Coming Shawl - Rosary shawl

Some brilliant knitter on Ravelry recently brought up the topic of incorporating rosary beads into a prayer shawl. It's a truly wonderful idea, and is inspiring me to design a cape-style shawl with a rosary of beads around the front edge.

I don't know how long you'll have to wait, tho as I have some knitting commitments to finish up first including a Christmas lace sweater from some lovely Cascade Ecological wool that is so soft I can't wait to get started!

Holiday Shopping Guide

Protecting the world for our children is important to me. We need to keep resources and clean water and air for our children and grandchildren. The human race cannot maintain itself if we continue to be so irresponsible about the earth's resources!

Freya shawl

You can see the Stor Rund Dug doily I adapted this pattern from here.

This makes a gorgeous cape-style shawl, that looks similar to the feather-and-fan types but nicer, I think.

Some of the stitches are a little hard for beginners, but if you watch tutorial videos and keep at them until they look right, you'll be a pro in no time at making them. And don't forget, blocking erases many an uneven stitch!

I did two versions of this one, the first in a baby alpaca worsted that I stranded with a baby mohair laceweight. I used about 500 yards of those on my #10 circulars to make a shawl that measured around 21" long from neck to bottom. Then I did it on some mill end Caron Simply Soft and since I'm not sure how much I used I can't share that, but I made that one even larger so I could repeat the diamonds at the bottom edge.

I've decided to dedicate this shawl to a friend, Freya Koss, who, after curing her health problems that she found were due to mercury in her dental fillings has become a tireless worker to educate the public on the dangers of mercury in your teeth. It is a Danish pattern and Freya is a Danish name! :)

Here's the pattern (click here to download a printable .pdf of this):

ABBREVIATIONS:
K = knit
YO = yarn over
Slip = slip stitch from left needle to right without knitting.
K2TOG = knit 2 together as if they are one stitch
P2TOG = purl 2 together as if they are one stitch
SSK = slip, slip, knit
SSP = Slip 1 k-wise, slip another k-wise. Return slipped sts to left needle. p2tog tbl: Insert right needle up into back loops of the two stitches and purl them together from this position. (I find it easier to pass them from the right to left through the back loop and then purl them together as if they are one regular purl stitch.)
S2K1psso = Slip the next two stitches at the same time onto the right-hand needle knitwise, knit the next stitch, and pass the two slipped stitches at the same time over the knit stitch. It makes a somewhat raised but perfectly formed knit stitch in the centre of a pair of decreased stitches which slope towards it symmetrically
C** = This is the only hard stitch - a double decrease where the center stitch is on top when viewed from the right side. To do it, purl 1, slip the next 2 together through the back loop (all three are now on the right needle), pass all three to left needle, slip the right needle over the first stitch and under the next two to pass them over the first stitch (the one you purled). The remaining stitch is still on the right needle, so pass it to the left.
()x = knit text in brackets as many times as indicated after the "x"
[]x = repeat enclosed instructions as many times as indicated after the "x"
*-* = repeat enclosed instructions till end of round.
All rows not mentioned are knit plain (knit on knit side; purl on purl side).

