Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Braided Shawl/Flechtmustertuch - done!








I'm free! I can cast on whatever I want now! I've got only Theresa's lace scarf on my needles, and that's my in between and television knitting. So this will take a while. But I'm itching to knit with thicker yarn now, and I want to make hats and mittens. We'll see what will catch my fancy. ;o) This is the original, or the one I liked so much, that I had my father sent me the magazine over. There is a German KAL going on for this shawl. You can see other finished shawls here. Angelika was much faster than I was, so I could pick her brain about it, whenever I needed help and encouragement, she answered patiently I might add, all my questions. Thanks!


pattern: Lotte Wackerhagen (Designer), Anna magazine September 2007, also Karen Noe's selling the pattern on her website, I wanted to link it , but it never loads without an error.
yarn: Koigu KPPPM 100% merino, 50g/175yds/160m. I used 7 skeins in all (including the blue one) and had 18 inches! left over. The pattern called for 920m, but I needed 1120.14m. Hmmh.
needles: 3.75mm addi lace circular
size after blocking: 47" x 76" ( ~117cm x 190cm)
start-finish: Sept. 14-24, 2007


I did everything the pattern called for, no modifications, except substituting the yarn, and the needle size.
18" left over yarn

I would have been happy to finish this shawl with one colorway, but it was not nearly enough. I'm lucky to have found the single blue skein in my stash. I like how it looks now. The braided part is much tighter than in the original photograph of the shawl, must be the yarn and the needle size. The shawl has lovely drape though, and it's huge. You can really snuggle into it - that's nice. Knitting the fringes was a challenge in patience, and braiding them, took a moment of stepping away from the project, and bugging Angelika some more. After that, it clicked and it was done quickly. But imagine 200 pigs tails or cork screws taming into straightness to be braided, and pierced, so I could later pick up the stitches again. I think I invented some new curse words while doing that.

I'm glad I'm done with it. I don't think I've ever knit so long on a shawl before, and it was getting tiresome, especially the pressure of having enough yarn or not. 18 inches left over! Imagine! I'm not quite sure yet if I'll ever knit this shawl again. One should never say never, right?

Love my camera, it's fun to play with.

45 comments:

margene said...

It's beautiful and worthy of your hard work!!

Tracy Purtscher said...

I'm utterly speechless.

WOW

Bea said...

Wow, it's incredible! Especially the braided part, I would have NEVER had the patience.

leandra said...

Hallo Monika!

Ganz toll ist das Tuch geworden, am Anfang konnte ich mir das mit der bunten Wolle nicht so recht vorstellen, aber jetzt, Hut ab. Ich hab es bis jetzt nur zum Erwerb des Anna Heftes gebracht :-)

Grüße aus Wien
Leandra

Sue J. said...

Monika, the shawl turned out just great!! It's so beautiful. I really, really like the blue yarn in there. Congratulations on a lovely FO.

Anonymous said...

Wunderschön, mehr fällt mir zu deinem Tuch nicht ein.
LG Petra

MissLucy said...

it's beautiful! The braided section is amazing! Love it!!

Anonymous said...

Schoener als das Original! LG Arlene

hakucho said...

Wow, your shawl is gorgeous!!! Love the edging and the braided part is wonderful. Looks so difficult...you are truely amazing -- not that's new to me ;)

Angelika said...

Mir gefaellt Deins viel besser als meins. Meins ist so langweilig. Ich mag die blaue Borte am Rand. Haste wirklich super hinbekommen. Willst Du tauschen? Yeah, right.

judith said...

Wow, bist du schnell!
Das Tuch sieht super aus, echt schöner als das Original!!

liebe Grüße
Judith

Heather said...

i love the weaved effect in the shawl! wonderful job!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful!!!
I really like the blue contrast

eyeleen said...

WOW! Stunning! I love the braided section.

Anonymous said...

Wow - it is magnificent! I especially love the braided part.

Debi said...

Another beauty Monika! You are such a talented knitter with a great eye for color!!

So how about some Dalmatian socks? :)

Restless Knitter said...

It's beautiful! I love the braided section.

Cloudberry said...

It's beautiful!!
I have tagged you, so look into my blog ;)

Heike said...

