Yeah, I’m still around. It’s been busy here at Chez PicnicKnits. We’ve had all kinds of craziness going on, and the mom taxi has been running 24/7. We still have a belated birthday party to deal with on Saturday, but I’m hoping things will settle down a bit after that. Otherwise I’m gonna need to hire a personal assistant. Again I bow down to working moms. I have no idea how they get it all done. No idea at all.
But I have something pretty to show you. Really pretty. Presenting Gaenor.
Isn’t she lovely? The most enjoyable lace shawl I’ve ever worked on. And yes, I’m tooting my own horn. Here’s the “official” description of her:
A beautiful effect for a lot less work. This simple shawlette is knit from side to side. With a garter stitch body and a gabled lace edging that is knit right on as you go along. There is no picking up stitches, there are no 500 stitch rows. In fact for the version I worked, the very longest row was only 110 stitches!
The garter stitch blocks out beautifully, and the simple yet elegant lace edging has a lot of impact due to the double yarnovers. And you begin this gorgeous piece of lace by only casting on 2 stitches. Even better, when all is said and done you only have 2 stitches remaining to cast off.
Perfect for that one of a kind sock yarn that you just can’t bear to make socks with, this shawlette will work with many different yarn weights. Just make sure to use a big enough needle for drape!
I’m really super pleased with this one. You use up half your yarn for one side and then start decreasing, so most any yarn will work. I used Politically Incorrect Silk/Merino fingering and size 7 needles. And the pattern is up for sale on Ravelry for only $5.50.
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September 24th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
This might be just the thing for my Mini Mochi! Very, very nice — and so thoughtful of you to not write for the 550 stitches!
September 24th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I don’t like knitting, I’ve said it before. But I am going to knit this, yes, I am. It’ll take me ages and I will adore it when it’s done.
September 24th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Cute and clever! I hope this is a big hit!
September 24th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Curse you, woman! I didn’t need another “must knit” shawl for my to-do list! This, however, has just jumped to the top of that list! GORGEOUS!
September 24th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
That is fabulous! It just jumped onto my queue!
September 25th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
ok…I give…bought the pattern today, started tonight…this design is genius, I love not having to work on hundreds of stitches in the rows and I love knitting the edging as I go along-thanks for an awesome design!
October 24th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Can this be made in a smaller version?
November 4th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
[...] a gorgeously twisted fingering weight with real silver flecks in it. It would be perfect for a Gaenor or an Argante. But I don’t knit things twice, so it will be for something new I design. [...]
January 20th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
[...] ETA: On Saturday Jan 23, if you shop at Three Bags Full, 50% of the profit goes to MSF. Also, I bought Gaenor. [...]
February 5th, 2010 at 3:28 am
Hi,
This is lovely and I’m thinking of knitting it, unfortunately I don’t have any 4ply going spare at the moment so I want to try making it in a different yarn. Can you let me know the dimensions and tension you use so I can have a think about how it would work,
thanks
Jane
February 5th, 2010 at 6:33 am
The gauge is 18 stitches and 26 rows = 4 inches in Blocked Garter. And the finished dimensions are a 64” wingspan and 22” deep and used about 430 yards. If you use a heavier yarn, you will need to use larger needles to make a nice drapey fabric. Make sure to do a blocked garter gauge swatch to make sure the fabric you have won’t be too dense. Other than that, this shawl is easy to adjust to size. You just work until half of your yarn is gone (or shawl is half of desired size) and then you start decreasing. Good luck!