Cast on 40 stitches.
Row 1: P
Row 6: K3, (YO, K1) x 35, K2
Row 12: K2, (K7, YO, K1, YO)x8, K9
Row 14: K2, (K2TOG, K3, SSK, YO, K3, YO)x8, K2TOG, K3, SSK, K2
Row 16: K2, (K2TOG, K1, SSK, YO, SSK, YO, K1, YO, K2TOG, YO)x8, K2TOG, K1, SSK, K2
Row 18: K2, S2K1psso, (YO, SSK, YO, K3, YO, K2TOG, YO, S2K1psso )x8, K2
Row 20: K2, (K2, YO, K2TOG, YO, S2K1psso , YO, SSK, YO, K1)x8, K3
Row 21: P7, (slip, P9)x7, slip, P7
Row 22: K2, (K3, YO, K2TOG, K1, SSK, YO, K2)x8, K3
Row 23: P7, (slip, P9)x7, slip, P7
Row 24: K2, (K4, YO, S2K1psso , YO, K3)x8, K3
Row 26: K2, (K1, YO)x4, [S2K1psso , (YO, K1)x7, YO]x7, S2K1psso , (YO, K1)x4, K2
Row 28: K9, (S2K1psso , K13)x7, S2K1psso , K9
Row 29: P8, (C**, P11)x7, C**, P8
Row 30: K2, (K1, YO)x5, [S2K1psso , (YO, K1)x9, YO]x7, S2K1psso , (YO, K1)x5, K2
Row 31: P11, (C**, P17)x7, C**, P11
Row 32: K10, (S2K1psso , K15)x7, S2K1psso , K10
Row 33: P9, (C**, P13)x7, C**, P9
Row 34: K2, (K1, YO)x6, [S2K1psso , (YO, K1)x11, YO]x7, S2K1psso , (YO, K1)x5, YO, K2
Row 35: P13, (C**, P21)x7, C**, P13
Row 36: K12, (S2K1psso , K19)x7, S2K1psso , K12
Row 37: P11, (C**, P17)x7, C**, P11
Row 38: K10, (S2K1psso , K15)x7, S2K1psso , K10
Row 39: P2, (P1, YO)x7, [C**, (YO, P1)x13, YO]x7, C**, (YO, P1)x6, YO, P3
Row 40: K15, (S2K1psso , K25)x7, S2K1psso , K15
Row 41: P14, (C**, P23)x7, C**, P14
Row 42: K13, (S2K1psso , K21)x7, S2K1psso , K13
Row 43: P12, (C**, K19)x7, C**, K12
Row 44: K2, (K1, YO, K2TOG, K5, SSK, YO)x16, K3
Row 46: K2, (K2, YO, K2TOG, K3, SSK, YO, K1)x16, K3
Row 48: K2, (K1, YO, K2TOG, YO, K2TOG, K1, SSK, YO, SSK, YO)x16, K3
Row 50: K2, (K2, YO, K2TOG, YO, S2K1psso , YO, SSK, YO, K1)x16, K4
Row 52: K2, [K1, (SSK, YO)x2, K1, (YO, K2TOG)x2]x16, K3
Row 54: K2, K2TOG, (YO, SSK, YO, K3, YO, K2TOG, YO, S2K1psso )x15,YO, SSK, YO, K3, YO, K2TOG, YO, SSK, K2
Row 55: P2, (slip, P9)x16,slip, P2
Row 56: K2, (K1, SSK, YO, K5, YO, K2 TOG)x16, K3
Row 58: K2, K2TOG, (YO, K7, YO, S2K1psso )X15, YO, K7, YO, SSK, K2
Row 59: P2, (slip, P9)x16,slip, P2
Row 60: K2, K2TOG, [(YO, K1)X7, YO,S2K1psso ]X15, (YO, K1)X7, YO, SSK, K2
Row 61: P2, (slip, P15)x16, slip, P2
Row 62: K2, K2TOG, K13, (S2K1psso , K13)x15, SSK, K2
Row 63: P2, P2TOG, P11, (C**, P11)x15, P2TOG, P2
Row 64: K2, K2TOG, (YO, K1)x9, [S2K1psso , (YO, K1)x9), YO]x15, SSK, K2
Row 65: P2, P2TOG, P17, (C**, P17)x15, P2TOG, P2
**If you aren’t counting stitches anymore because you’ve grasped the pattern, do count them every few rows. At this point it is easy to miss a YO or somehow end up with too many stitches which can get magnified as you go on and is really hard to repair if it’s gone on for too long! If you find your stitch count off, don’t despair! You can easily fudge this pattern so it looks good to all but the most discerning eye. For too many stitches, in the S2K1psso, you can slip 3 instead of two to eat an extra stitch. For too few, you can do a K2TOG instead of the S2K1psso at the end of the repeat to create a stitch for the next row.
Row 66: K2, K2TOG, K15, (S2K1psso , K15)x15, SSK, K2
Row 67: P2, P2TOG, P13, (C**, P13)x15, P2TOG, P2
Row 68: K2, K2TOG, (YO, K1)x11, YO, [S2K1psso , (YO, K1)x11), YO]x15, SSK, K2
Row 69: P2, P2TOG, P21, (C**, P21)x15, P2TOG, P2
Row 70: K2, K2TOG, K19, (S2K1psso , K19)x15, SSK, K2
Row 71: P2, P2TOG, P17, (C**, P17)x15, P2TOG, P2
Row 72: K2, K2TOG, K15, (S2K1psso , K15)x15, SSK, K2
Row 73: P2, P2TOG, (YO, P1)x13, YO, [C**, (YO, P1)x13), YO]x15, P2TOG, P2
Row 74: K2, K2TOG, K25, (S2K1psso , K25)x15, SSK, K2
Row 75: P2, P2TOG, P23, (C**, P23)x15, P2TOG, P2
Row 76: K2, K2TOG, K21, (S2K1psso , K21)x15, SSK, K2
Row 77: P2, P2TOG, P19, (C**, P19)x15, P2TOG, P2
Row 78: K2, (K1, YO, K2TOG, K5, SSK, YO)x32, K3
Row 80: K2, (K2, YO, K2TOG, K3, SSK, YO, K1)x32, K3
Row 82: K2, [K1, (YO, K2TOG)x2, K1, (SSK, YO)x2]x32, K3
Row 84: K2, (K2, YO, K2TOG, YO, S2K1psso , YO, SSK, YO, K1)x32, K3
Row 86: K2, [K1, (K2TOG, YO)x2, K1, (YO, SSK)x2]x32, K3
Row 88: K2, K2TOG, (YO, K2TOG, YO, K3, YO, SSK, YO, S2K1psso )x31, YO, K2TOG, YO, K3, YO, SSK, YO, SSK, K2
Row 90: K2, (K1, K2TOG, YO, K5, YO, SSK)x32, K3
Row 92: K2, K2TOG, YO, K7, YO, (S2K1psso , YO, K7, YO)x31, SSK, K2
Row 94: K2, K2TOG, (YO, K1)x7, [S2K1psso , (YO, K1)x7, YO]x31, SSK, K2
Row 96: Like row 62, but with 32 repeats.
Row 97-111: Like row 63-77, but with 32 repeats.
Row 111-123: Like row 78-90 but with 64 repeats instead of 32.

Many thanks to YarnOver http://www.yarnover.net for translating this beautiful pattern from the Danish! For the doily pattern, which could make a lovely round blanket, see http://www.yarnover.net/patterns/doilies/kunststrik/storrund.html

Shawls for Grace

Today as my little kitty dies of VAS - Vaccine-Associated Sarcoma, I'd like to dedicate a pattern of sorts in her memory.

Gracie was a fighter. I got her when, as a volunteer in the Red Cross Disaster Services Unit I responded to a house fire. The home was burned to the ground and the family - parents and several children, some quite young, were being sent to a hotel for the night. A friendly and quite pregnant little cat was threading through all of our legs, purring loudly the whole time we did the paperwork and made arrangements. As I petted her, the woman said I could have her, as she was their cat and they couldn't take her with them. I took her home and she had kittens the next day in my basement.

We had our differences over the years. She bullied my beloved Ricky (male cat) unmercifully. She liked to bring live birds through the pet door to kill them in the bathroom where the mirrors confused them. Once she brought in a live snake during a dinner party and left it under the table, quickly clearing the room. But looking back I can see the humor in some of it now.

I'm trying to tell myself she's not suffering the pangs of death for nothing, but they are birth pains toward a new life. I believe, as George MacDonald did, that animals don't just pass away into nothingness but are also welcomed into God's warm embrace at the end.


The Shawl:

This may perhaps be the easiest shawl pattern ever. You simply find a repeating lace pattern you like and keep going. I think good shawl dimensions are 18 - 22 inches wide by at least 36 inches long. It takes at least 380 yards, closer to 500 if you want to make it really nice. The pattern can be found in books or online. My favorite sources for lace patterns are the library - where they have books like Stitchionary that are filled with lace patterns. I prefer size 10 needles so it doesn't take forever to knit the shawl and I can use larger yarns - sport, DK, etc. and still have it with a lacy, open effect.

To get the gauge, knit one repetition of the pattern through once (in this way you can also see if you can do all the stitches!). Wash and block it and then measure it to see how many repeats you'll need to get the desired width. For length, I usually keep going until I've used up all the yarn. I don't like tassels because I worry they won't hold up over time and will make the shawl start to look shabby.

To class it up, you can add a knit-on or crocheted on edging on all sides. You can find many of them in pattern books as well.

I wanted to put in more pictures of some examples but evidently my printer just discovered it doesn't support Vista and no longer uploads photos! GRRR!

Mind wandering

If life is like a giant buffet, where you can choose from the offerings - seductive foods that you know will lead to your eventual ill health or indigestion or nourishing foods that give you strength, don't most of us sample some of each? Not too much of the bad, but we don't want to do without them either.

So if we make our choices, some of which further the work of Satan, but some further the work of God, but we don't want to miss out on the seductiveness of what Satan has to offer completely, aren't we in the middle? Aren't most of us?

Some few choose only God's offering - Francis of Assisi, Elder Porphyrios, St. Antony the Desert Father. I guess some choose mostly the other way too - the notable villains of our history. I do wonder what happens to those of us in the middle.

