it's getting to be afghan weather

The evenings are getting chilly. It's great weather for snuggling up to watch a movie and knit. And I am working along on my Carson throw! It's superior tv knitting for this time of year. Warm, wooly, and wonderfully chunky! Of course, it was pretty fun lying on the floor with it too. Hee. :)

With all the fire weirdness going on, I haven't worked on it as much as I would have liked, but it's moving along nicely!

I am loving the subtle change of colors.

The colors are so close, that when you look at it enlarged as below, you almost can't see where one begins and the other leaves off.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Eco Wool?

And now we're to the portion of the throw that uses the Carson shawl pattern. Woot!

Rules:
1. This throw is knit in the round rather than back and forth, so all the rounds are RS.
2. The WS (even) rows on the Carson shawl will be worked with "opposite" sts (see key below) when worked on the Carson throw.
3. The edging on either side of each row on the Carson shawl will be omitted from the throw. That is 3 sts on the leading edge of each RS row, and 4 sts on the end of each RS row. On WS rows, that is reversed: 4 sts at beginning and 3 sts at end will be omitted. The 3 sts on one side and 4 sts on the other make the shawl symmetrical when worked as a semi circle, and add a garter stitch border that helps the shawl edge remain flat. When the pattern is worked as a full circle, there is no need to add an edging.
4. Disregard the number of repeats shown for the sts in [ ]s. Instead, repeat the sts in [ ]s all the way around the circle to the end of the round.
5. Carry the yarn behind the slipped sts loosely so that it won't pull the throw in.

Key to translate WS (even row) Carson Shawl instructions into RS (even round) Carson Throw instructions:

knit in Carson shawl pattern=purl on Carson throw

purl in Carson shawl pattern=knit on Carson throw

wyib in Carson shawl pattern=wyif on Carson throw

wyif in Carson shawl pattern=wyib on Carson throw

kfb in Carson shawl pattern=pfb on Carson throw

Here is an example of how the above key works:

Shawl instructions:

Row 77: (CC) sl3 wyib, [k1, sl1 wyib] 79 times, k1, turn (there will be 3 sts remaining on right needle)

Row 78: (CC) [k1, sl1 wyif] 79 times, k1, sl 3 wyif

turn into throw instructions:

Round 77: (CC) sl3 wyib, [k1, sl1 wyib] to end of round 79 times, k1, turn (there will be 3 sts remaining on right needle) 

Round 78: (CC) [k1, sl1 wyif] 79 times, [p1, sl1 wyib] to end of round k1, sl 3 wyif

Once you begin working the pattern rounds and that pattern is established, it will become second nature to reverse those WS rows on the shawl pattern to work the throw!

On my Carson Throw, I will be putting in an extra 4 rows in each section (in the garter/slip stitch area) before increasing. This will make the throw a little bit larger. And even though the increase pattern will not strictly adhere to Pi increases, I think it will stretch into shape properly as long as I keep the floats behind the slipped sts nice and loose. If they are too loose at the end, I plan on fulling the throw a little in the dryer to tighten it up.

I think I'll go knit a little now. :)