Sehr schön! Dein Tuch gefällt mir supergut - vor allem, wie Du die blaue Wolle integriert hast - es sieht wirklich aus, als müsse das so ein. Das passt perfekt. Ich glaube, dass das so noch besser aussieht als aus dem gleichrn Garn.
Du warst aber wieder ganz schön fix - aber das kenne ich ja schon von Dir!!

Liebe Grüsse schickt Heike

DAWN said...

I love the little braided bit, it really makes the shawl special. That is a lot of stitches, dear. Glad you are free to roam now!

Larry said...

What can I say? It's stunning!

Anonymous said...

That is just beautiful Monika! I like the touch of solid blue - sometimes those things we have to do, make it wonderfully different and special. The braid is gorgeous!
Isn't it nice to feel free? I need to experience that again...

Violiknit said...

Soooooo beautiful, that shawl! I can't believe you only had 18" left over; what suspense you must've felt while knitting the end :)

Anonymous said...

Wow!

Ich trage zwar selbst keine Tücher, aber ich schaue sie mir gern an! Vor allem dieses Flechtmuster am Rand ist wunderschön!!

Da braucht man ganz schön Durchhaltevermögen für so ein riesiges Stück!

Liebe Grüße aus dem verregneten Deutschand!

Teresa said...

LMAO! I can just imagine what sort of words you made up. Bet you could have made a sailor blush! :D

It's gorgeous though. I'd say do a chunky hat, that way you don't have to do two like with mittens. The yarn is beautiful in the shawl. You did a wonderful job!

Michelle said...

What a gorgeous shawl! I really like how the blue defines the border; sort of separating the braid from the edging. Fantastic!

Tracy said...

Simply gorgeous!!!!!

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

Just breathtaking. Love it. I think the solid blue skein added a lot - and was a terrific choice. Beautiful photos - the fir tree in front is so gorgoues. Ah, I rapsodize.

Micky said...

Absosmurfly beautiful!
:)

The Kelly Green Rogue said...

wow it looks really snuggly!

Strickfimmel said...

Wow, sieht das Tuch toll aus!!! Die melierte Wolle kombiniert mit dem blauen Garn passt perfekt zusammen. Ein wunderschöner farblicher Kontrast. Und wie schnell Du warst. Schon allein diese vielen Flechtbänder zu stricken muss eine Heidenarbeit gewesen sein.

Anonymous said...

really, really beautiful!!

Life's a Stitch said...

That is a work of art and I must try it soon. Beautiful!
Li

Kris B said...

I love the braided part. It looks so complicated. You did an awesome job on it.

Anonymous said...

That is probably the most beautiful shawl I have ever seen. Well done!

N. Maria said...

It DOES look like it took a great deal of your time.....but oh, does it show. It's beautiful.

Dave said...

It always amazes me how you can be so creative with wool... Wow! :-)

KVF said...

I love the weaved effect ! wonderful job! I really like the blue contrast
Beautiful!!!

greetings by Chile

Tabata

http://manosmagicas-tabata.blogspot.com/

Wollkistchen said...

Schön ist es geworden. Ich war zuerst skeptisch, weil Du zwei Farben nehmen wolltest, aber es passt sehr gut zusammen so. Toll. Auch Dein Tuch motiviert dazu, endlich mal weiter zu stricken, lach.
Ich wünsch Dir einen schönen Tag

Kristin

T-Mom said...

Golly. That's amazing. It's a masterpiece, Monika! It's so beautiful, and the craftsmanship blows me away.

sgeddes said...

I haven't been about much lately - but I see you've been a busy lady. The shawl is beautiful! I love the braided section. It is much easier to see in your photos than in the original.

I can also see I'm going to have to get that new Bordhi sock book. I love the socks you made.

Anonymous said...

Add my admiration to the pile! LOL! The shawl is breathtaking! Your attention to detail has made it a masterpiece! I like it much better than the one in the magazine. Using the blue changed the whole project from really nice into 'perfection'. Kudos to you! Standing ovation!!!

Anonymous said...

18 inches? Wow. It's so beautiful!

Anonymous said...

wunderschön ist dein Tuch geworden.
sonnige Grüße
margrit

old lady said...

Your shawl is beath-taking! Would you provide a link to where I can get the pattern (hopefully english!)?