I had a dream once that I was in a Road Runner cartoon and I fell off the cliff, hit the bottom, and died. I went to Heaven, but it wasn't what I expected. I had to live in a humble room with my mother. There was a TV but only wholesome shows - no action, violence, or even villains. The food was all wholesome - fruit and bread, I think. Not even meat. No oreo cookies, ever again. I have to say I was disappointed. When I awoke, the dream stayed with me, and this was at least 15 years ago. I wonder sometimes, if heaven doesn't suit me, what does that mean about me? Am I too worldly?

Then the major kicker: "What if we all go to the same place, but for some it's Heaven for some it's Hell?"

Momma T sweater

There are a lot of charities that are asking for hand knit wool sweaters in higher gauge, durable wool; sending them to places from Mongolia to Afghanistan to reservations in the U.S. - places where it gets cold, the people have little or no heat in their homes, and they can't afford warm coats. I have a wool sweater I made for myself out of this same yarn that I practically LIVE in all winter - it doesn't overheat you indoors but is warm enough for going out in the cold as well, so I know the power of a good sweater!

When knitting for charities like Warm Woolies, Knit for Kids or Afghans for Afghans (yes, they're asking for sweaters now!), you want to put durable over almost everything else. This is a piece of clothing that will get used, passed on, and used some more, daily, and maybe even worn to bed. So pass over the soft yarns that would pill with that kind of use and get the sturdier but coarser yarns and the recipients will thank you. The old-fashioned wool can last for generations and look almost as good as new. My favorite sweater looks better now than when I knit it, because it's fully bloomed and has a fuzzy-ness to it that I love.

Here is a pattern, dedicated to Mother Teresa (Shane Claiborne called her "Momma T" and it stuck in my head) who really needs no introduction. I made it with two strands knit together of a DK weight yarn that I hand dyed. The gauge was 13 stitches = 4" on #10 needles. I used around 800 yards, probably less.

Most of the charities I saw this year were asking for a size 10 child's sweater. I guess that's a popular size; or maybe the smaller ones are faster to knit so they get more of them.

The directions to dye the wool are below (or click here). This makes a very nice, colorful sweater. You don't need to do it in a rainbow, different shades of a few colors would work well too.

BACK:
To begin, cast on 43 stitches. Do 6 rows of k2, p2 ribbing (or whatever kind of ribbing you like). After that, do stockinette, making a stitch by knitting in both sides of the stitch on each end of the row on alternating 6th and 8th rows for a gentle increase up the sides.

The pattern for the colors I used was 10 rows using both skeins of the same color, then 4 rows of one strand the color I was just using and 1 strand of the next color (for instance, between the green and the blue I'd use a strand of green and a strand of blue for 4 rows). The body was 14" wide by 18" high. It took me 80 rows, so I finished on the 10th row of the yellow (last color). When you get to the top, count your stitches. The neck opening should be 4", or 13 stitches. Subtract 13 from your total and divide the remainder by 2 - bind off that many stitches on each side, putting the middle 13 on a stitch holder (if you had an odd number of stitches left after you subtracted the 13, leave 14 in the center.)

FRONT:
Knit same as for back but when you get about 3" from the top make a neck opening. Count the stitches on your needles and subtract 5 from the total. Divide the remainder by 2 (if it was an odd number subtract 6 from the total). Add the 5(6) back to the number you got (if you have 75, subtract 5 to get 70, half of that is 35, add the 5 back and you have 40). Knit that many stitches then transfer the rest to a stitch holder (I use a contrasting yarn for a stitch holder and the darning needle to transfer the stitches on, 3-4 at a time). From now on, do the increases on the shoulder side, and on the neck side alternate knit and purl like a rib stitch the last 4 stitches so it doesn't curl. When you get to the top, bind off as many as you did for the back on a side and put the rest on a stitch holder.

Then pick up the ones from the other side of the front from your stitch holder, plus 5(6) from the neck edge from the same row (from the front, pick up one side of each loop; or from the back, pick up the tops of the stitches, your choice). Starting at the shoulder and leaving a tail of yarn, knit two rows like the other side. When you get back where you started you can tie the loose end of yarn off to the working yarn and then continue to the top.

Sew the front to the back and transfer all the neck stitches to a circular needle. Knit one row, making stitches every 3rd stitch (unless it is at the shoulder seam) by picking up a stitch from under the working stitch and knitting one into that (lifted increase if you want to look it up). Do 4 more rows and bind off loosly.

SLEEVES:
Cast on 20 stitches. Do 4 rows of k2, p2 ribbing then stockinette stitch. The color pattern for the sleeves is 8 rows of both strands the same color, with 3 rows of one strand each color for the transition. Every 4th row, increase at each end of the row by knitting in both sides of the stitch. They should wind up about 14" long by 13" wide at the top and about 5" wide at the cuff. (They are extra long in case the child doesn't have mittens!)

To assemble, find the center of the top of the sleeve. Tie or pin it to the center seam of the shoulder with right sides together. Stitch one side of the sleeve on. See where on the strip pattern it ends and start the other side at the same place on the stripe on the other side of the sweater and sew that side on. When the sleeves are on, sew up the sides, from the cuff of the sleeve to the bottom of the sweater. (Hand)Wash and block and see your beautiful results!

Dying wool

If you've read this, you know I love wool yarn. Another cool thing about wool yarn is that it is easy to dye using food colorings! I first heard of this thanks to the book "Stitch 'n' Bitch" where they have the pattern for the Kool-Aid dyed sweater. I googled it and found a whole world of hand-dying using edibles! Then someone told me you can use the food colorings sold for cake icing as well so I just had to try that!

[I wasn't going to put anything but shawls on this blog, but this pattern is coming together unnaturally well, almost like I'm getting a little help from a Good Shepherd, so I thought it would be a good chance to highlight some of the other charitable knitting groups out there in case you get tired of knitting shawls (or the chest of shawls gets full, like at my church at the moment!). The pattern to make a child's sweater using two strands of hand-dyed DK wool will come next, but this entry will be on how to dye wool.]

My favorite method of dying wool is using Kool-Aid, because you get bright, vivid colors and it's very easy. Plus, the wool smells fruity for a long time afterward!

You can over-dye pretty much any animal fibers with these methods. My favorite yarn for dying is the inexpensive wool yarn I get on ebay on cones. It doesn't have to be white but should be very pale, and browns or greys work the best unless you're wanting to use the color it comes in (like pink could be dyed shades of blue, red, or yellow to get purples, darker red, or salmon/orange). I find a light tan color is completely hidden under dyes, just the colors are a little muted instead of vivid (but some do come out vivid, too!) I've successfully dyed a medium brown as well, to red, green, and blue and it turned out very well - you'd never guess it had started out as brown.


