More Estonian Lace Inspired Shawl KAL Eye Candy

While I didn’t have a lot of time to stop by The Point this week, I was able to get a photo of Georgia’s first repeat of the Estonian Lace in magnificent purple. Other knitting friends have been joining us on this lace journey. 

 

Estonian Lace Repeat in Purple

 

Looking at several repeats, we thought that the Estonian lace pattern for the center of the shawl looked a lot like a cathedral. Initially, I thought that the loopy line looked like a serpent. What do you think?

For your copy of the free Estonian Lace Scarf Inspired Shawl instructions, click here.

Entry submitted by Heidi Cohen, Editor in Chief of Knitted Yarns

Estonian Lace Inspired Shawl KAL-Eye Candy

 

Estonian Lace Pattern-1 Repeat

Since it’s difficult to visualize a lace pattern without seeing it in the light of day, here’s what one repeat (or 34 rows) of the center pattern look like. In this photo, you can see two repeats (as marked by the green stitch markers.) 

I love the way that the Brooklyn Handspun has a gradual color change when knitted up.

This lace looks a lot more complicated than it is. Since the 10 stitch repeat is repeated 8 times per row, you get the rhythm of the knitting. In addition, there are 4 rows that are repeated.

For those of you who want more information about Estonian Lace, check out Nancy Bush’s Knitted Lace of Estonia: Techniques, Patterns, and Traditions

Estonian Lace Scarf Inspired Shawl KAL Begins-Please join us!

 

Estonian Lace Inspired KAL ready to knit

The Estonian Lace Scarf Inspired Shawl KAL begins. You’re invited to join us. I am so excited since this is my first KAL and I’m the one who has written the instructions.

 

I am knitting the shawl using sock yarn (aka fingering weight). I am using the Brooklyn Handspun which I bought at The Point’s Thanksgiving Weekend Sale. It’s similar to the colorway that I used for my mother’s shawl although the reds are a more brick colored than the yarn I used for my mother. The yarn is thinner than I remembered,

 

Due to schedules, only two of us started together at one of our favorite knitting establishments, The Point. We weren’t able to convince any of our other knitting friends to join us that day.

 

Estonian Lace Inspired KAL at The Point NYC

Estonian Lace Scarf Inspired Shawl KAL

A few of my knitting buddies and I are planning to start an Estonian Lace KAL inspired by the Triinu Shawl that I made my mother.  As the basis for the pattern that we plan to knit, we are using The Estonian Lace Scarf by Helene Wallin 2006. It has 21 projects on Ravelry.

The Estonian Lace Scarf contains three different lace patterns and requires grafting (a no-no in my book, at least for now). Therefore, I’ve made some modifications to create a no-grafting needed Estonian Lace Shawl.

Estonian Lace Scarf Inspired Shawl Notes Source: http://entill.typepad.com/estonian_lacescarf.pdf

Two other online sources that might be of use:

Estonian Lace Study Good for visual help

Create Along Good for documenting lace patterns

Disclaimer: I am knitting this shawl for the first time as my friends in yarn and I progress. I am working ahead of them to ensure that any potential glitches will be worked out in advance.

Mom Models Triinu Sharf

I made the pink and purple Triinu Shawl from Nancy Bush’s Lace Knitting of Estonia as a holiday surprise for my mother.  My surprise was her willingness to model it for my blog! (Don’t tell anyone but I think she really enjoyed it.)

Mom modeling her Triinu Scarf

Mom modeling her Triinu Scarf with a knitting friend

As my mother requested, I am still working on a black Shetland lace scarf. This knitted piece is much narrower but it must be at least 6 feet ling when blocked. Due to the dark color and lace weight yarn, it’s taking forever since I can only knit a few rows at a time before my eyes hurt. I just passed the 32 inch mark. Less than 40 inches left to go due to blocking growth!

Triinu Shawl in Pinks Becomes Blocked Beauty

Since my mother wanted a shawl that was at least six feet long, I used eight of the ten balls of Grignasco Top Print for the main portion of the Triinu Shawl which measured about 70 inches before I added the edging lace.  Adding the border was easy since the top portion was a continuation of the main part of the shawl and the bottom border had live stitches from the provisional cast on.

Once it was finished the pink alpaca bundle was sizable and I was left with part of one ball of wool at the end. To soak the shawl, I needed to use the kitchen sink to have enough room to cover the entire piece. I was surprised at how much the shawl expanded after soaking in hair conditioner for a half hour.  Here are some before and after photos.

Triinu Shawl has its lumps before soaking and blocking...

