For a designer whom I’d never heard of before a few months ago, I’m becoming quite fond of Janina Kallio’s patterns. She does a lot with combining solid knitting and mesh, and this appeals to me. So after finishing the Ardent Shawlette, I went straight into another pattern of hers: Cobblestone.
I’d been saving this skein of Rustic Fingering until I found the right pattern, and I decided this was it. (I mean, when a yarn is this lovely shade of pink, you can’t knit just anything with it.) I had more yarn than the pattern called for, but this is a design that lets you add as many pattern repeats as you like as long as the numbers come out right. I added three more. I was weighing the yarn after each repeat, trying to figure out how much the four-row repeat was consuming—plus the repeats were gradually growing, and thus using slightly more yarn…yeah, it was a bit tense at times, and I did a lot more ripping out than I’d counted on. And at the end, I had barely enough yarn to bind off, and I didn’t bind off as stretchily as would’ve been best. But by that point, I was determined to just see it done.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed with this design. Purely a matter of preference on my part; it’s not like the pattern was badly written or anything like that. I simply hadn’t realized until blocking that the garter stitch sections have a much shorter row gauge than the mesh section. Somehow that didn’t occur to me while I was planning the project and I never noticed while I was knitting it (I blame the fact that it was all scrunched up on the needles). But once it was off, flat, and wet, it became obvious that I was going to have to stretch the heck out of the garter stitch sections to keep them from pulling the mesh out of shape, and I don’t like the look of stretched garter stitch. Hmph. (Yes, I’d seen the photos on Ravelry and some of them were close enough to see the garter stitch. I didn’t make the connection. Grr.)
But enough complaining. 🙂 It’s done, it’s a lovely shade of pink, and it looks nice when worn. Which is really all that matters.
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Cobblestone Shawlette
Pattern: Cobblestone
Yarn: Neighborhood Fiber Co. Rustic Fingering
Color: Victorian Village
Needles: 6 (4.0 mm)
May 16, 2016 at 9:20 pm
Well sheesh, it looks great from here!
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May 16, 2016 at 9:32 pm
Yeah, it’s hard to have a good perspective when you’re inches away from it and hauling away on the blocking wires.
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May 16, 2016 at 9:23 pm
That’s a great color on you! Too bad about the garter/mesh ratio, but it seems good on you. 🙂
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May 16, 2016 at 9:35 pm
Thank you. And now I know to be aware of this ratio issue.
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June 26, 2016 at 9:05 am
Thank you for the reminder to be extra careful about tension/gauge when there’s a combination of different stitch types in a project. Your shawl looks okay in your photos. good job blocking! 🙂
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June 26, 2016 at 9:08 am
Thank you!
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October 24, 2016 at 8:27 am
And I have returned to this post to have another look and I do agree that it is a beautiful shade of pink and it suits you very much. When your shawl is worn, other people won’t notice the garter stitch issues. How do you feel about your shawl now that a few months have passed? Have you made peace with it and enjoy wearing it, or do you have bad memories of making it? I hope you have got a lot of wear because I am sure you would receive many compliments.
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October 24, 2016 at 10:03 am
I enjoy wearing it and have worn it several times now. I adore the color! My dislike of stretched garter stitch is a personal quirk—no one except me is going to think there’s anything “wrong” with it. I can feel the tight bind off when I put the shawlette on. Not while I’m wearing it, just when I’m arranging it around my neck. I doubt anyone notices it any more than they notice the stretched garter stitch, but that’s definitely something I’m going to try to avoid in future projects. I might even make this pattern again someday. I didn’t like being surprised by how the garter stitch behaved, but it’d be different knowing it would have to be stretched. And the shawlette stays put really well. Many of them have to be rearranged through the day, but this one settles in and stays where it should.
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