The sweater I'll give the instructions for in the next entry uses stranding, so I did two hanks of each color. This turns out really nice, especially when they are a little different shade from each other - it gives nice depth, and when there are lighter/darker patches in the hanks from our inexperienced dye-jobs, that works to our advantage to give the stockinette some texture.

The first step is to get the yarn into long, loose hanks so the dye gets access to al the strands. I've used two methods of making up for my lack of a swift so far, one is wrapping the yarn around the open cabinet doors in the kitchen. The other is to wrap it around cardboard boxes. Whatever you use, there will be a lot of squeezing force after awhile, so it has to be strong. Doing each hank a standard number of wraps, like 100 worked well for me, but you could just "eyeball it" as well. Once you've gotten your hank wrapped, you'll want to slide it off of whatever you used and use the two loose ends to loosely tie around the hank. Cut a piece of yarn or use a scrap of yarn to loosely tie around the other end as well. This helps prevent your yarn getting tangled during the washing, dying, squeezing, etc.

The cone yarn comes with a coating of lubricants or something, so the next step will get that off and show you how fuzzy the yarn really is (off the cone it often seems like bailing twine!) So you fill a bucket or dishpan with warm soapy water and soak the yarn.

Next get a medium-sized cooking pot and fill it half-way with water. Add a splash of vinegar and your dye and bring it to a boil. If you're using Kool-Aid, 1-3 packets per hank is what I do. The more you add the more vivid the color. You could experiment and try one hank with just one, and one with three. Since you're stranding, it won't hurt anything. If you're using icing dye, I added about 1/8 to 1/4 tsp per hank. It's ok to mix colors. I only had the primary colors so I mixed red and blue to get purple, yellow and red for orange, etc.

Once it's boiling, squeeze, rinse, and squeeze a hank of yarn and carefully add it to the pot, rearranging it a few times so all of it gets to the dye. If you're using Kool-Aid, the water will quickly become clear or milky. That means all the dye has been absorbed. With the icing dye, that didn't happen but the yarn seemed to absorb all it wanted within 5 minutes. If you smell a burning smell, take the pot off the burner, it could be the yarn on the bottom of the pot getting singed.

When the yarn has soaked up as much of the dye as it wants, take pot and yarn to the sink (where there is NO other yarn because it will make spots on it!) and lift the yarn out of the pot and let it drain for a bit, then I hang it over the faucet to let it cool enough to touch. While I'm waiting, I get the next pot of dye ready. I don't put in fresh water each time, but you need to when you move from one color to a different primary color. You need to add a little bit more vinegar and top off the water from time to time, and add more dye, of course.

Once you can touch the yarn you've just dyed, rinse it well in warm tap water, squeeze it well, and hang it to dry. I like to dry it in the sun outside because that is pretty fast. You can hang it over a broom handle, on a clothes line, over the branches of a tree (but then it might not be sunny!), use your creativity.

The last time I did this, there was no mess to clean up, other than the pot and spoon I used. Not too messy! :)

Yes this is a lot of work, but it is FUN! And it's a great way to recycle ugly or unwanted yarn to fabulous yarn!

To Knit the Annie Payson Shawl

I used Mode Dea Silk 'N Wool blend on #10's. Each square took slightly less than one skein, which contained 154 yards, so the three squares took 3 skeins - around 450 yards, for an 18" X 4.5' shawl.

To find out about Annie Payson Call, to whom this shawl is dedicated, see the previous entry.

I knit the three squares separately then sewed them together. I have a thing about not wanting the crosses to be upside down. If you really hate piecing tho you can just start at the end and knit to the other in one long shawl. I'm sure it will look good that way too.

To begin, cast on 59 stitches. Knit a row, purl a row and you're ready for the pattern. I've just charted it because it's so straight forward. But do one stitch at the beginning and end of each row, knit on the knit side and purl on the purl side.

I did the pattern like this - first repetition: cross, tulip, cross; second repetition: tulip, cross, tulip; third repetition: cross, tulip, cross. That made a square. If you want to continue, just keep staggering them. I guess this would make a nice afghan too if a group wanted to get each person to contribute a square.

Click on the picture to see it larger.

It's fun to block each square as you finish it, to see what it's going to look like. In case you've never blocked lace before, here's a handy guide from Subversive Knitting. I like to pin the lace out on the guest bed, on the vellux blanket because it doesn't soak up any moisture from the damp yarn. Then I put the ceiling fan on and ask the kids not to jump on the bed today. :)

New shawl coming - Annie Payson Shawl!

Annie Payson Call was a writer for Ladies' Home Journal in the 1920's who wrote some remarkable pieces that are still inspirational today. Not much is known about her but you can get a glimpse of her wonderful spirit through her writings. Many of them are available for free at the Soil and Health Library.

She teaches how to change oneself to bring peace to the family and then to the world with timeless and gentle advice that is especially relevant (and needed) today.

Christian Killing (of acrylic, that is!)

There are some wonderful blogs out there on how to do various things in knitting that you wouldn't otherwise find out about. This is one of my new favorites - how to block acrylic yarn when you use it in lace knitting.

http://rainyknits.blogspot.com/2006/08/blocking-acrylic.html

I personally prefer using wool for comfort shawls, because of the "lamb of God" thing maybe, and "good shepherd" - there are a lot of sheep references! Plus it has an earthiness to it, even when dyed bright colors, and it is a link to the past that reminds me that my problems are nothing new, people have been around a long time, and there is a continuity. Then for comfort shawls for people who are bedridden I always think about how wool can prevent bedsores because of its ability to cushion so nicely.

Still, there are times for using acrylic. Wool dissolves in acid, so if it gets vomited on it will get holes. Not good for someone going through chemo, or babies either for that matter. Some people do have allergies to it as well, and some may need something that can be easily laundered, for instance someone with an incontinence problem. So in our prayer shawl ministries let's give them the best that modern technology can offer - man-made fibers!

When you apply hot steam to acrylic, called "killing the acrylic", the fibers relax and then set in the new shape. You must be careful because too much heat can melt them together. But with a soft yarn like Caron Simply Soft, it makes it even softer, with a nice sheen and a lovely drape. And the good thing is, once you kill it, it stays that way! So it can be washed and dried and never needs to be blocked again! The other nice thing is if there is a texture in the pattern you like un-blocked, with acrylic you can block it selectively. I'm working on the Dorothy Day shawl right now (and haven't found any errors yet, hooray!) and am thinking of not blocking the candle flames, so they can stay puffy.