Triinu Shawl in Grignasco Top Print Blocked

The shawl blocked out to 24″ by 75″. It can be wrapped around me twice which makes it a great addition for these energy saving times! I hope that my mother enjoys it.

Pattern notes: I used 9 1/2 balls of wool (110 yards each) and knitted on size 9 needles. Due to the lace, I could have used one size larger needles.

The Triinu Shawl has inspired me to make myself an Estonian lace rectangular shawl.  A friend is joining me on this adventure. I plan to use the Brooklyn Handspun Yarn that I bought after Thanksgiving at The Point NYC.

Triinu Shawl-3 Nupp Helpful Tips

I am really enjoying knitting the Triinu Shawl from Nancy Bush’s Knitted Lace of Estonia (Word is that it flies off the shelves of yarns stores.) The joy of this project is threefold: knitting lace using a fingerling/sport weight yarn, watching the unusual red/purple colorway evolve, and conquering Estonian nupps.

Grignasco’s Top Print is composed of a twist of three different shades of the red to purple colorway. When knitted, it’s like the dots blur to create softer color changes. Added to this is the normal fun of watching the colors evolve as the piece continues to grow.

According to Knitted Lace of Estonia, nupps prove that a garment is hand made since they can not be produced on a machine! Hence, long live nupps. Nupps as I have discovered can vary in the number of stitches from five to nine. In the process of knitting this shawl, I’ve discovered a couple of tricks to keep your stitch count on track. They are:

1] When picking up the stitches for the nupps on the knit row, make sure that the stitches are relatively loose.

2] Take care when purling the nupp stitches together on the purl side so that you do not inadvertently pick up a single stitch (non-nupp loop) on either side of the cluster of nupp loops. This can result in a lower number of stitches in the pattern repeat further on. To correct this error without unknitting multiple rows, I recommend carefully unladdering the stitch containing the nupp and the additional stitch to where the nupp is purled. (Note:  This assumes that you discover this error before proceeding to your next set of pattern repeat row-wise.)  Then use a crochet hook to re-purl the nupp loops. Then continue to bring the stitches up to your current row. Once you have done this, use the crochet hook to pick up the additional stitch and bring it to your current row as well.

3] Make sure that you purl all of the nupp loops together. Otherwise, this will result in a loop that sticks out from the rest of your knitted work. If you discover this loop before you proceed to the next set of pattern rows, you can let the nupp stitch ladder down to the nupp and use a crochet hook to add the missing loop to the cluster. Otherwise, you either have to choose whether to unknit your work back to the problem or (dare I say this) pull the loop through to the back of the work and carefully sew it in place.

New Project from Nancy Bush Book-Triinu Scarf Started

This weekend, I spent time going through my lace knitting books and searching the web and Ravelry for a lace shawl pattern. I knew that I wanted to knit a rectangular shawl for my mother. Since my mother wanted a scarf that was at least six feet long, I didn’t want to deal with knitting on a lace border.

 

While I am enjoying knitting my third Ribbon Scarf variation, I wanted something different. Since Nancy Bush’s Lace Knitting of Estonia book is relatively new and has very few projects on Ravelry, I decided to try one of the patterns. The Triinu Scarf met my needs. The scarf is unusual since the center portion is knit from the bottom up. Then one lace edging is knit and the second lace edging is picked up from a provisional cast on. This pattern overcame my concerns about picking up a lace border (which could be time consuming) and grafting an edging on (which a number of the Estonian lace patterns require.)

 

The Triinu Scarf calls for fingering weight yarn. For this project, I had selected some Grignasco Top Print which consists of 100% alpaca in a pink/purple ombre from my stash that I had bought at a Smiley’s sale in 2006 in New York City. I have ten balls or 1,100 yards. The yarn knits into a more subtle blending of pink and purples that would appear from the balls of yarn. The alpaca is more of a sport weight so that I needed to test several size needles until I liked the way that the pattern came out. I am using size 9 needles which surprises me since, as a loose knitter, I often use two sizes smaller needles.

 

Grignasco Top Print Alpaca in Roses

 

 

Since the pattern is for a scarf that measures 11” by 63” which is too narrow and short for my mother, I added another pattern repeat. Unblocked, the shawl measures about 21” which will be good for my mother who can fold it in half if she just wants a scarf width.

 

Having finished the first repeat of the pattern, my initial sense is that this is a relatively easy pattern. I am glad that I had already had some practice with nupps on the Lily of the Valley Shawl (which is still in hibernation). For those of you who are nervous about nupps, this pattern is a good starting point since there are only three per pattern repeat and the rest of the lace is relatively initiative.