In the air tonight
7 Small Shawls: T - 159 days and counting down.
I'm sitting here by the window inhaling the amazing scent of California's dry grass and trees the evening after a warm day. There is nothing like it. Nothing. Being a California girl born and bred, I missed that smell horribly when I went back east to school.
But here I go off on a tangent when I have some more pics of Leyfi for you. I've seen a few comments where people were saying they thought the sweater fit strangely through the shoulders, based on the IK photos. It does look a little iffy, but I think it's because the model was shrugging her shoulders. Here you can see that it hangs properly.
Another shot of the shoulder.
The full sweater:
The sleeve detail.
And another shot of the sleeve detail with the yoke.
I tried it on and I also tried it on one of my small neighbors (who thinks I'm totally crazy because I'm always trying sweaters on her). It fits through the shoulders! Honest! :)
The other day, I got an email from Susan Rainey of the amazing Rainey Sisters. She and Sally have been working on my Maia Shoulderette. Susan said she wondered about the Maia chart and whether I would be charting everything they way I charted Maia. So I thought I'd explain a little bit about the method I use. Many charts, (and perhaps all non-lace charts I have used) show the chart as it looks on the right side. That means that when you turn it over and you see a knit stitch, you actually purl. But because there is patterning on both sides of some of my shawls, I have been writing the charts exactly the way they will be knitted. IOW, if you turn your work over and you are supposed to purl, the chart will have a purl symbol. Even though it annoys me once in awhile not to be able to see an exact representation of the right side of the piece, overall, I am super happy with just being able to follow the chart without thinking, especially on slanted decreases! Alas, it was more difficult for Susan to follow and she re-charted it. But I do hope that she will give my method a try some day. :) I can't wait to see your Maia, Susan!!!
Labels: 7 Small Shawls, leyfi, Maia
posted by Romi at 10:53 PM
17 Comments:
This is one sweet sweater.
I love how you do your charts!!! For this newer knitter, I can actually "get it" and do charts instead of knitting via the written pattern. I much prefer following a chart, but I need to be told exactly what to do without having to think too hard.
My sister and I are also working on Maia, and just the other day we were discussing the fact that we LOVE how it's charted!! I hope you'll continue with this method. A very fun knit, BTW--my first beaded project!
When I saw Leyfi, my first impression was that the lace yoke would be very forgiving of most any kind of shoulder slant. I think it's gorgeous!
As for your charts--they make total sense to me. The less brain power I need to put into a chart, the better.
I love your charts, I like to see the symbol I'm actually going to do rather than having to determine if I need to do the opposite because I'm on a purl row.
I'm joining the crowd to say I LOVE your charts. Lace is challenging enough without having to remember to invert the stitches on every other row. (That probably tells you I'm fairly new to chart reading--which is true.)
Me too - agree on all the chart comments! It has helped me become bolder with lacework. I do skip over the patterns that say "the other side is exactly the same only in reverse..." Maybe that works for experienced knitters but its too hard to enjoy for me. Love that Sweater! Already figured out what yarn I want to dye for it.
I haven't seen your charting method, but I know it would work much, much better for me than traditional charts. I really struggle to turn the symbols around in my head. I have major spatial orientation issues and visualizing things like that is incredibly difficult for me. (I also have no sense of direction, for the same reason. I once got lost in rural New Jersey driving two miles home in a straight line from downtown Philadelphia, and on one memorable day, I ended up underneath the train station, on the tracks with the trains, in my car.)
Yes, the smell.... I MISS THAT SOOOO MUCH!!! This summer its been so dry on the east coast that when I get a whiff of the hot dry earth that kind of reminds me of that smell I am in heaven...
Oh, and I love the sweater. ;-)
AnnaBanana
I've got my magazine today, and I really love your pullover in there! Such a lovely yarn/color you've used too!
PS I've wanted to get the Knit Scene Fall magazine because of your title page model, but hat no luck so far around here. I love everything with a hood on.
Love the sweater...and your charting method. Nothing drives me crazier than having to remember if a symbols means one thing on the right side and another on the wrong side. I'm an experienced knitter, but I just don't have the patience for that and will slog through the written instructions rather than deal with it.
I love the way you chart! It helps me that I don't have to think, 'well, if this is the WS it means x, but if it's the RS, it means y'
Oh, yes. I often prefer not to think, as well! :-)
Gonna buck the tide here and say I love your designs but hate your charting method. ;~D I have to re-write the charts, too, like Susan does.
Long ago I taught myself to "read" my knitting along with reading the charts, and I find the traditional charting method much easier with which to do that. What the chart looks like is exactly what my knitting should look like; I immediately spy any errors or deviations. I can also anticipate what the next steps will be and memorize repeats faster.
While I certainly understand that it may be easier for others who are not used to knitting as I do, I find your method does not visually relate the chart to the knitting as directly and requires following stitch-by-stitch along the charted row, something I avoid like the plaque (I like to get "off-book" as quickly as possible!).
To each her (knitter's) own!
I am going to start Leyfi very soon -- still prefer the traditional way to chart and I hope your method does not catch on or I will have to re-write every chart I knit!! Bummer!
I am familar with traditional lace charts and have knit quite a few complicated shawls with them, but it only took about a 10 minute adjustment for me to your charting style and I absolutely love it. I think knitting is one thing I do to keep my brain young and so I am willing to stretch it. It must stretch in order to be flexible! I am so happy that I found your 7 shawls booklette through Ravelry and I am just excited to get started on the next shawl. I am still in progress with Maia, but have not posted her yet to Ravelry. The Maia mitts look really fun too! Thank you Romi, you are giving us so much fun for $20 that I think this is the best deal in the knitting world!
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