I just heard of an even softer yarn called "Oh My!" and will look into that one!

LIA Sun Shawl

This shawl is dedicated to Tami Duncan and her foundation, the Lyme Induced Autism Foundation. Tami's son was one of those growing number of children, disproportionately boys, who are being diagnosed with autism. But Tami found out that the symptoms of lyme and those of autism in children can be easily confused, especially when the lyme affects the nervous system - children can become hypersensitive to stimuli or insensitive to it; their mental functioning is impaired and they do their best to cope with a world they cannot describe to those of us not experiencing it.

Because of the serious threat of children with lyme being misdiagnosed with autism and going years without treatment, she started a foundation to bring awareness to this problem - lyme is, after all, treatable while there is no cure for autism. You can find out more about it on their website: www.lymeinducedautism.com (they have especially good conferences with top doctors and scientists from all over the world presenting, and make recordings of the lectures available to those who couldn't go!)

Through lyme treatment, which can take one to two years, the children who had previously been diagnosed with autism can make such huge developmental strides that they will no longer meet the criteria for autism or sometimes even for autism-related disorders. That makes this shawl seem appropriate for this cause - having a child who has autism come into their personality and make connections with the world is like watching a sunrise; a new beginning, and that is what Tami has done for her son and is trying to help other families do as well.

But as a prayer shawl, you don't need to give it to someone affected by autism, give it to anyone who likes sunshine or could use a little of it!
The Pattern
Gauge is very important here if you want a shawl in a grown-up size. I used about 500 yards of Peace Fleece worsted weight on #10's and got 4 rows per inch, before blocking - any less and it will be a very short shawl, so up the needles a size or more if you have more than 4 rows per inch. This project was started to use up the yarn left over from the HomeAID shawl (below).

This can easily be made into a round blanket - you just need to start on double pointed needles and go around - the shawl would be round if I hadn't left out the "wedge" between two of the sunbeams, so the pattern would be a tidy 8 repeats instead of 7 with the last sunbeam tacked on. But since I've never knitted on double pointed needles, I can't tell you how to begin it, sorry!

I think this would look nice in a fuzzy pale yellow; also it would be cool to use three strands and start with all yellow, then change one to white, then another to white and end with all three white; or something similar! If the gauge is big enough, this looks good without blocking so would be good for an acrylic as well, but the sides would curl in some so an edging pattern may need to be used or just the two edges steam blocked.

Every other row is purled.

Cast on 24 stitches.

Row 1: knit
Row 2: purl
Row 3: knit
Row 4: purl
Row 5: (k1, L, k1) 8 times [L = lifted increase - knit one, then pick up the stitch under the one you just knit and knit into that one as well.]
Row 7: (k1, L, k2) 8 times
Row 9: (k2, L, k2) 8 times
Row 11: (k2, L, k3) 8 times
Row 13: (k3, L, k3) 8 times
Row 15: (k3, L, k4) 8 times
Row 17: (k4, L, k4) 8 times
Row 19: (k4, L, k5) 8 times
Row 21: (k5, L, k5) 8 times
Row 23: (k5, L, k6) 8 times
Row 25: (k13, yo) 7 times, k13
Row 27: (k2 tog, k11, yo, k, yo) 7 times, k2 tog, k11
Row 29: (k12, yo, k, k2 tog, yo) 7 times, k12
Row 31: (k10, ssk, yo, k4, yo) 7 times, k10, ssk
Row 33: (k11, yo, ssk, k4, yo) 7 times, k11
Row 35: (k2 tog, k9, yo, k7, yo) 7 times, k2 tog, k9
Row 37 (k10, yo, k7, k2 tog, yo) 7 times, k10
Row 39: (k8, ssk, yo, k, yo, k9, yo) 7 times, k8, ssk
Row 41: (k9, yo, k3 tog*, yo, k7, ssk, yo, k, yo) 7 times, k9 *[k3 tog for the rest of this pattern means slip two together, knit1, pass two slipped stitches over - so the center stitch comes out on top.]
----------------THIS IS WHERE I CHANGED TO ORANGE-----------------------
Row 43: (k2 tog, k7, yo, ssk, k, yo, k8, yo, ssk, k, yo) 7 times, k2 tog, k7
Row 45: (k8, yo, k2, k2 tog, yo, k2 tog, k6, yo, k2, k2 tog, yo) 7 times, k8
Row 47: (k6, ssk, yo, ssk, k3, yo, k7, yo, ssk, k3, yo) 7 times, k6, ssk
Row 49: (k7, yo, k4, k2 tog, yo, k5, ssk, yo, k4, k2 tog, yo) 7 times, k7
Row 51: (k2 tog, k5, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k6, yo, ssk, k5, yo) 7 times, k2 tog, k5
Row 53: (k6, yo, k, yo, k2 tog, k3, k2 tog, yo, k2 tog, k4, yo, k, yo, k2 tog, k3, k2 tog, yo) 7 times, k6
Row 55: (k4, ssk, yo, k3 tog, yo, k5, yo, k, yo, k5, yo, k3 tog, yo, k5, yo, k, yo) 7 times, k4, ssk
Row 57: (k5, yo, k, k2 tog, yo, k3, ssk, yo, k, k2 tog, yo, k3, ssk, yo, k, k2 tog, yo, k3, ssk, yo, k, k2 tog, yo) 7 times, k5
----------------THIS IS WHERE I CHANGED TO RED------------------------------
Row 59: (k2 tog, k3, (yo, ssk, k2, yo, k4) 3 times, yo, ssk, k2, yo, ssk, k3) 7 times, k2 tog, k3
Row 61: (k4, (yo, ssk, k, k2 tog, yo, k2 tog, k2) 3 times, yo, ssk, k, k2 tog, yo) 7 times, k4
Row 63: (k2, ssk, (yo, k, yo, k2, k2 tog, yo, k3) 3 times, yo, k, yo, k2, k2 tog, yo) 7 times, k2, ssk
Row 65: (k3, (yo, k3 tog, yo, k2 tog, k, yo, k, yo, k2 tog, k) 3 times, yo, k3 tog, yo, k2 tog, k) 7 times, k3
Row 67: (k2 tog, k2, (yo, k3 tog, yo, k2) 7 times, yo, k3 tog, yo) 7 times, k2 tog,
k2
---------------------THIS IS WHERE I CHANGED TO BLACK--------------------------
Row 69: (k2, (yo, k, yo, k2 tog, yo, k2 tog, yo, k3 tog, yo, k2 tog) 3 times, yo, k, yo, k2 tog, yo, k2 tog, yo, k3 tog) 7 times, k2
Row 71: (k2 tog, yo, k3 tog, (yo, k2 tog) 18 times, yo) 7 times, k2 tog
Row 73: (k2 tog) repeat until last stitch, k <-- I didn't do that one but wish I did!
Row 75: purl
Row 77: bind off very loosly

Revised and renumberd on 4/12/09

The Sun is Coming!

