)
So far, this is a fun knit, in spite of the fact that it really is taking longer than I thought.
First of all, I had to decide how to modify the cast-on…all of the many gorgeous projects with this shawl have the crescent hump found with a short garter tab. Normally, I’d use the Sweet Dreams cast-on from Susan Rainey, but I didn’t want to lose the almost instant chevron striping called for in the pattern.
Also, I spotted several mentions of rolling edges, and I know from past experience that I like the stability a garter stitch edge adds when working a mostly stockinette body.
Instead of following the pattern exactly, I added on 4 stitches before and after the amount called for in the cast-on instructions, and I have been knitting them on the wrong side rows. On right side rows, I am knitting 2, yo, k2tog, (work pattern stitches), ssk, yo, k2.
Since I only have 3 shades of blue, and not the multiple shades listed in the pattern key, I tried combining the 3 in the first pattern section.
I ended up not caring for it; instead of a gradient effect it gave it a more abrupt stripe. I realized this as soon as I added the first row, but like a fool, kept knitting at least 2 more hours before I couldn’t stand it anymore and frogged.
I re-knit, using only 2 colours of blue for the first section (Marine Heather and Caribbean).
The next thing to change was the solid chart; I added a row of garter stitch at the top of the chart, before the eyelet row, to make a welt rather than the wave that resulted from having only one row of garter stitch.
I’m on the next section now, using Marine Heather and Seafaring, which will lead into my first row of lace intarsia in Lichen and Fairy Tale.
In spite of the frog and reknit, and the slowness that happens when purling in stranded knitting, this is a totally mesmerizing knit. I can’t wait to get it done!
Have you ever knit the Lotus Crescent shawl? If so, I’d love to hear from you…drop a link to your project in the comments below 🙂