Photo Recap: Knit Simple Wrap KAL

Literary Ladybug’s,  Jessica Kline’s and Chai Mama’s supplies ready to go!

Last week we wrapped up (har, har, har) the triangle shawl Stitch.Rock.Knit-along, and at the risk of being redundant I’d just like to say again how much I dig these virtual get-togethers! As a working mom of three kids, getting to hang out with fellow knitters working on a common goal — but on my own time and without leaving home — is a win-win. Hope you think so, too!

For those of you who weren’t able to make this one, here’s a recap of events.

For the Shawl We wrap, we’ll be using the top-center out method (chart 1.2). This means that we cast on the first few stitches of the straight part of the wrap that will ultimately be worn near the back of your neck, and then work outward. To do this, you not only use the increases at both edges as you would with the bottom-up method, but you ALSO use two increases at the center. You’ll essentially be creating two triangles at a time, that will make up one, larger triangle. This means the the the “live” stitches on your needle are the bottom, angled edges. Cool, eh? Most lace shawl patterns that you see today, use this method. one of the things that makes this nice, is that if you’re knitting your edging you won’t have to pick up stitches. They’ll already on your needle!

Next, it was time to cast-on and get knitting! The great thing about a project like this is that you can see it taking shape almost immediately.

My mom, Libby’s first few rows.

A few days in, knitters were jammin’ along. I especially like how some people started experimenting with stripes!

Progress! Clockwise: WIPs by Jessica Kline, Karen Ramisch, EvaporateDone & Susan Rodenhahn

For most of us unless we happen to be on vacation with dedicated knitting time, 7 days isn’t really enough to finish an entire shawl. Some superstar stitchers however, met the challenge! The last few days of the Stitch.Rock.Knit-along were spent chatting about edging options. We provided 3 different choices for this project, all of which came out of Vogue Knitting’s Stitchtionary 6. If you’re feeling math-y though, you could adapt this pattern to finish of with an entirely different edging of your choice.
Since most people tackling this shawl likely already know how to knit, I chose to demo the crocheted edging. I’m a huge fan of crocheted fishnet–the Helena top from my book, Pop Goes Crochet was created almost exclusively with a variation of this stitch — because it gives a lacy look and a lot of mileage with relative ease.

For stitchers choosing one of the two knitted edging options, here’s a how-to video for the bind-off method used for both. Even if you don’t plan on making the Shawl We wrap, check out this bind-off anyway. It’s one of my faves for adding a little extra detailing, especially on delicate or kids garments.

As our week together came to an end, I was thrilled to see photos of participants finished shawls– makes mama proud!

Kim White’s Magenta(ish) Shawl with Fishnet edging.

FOs! L-R: Mama Karen,  Maria Kegel, and Julie Bauer’s

NJ Knitter’s FO (front & back) with Picot Dot edging and Picot Bind-off.

My daughter, Clover feeling Sheep(ish) in our finished wrap.

Even though we’re no longer officially knitting-along for this project, the Ravelry thread and Facebook page will stay live with information and support. Please feel free to read posts at your leisure, ask questions of the group and most of all, share pictures of your projects! The Shawl We pattern can be found in the Spring ’12 issue of Knit Simple Magazine on stands now, then available to purchase from the archives section of the Knit Simple website after that. If you want to subscribe to the mag for future Stitch.Rock.Knit-alongs, you can do that here. To order Sheep(ish) yarn ahead of time, go here.

Stay tuned for the cabled beanie Stitch.Rock.Knit-along which will start on July 31!

I’ll end this post with my favorite quote of the knit-along, which was posted by Tammzen on Ravelry:

 xx, Vickie

Psst! Don’t forget to visit me on Facebook!