If you're doing the HomeAID shawl in the colors I did, save your extra yarn!!!! I got an inspiration and am busy designing a sun shawl with the same colors - a big yellow sun with sunbeams coming down. Talk about a warm, happy image!



Here comes the sun
Here comes the Son
The sun brings warmth and light to the darkness
The Son brings warmth and light to the darkness
"You are my sunshine"
Let your light shine!

What better to bring a little lightness to someone in despair than to give them the sun (Son)?

I could go on but I'll go knit instead.

SUNRISE WITH JESUS

Oh what a glorious dawning
Oh what a breaking of day
When Jesus came into my hearts door
And drove all the shadows away.

Sunrise with Jesus
Walk with him all the way through
Sunset at evening
Reflecting it’s glorious hue.
Rainbows and flowers
Oh for the smile of his face
Wonderful Jesus
Oh tell of His marvelous grace

The sun has now risen to noon time
the flowers of life are in bloom
for He who illumines my pathway
Dispels all the darkness and gloom

Sunrise with Jesus
Walk with Him all the way through
Sunset at evening
Reflecting it’s glorious hue.
Rainbows and flowers
Oh for the smile of His face
Wonderful Jesus
Oh tell of His marvelous grace.

The evening of life is approaching
The sun must go down in the west
The beauty and splendor of sunset
Eternities dawn with the blessed


Sunrise with Jesus
Walk with Him all the way through
Sunset at evening
Reflecting it’s glorious hue.
Rainbows and flowers
Oh for the smile of his face
Wonderful Jesus
Oh tell of His marvelous grace

Eschol Cosby

1910-2008

Navdanya shawl is debugged!

The borders on the edges aren't as messy looking in real life as the camera made it appear!

I finished the second knitting of the Navdanya shawl, using the directions I posted up here and I believe I've found and corrected all the bugs, so it should be working great now!
This is the part that gave me the most grief!

This one was knit in recycled Cashmere I got at the Twice Sheared Sheep on ebay - I used around 1600 yards but knit with three strands together for most of it - the one skein was only 330 yards and when I used that up, about 12 rows from the end, I knit on with just two strands for a lacier edge.

I really love how this turned out in a lacier yarn! Thus far all the pictures I've seen are of it in the Worsted Weight. This was knit on size 10 circulars, and cost around $23!

Thank you to my friend Martha who was willing to pose in this shawl for me! She raises dairy sheep and sells the most incredible cheeses at grower's markets in Chester Co. PA! Her brand name is Highland Farms.

How to knit the HomeAID Shawl

Loosly inspired by South African art, this shawl is dedicated to HomeAID for Africa.

Not everyone wants a shawl that is earth tones, pastel, or something "quiet". There are lively, colorful people who would more appreciate a lively colorful shawl, even in times of trouble. Maybe it reminds them of life instead of grief. If you want to knit a shawl for such a person, this may be the pattern for you!

There are a lot of color changes in this. If you use wool yarn you can felt the two ends together instead of tying a knot. This is what I did: I knit to the end of the row where the color change was to occur then cut the yarn with about 3/4 inch hanging past the last stitch. Then I un-knit the last 3 stitches, putting them back on the other needle so I'd have long enough yarn to work with. I frayed the ends of the old and new color yarn, untwisting and pulling the strands apart then wet them and rubbed them together in my hands until I felt heat from friction. If you do it right, the join is as strong as the rest of the yarn! You overlap them about 3/4 inch. Then re-knit the ones you un-knit and continue on in the new color. Here is a helpful video guide to joining yarns: http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knitting-tips/. It's about halfway down.

If you'd rather use acrylic, you can try weaving all those ends in, but that can be a pain. Another option is to put tassels on the ends of the shawl and include the yarn ends in the tassels.

To begin the shawl, cast on a multiple of 12, plus three. I started with 123 stitches (I like that number!) Knit a row, purl two rows, then knit two rows and you're ready to begin the triangle pattern.

Here is the chart for the triangle pattern: The sides show the colors I used for each row - 3 rows of red, 2 rows of orange, 3 rows of yellow; then 2 rows of orange and 3 rows of red. The white part is the actual repeating pattern.On the first row of the triangle pattern, you need to knit two together, but since it's like knitting stockinette and there are bumps on the stitches it works much better to flip the stitches before knitting them together. Just slip the stitches as if to knit onto the other needle then pass them back, not like a ssk but only to flip them so they're facing the right way to knit them together. You can click on the chart to see it larger.


Between each triangle pattern, do two rows of purl and then two rows of knit in black. When you do this, the "right side" flips, so your "right side" for the next section of triangles is the "wrong side" of the last series. This makes the shawl reversible.
Every other time you use the triangle pattern you start it at the middle, so the points of the triangles line up. When the pattern meets the edge on the last row - if it begins or ends with a "W", you only knit two together there instead of the three, because there isn't a yarn over past it.

So here is the whole pattern.

First, knit a test swatch of two rows purl, two rows knit, one repetition of the triangle pattern, and two more rows knit and purl(in one color is ok) and wash and block it to get your gauge. This can give you a rough idea of how many rows of the triangle pattern you will need and how many repetitions of it you need for the length you want. On mine the triangles were 3.5 inches wide. I wanted mine around 22" wide and 42" long. This pattern is very versatile because you can make it into a lap quilt, or a scarf, or enlarge it for a larger person (because we can't all be thin like supermodels!)

I used Peace Fleece Worsted Weight yarn on #10 circulars. I cast on 123 stitches in black.

Row 1: knit
Row 2: purl
Row 3: purl
Row 4: knit
Row 5: knit
Change to red yarn
Row 6: k1, (yo, k2 tog*, k10) 10 times, yo, k2 tog
*(slip 2 stitches, one at a time, to flip them then put them back on the original needle and knit them together)
***********Count very carefully on this row, make sure there are 11 stitches between each yarnover!*******************
Row 7: p1, (k1, p11) 10 times, k1, p
Row 8: k1, p1, (yo, k2 tog, k7, ssk*, yo, p1) 10 times, k1
*if you don't know how to do the slip, slip, knit stitch - ssk here's a helpful video of how to do it: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8913692202753051212
Change to orange yarn
Row 9: p1, k2, (p9, k3) 9 times, p9, k2, p1
Row 10: k1, p2, (yo, k2 tog, k5, ssk, yo, p3) 9 times, yo, k2 tog, k5, ssk, yo, p2, k
Change to yellow yarn
Row 11: p1, k3, (p7, k5) 9 times, p7, k3, p1
Row 12: k1, p3, (yo, k2 tog, k3, ssk, yo, p5) 9 times, yo, k2 tog, k3, ssk, yo, p3, k
Row 13: p1, k4, (p5, k7) 9 times, p5, k4, p1
Change to orange yarn
Row 14: k1, p4, (yo, k2 tog, k1, ssk, yo, p7) 9 times, yo, k2 tog, k1, ssk, yo, p4, k
Row 13: p1, k5, (p3, k9) 9 times, p3, k5, p1
Change to red yarn
Row 15: k1, p5, (yo, K3 tog*, yo, p9) 9 times, yo, k3 tog*, yo, p5, k1
*slip 3, one at a time to flip them, slip two back for a ssk, the slip the third stitch over
Row 16: p1, k6, (p1, k11) 9 times, p1, k6, p1
Row 17: k1, p6, (yo, p2 tog, p10) 9 times, yo, p2 tog, p6, k1
Change to black yarn
Row 18: purl
Row 19: purl
Row 20: knit
Row 21: knit
Change to red yarn
Row 22: k7, (yo, k2 tog*, k10) 9 times, yo, k2 tog, k6
*(slip 2 stitches, one at a time, to flip them then put them back on the original needle and knit them together)
***********The yarnover should be above and slightly to the right of the one underneath it, so the stitch directly above the yarnover below is used in the k2 together********************
Row 23: p7, (k1, p11) 9 times, k1, p7
Row 24: k5, (ssk, yo, p1, yo, k2 tog, k7) 9 times, ssk, yo, p1, yo, k2 tog, k5
Change to orange yarn
Row 25: p6, (k3, p9) 9 times, k3, p6
Row 26: k4, (ssk, yo, p3, yo, k2 tog, k5) 9 times, ssk, yo, p3, yo, k2 tog, k4
Change to yellow yarn
Row 27: p5, (k5, p7) 9 times, k5, p5
Row 28: k3, (ssk, yo, p5, yo, k2 tog, k3) 9 times, ssk, yo, p5, yo, k2 tog, k3
Row 29: p4, (k7, p5) 9 times, k7, p3
Change to orange yarn
Row 30: k2, (ssk, yo, p7, yo, k2 tog, k1) 9 times, ssk, yo, p7, yo, k2 tog, k2
Row 31: p3, (k9, p3) 9 times, k9, p3
Change to red yarn
Row 32: k1, k2 tog, yo, p9,(yo, K3 tog*, yo, p9) 8 times, yo, k2 tog, k1
*slip 3, one at a time to flip them, slip two back for a ssk, the slip the third stitch over
Row 33: p2, (k11, p1) 9 times, k11, p2
Row 34: k1, (yo, p2 tog, p10) 10 times, yo, p2 tog
Change to black yarn
Repeat from row 2
To end, purl 2 rows, knit 2 rows, purl one row, then bind off loosely.

It's coming! New Pattern! - HomeAID Shawl

I've finished the swatch for a new pattern, with an African theme, for my next new shawl. I'm thinking of calling it the HomeAID shawl, after a local group here - HomeAID for Africa. I wanted to name it after the founder of the group, but she's a humble person and I don't know if it will honor her or just embarrass her, but she is a hero for me. She read a book "We Are All The Same" about a little boy named Nkosi, in South Africa who was orphaned by AIDS and then found out he had it as well. He actually spoke before the United Nations World AIDS Summit. It's a very touching story, and the woman I am speaking of read it and had to do something about the problem of AIDS orphans in South Africa. So she started a nonprofit, selling hand-painted silk scarves and sending all the profits to organizations in Africa for children affected by AIDS. So far they've raised over $100,000 for AIDS orphans in Africa!

The greatness of this woman and her organization is only dwarfed by the fact that this is not unique - there are many, many wonderful little fundraising organizations springing up, from Beads For Life to Alex's Lemonade, showing that regular people can make a difference!

OOPS! - errors

I'm re-knitting the Navdanya shawl in cashmere I got from The Twice Sheared Sheep; and I'm only on line 35 and I've found a lot of errors, including a missing line in the pattern! If anyone has already printed this out and started it and is wondering what's going on I am so sorry! I'm fixing errors as I come across them so the ones I've found are already fixed now.

Someone has volunteered to test knit the Dorothy Day shawl and hopefully will be keeping me notified of any errors she finds but if you find some please let me know as soon as possible so I can fix them before they mess up somebody else.

Dorothy Day Shawl, part II

This is the second part of the pattern that begins here (click the word "here").


Here is the rest of the pattern, which I just got up on Flickr, but a little blurry because for some reason it shrank everything down and I had to enlarge it.

To begin, cast on 29 stitches, 5 each for the front and center panels and 7 each for the two candle panels (after 5, 7, 5, 7, & 5). Put in markers where one pattern stops and the next one starts or it will get too confusing! I just tied some contrasting yarn around the knitting needle there. You pass these to the next needle whenever you come to them in knitting. Knit the next row, then purl the next row, then begin following the instructions for the different panels, which is just the slow increase for three of them and the beginning of the candle pattern for the other two.

First, the two front panels and the center one have what I call the "slow increase" on the edges. There is a yarn over every knit row, but only every other one of them is actually an increase because every other time you counter it with a k2 tog or ssk to keep the same number of stitches, so it gets wider at half the rate of the candle patterns, which gain two stitches every knit row (or something similar!)

Center Panel

For the center panel, wait until you have around 15 stitches to start it, then begin the cross pattern.


You can see it a little better here.

Front Panels





On the front panels there are two little crosses near the bottom. I started them the same row as the top of the last candlesticks. I centered it but you can put it more toward the corners too.



Edges and Finishing

I used two patterns for the edges, the first is centered on where each panel joins, the center of each candle panel, and at the edges.

The other fills in the gaps and starts the last knit row before you bind off.





This is blurry - you can see it a little better on flickr.

The top one starts 6 rows before the end. It is the one that goes where the different panels come together, centered on the candle panels, and half of it on each bottom corner (knit from the ":") I don't know a better way to tell how to do it than to say you find the center stitch, line up the ":" in the chart with that and count stitches to see where to begin. I've supplied the numbers but in case you can't read them, the first row begins 4 from the center stitch, the next (knit row) 8 from the center and the last one 10 from the center stitch.

Kind of centered between these "flourishes" are a simple pattern on the last knit row before you bind off, which is three sets of \,O,K,O,/,K . You can try to center them but it doesn't show much if they're a stitch or two off center.

Dorothy Day Shawl

Knit on 500 yards of romney yarn, worsted weight, from Wool-E-Farms, color "Mae" (I think that is the name of the sheep) - natural color on #10 circulars.


Dedicated to Dorothy Day, another great woman.
Here she is reading at the farm in Easton, PA


I knit this as if it were 5 panels (but all at once, not sewn together). Three were almost the same except the front two had small crosses near the bottom while the center one had the large cross in the back.

Between them were the two candle panels, which made me think of Dorothy Day, because she is the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement. I've lived in the Peter Clavier house in Philly and met my friends there who now run the House of Grace, where they operate a free clinic for the poor in one of the "bad" neighborhoods in the city, and are starting one up in Haiti for the desperately poor.
On TV if someone is Catholic, seems like sooner or later they'll be lighting candles for some reason!

The flame is a take-off on the candle flame pattern, which by itself makes a lovely shawl, but I spaced them out a bit and narrowed them some to make room for the candle sticks.

I'm still charting this one, it's not for the faint-of-heart but not too bad, the three similar panels are easy and the candle one is a lot of repeating of simple patterns, but easy to lose your place in.

Here's what I have so far and I'll update this as I get more time to finish it.

You can think of this shawl as 5 panels all knit at the same time (or maybe do it as a group project and each person knit one panel). The first and last panels are identical, or maybe mirror opposites, simply knit in a stockinette stitch with a small cross near the bottom. The second and fourth panels are the candle panels, and the center panel is very similar to the first and last except with a larger cross pattern centered on the upper part.

Candle Panels
This makes use of a "lifted increase" (thank you my knitlist friends for telling me the name of that one!) around the candle flames so there aren't any unsightly "holes" where we don't want them. It is an unusual stitch but pretty easy to do, especially on the purl ones, but make sure the needle goes into the stitch from the top down)



Row 1: p3, k, p3

Row 2: k3, p, k3

Row 3: p3, k3 into 1*, p3 *[k 3 into 1 = knit, yo, knit into the same stitch]

Row 4: k3, p3, k3

Row 5: p3, k, k3 into 1, k, p3

Row 6: k3, p5, k3

Row 7: p3, k2, k3 into 1, k2, p3

Row 8: k3, p7, k3

Row 9: p3, k3, k3 into 1, k3, p3

Row 10: k3, p9, k3

Row 11: p2, u*, k9, u, p2 *[u = pick up the "bump" of the stitch beneath the current one on the needle, purl that, slip it off, purl the current one as usual - makes an invisible increase]

Row 12: k4, p9, k4

Row 13: u, p2, u, k3, k3 tog*, k3, u, p2, u *[k 3 tog your favorite way, mine is to slip two stitches together from the hand side of the needle (not the point side) then knit the next stitch then pass the two slipped stitches together over the knit one - makes the center one come out on top]

Row 14: k6, p7, k6

Row 15: u, p, k, p2, u, k2, k3 tog, k2, u, p2, k, p, u (you should have 21 stitches now)

Row 16: k3, p, k4, p5, k4, p, k3 (still 21)

Row 17: p3, k3 into 1, p4, k, k3 tog, k, p4, k3 into 1, p3 (19 stitches)

Row 18: k3, p3, k4, p3, k4, p3, k3 (23 stitches)

Row 19: p3, k, k3 into 1, k, p4, k3 tog, p4, k, k3 into 1, k, p3

Row 20: k3, p5, k4, p, k4, p5, k3 (25 stitches)

***************THE REPEATING PATTERN STARTS HERE*******************

BLUE IS THE LEFT CANDLE PATTERN, BLACK IS THE RIGHT CANDLE PATTERN (which is the left candle pattern, reversed), AND RED IS THE CANDLESTICK PATTERN - Notice that there are two stitches between each candlestick once there are more than one of them - they are purled on the right side and knit on the wrong side.

Row 21: [p3, k2, k3 into 1, k2, p 2 tog], [ssk, yo, k, yo, k 2 tog], [p 2 tog, k2, k3 into 1, k2, p3]

Row 22: [k3, p7, k], [p5], [k, p7, k3] = 27

Row 23: [p3, k3, k3 into 1, k3, p], [ssk, yo, k, yo, k 2 tog], [p, k3, k3 into 1, k3, p3]

Row 24: [k3, p9, k], [p5], [k, p9, k3] = 31

Row 25: [p3, k9, p], [ssk, yo, k, yo, k 2 tog], [p, k9, p3]

Row 27: [k3, p9, k], [p5], [k, p9, k3] = 31

Row 28: [u, p, u, k3, k3 tog, k3, u], [ssk, yo, k, yo, k 2 tog], [u, k3, k3 tog, k3, u, p, u]

Row 29: [k5, p7, k2], [p5], [k2, p7, k5] = 33

Row 30: [u, p3, u, k2, k3 tog, k2, u, p], [ssk, yo, k, yo, k 2 tog], [p, u, k2, k3 tog, k2, u, p3, u]

Row 31: [k3, p, k3, p5, k3], [p5], [k3, p5, k3, p, k3] = 35

Row 32: [p3, k3 into 1, p2, u, k, k3 tog, k, u, p2], [ssk, yo, k, yo, k 2 tog], [p2, u, k, k3 tog, k, u, p2, k3 into 1, p3]

Row 33: [k3, p3, k4, p3, k4], [p5], [k4, p3, k4, p3, k3] = 39

Row 34: [p3, k, k3 into 1, k, p4, k3 tog, p4], [ssk, yo, k, yo, k 2 tog], [p4, k3 tog, p4, k, k3 into 1, k, p3]

Row 35: [k3, p5, k4, p, k4], [p5], [k4, p, k4, p5, k3] = 37

Row 36: [p3, k2, k3 into 1, k2, p 2 tog], [ssk, yo, k, yo, k 2 tog], p2, [ssk, yo, k, yo, k 2 tog], p2, [ssk, yo, k, yo, k 2 tog], [p2 tog, k2, k3 into 1, k2, p3] = 39

(this is one flame pattern on each side with three candlesticks in the middle)

Continue until there are 7 flames on the panel, then don't start any new ones and on each right side row do a u increase at the beginning and end, purl (on the right side, k on the wrong side) until you get to the candlesticks, and from the last candlestick to the end of the panel (don't forget the u increase at the end).

This will depend on gauge, but when you get near the end, like 3" or so, stop purling between candlesticks but repeat the candlestick pattern one more row (with two knits between each instead of two purls), from then on, just knit across on the right side, purl on the wrong side. That will set it up for the nice edge. I did 14 rows of candlestick pattern for the shortest candle (including the row that had knit between instead of purl).


This pattern is continued here: http://prayershawlministries.blogspot.com/2008/07/dorothy-day-shawl-part-ii.html