A Skirt and a Shawl

I have finished two things from the too-many-projects-on-the-go. As the title indicates, a skirt and a shawl. Bad timing for the skirt as it is not wool skirt weather. Oh well. It is finished and I like it.

I started the skirt in January with yarn purchased in 2011. The pattern is Lanesplitter from Knitty.com. I have made this pattern before and although the pattern calls for Noro Kureyon you can use any yarn as basically you are knitting a rectangle (on the bias) to the length and width you require. A new yarn shop opened in Calgary in 2011 and our knitting group had an outing on its opening day. I purchased some Noro Shirakaba in dark pinks.


I knew this would be great for another skirt but it needed another colour to go with it but the store didn't have any other suitable colourways so I bought it, put it in my stash and stayed on the look out for a suitable match. In the end, when Personal Threads had their end of year sale, I bought more Shirakaba in a different colour.


These colours work well together as they tone each other down.

The main thing I wanted to change on the original pattern was the waistband. On the original pattern the waistband is worked in rib with Tahki Cotton Classic, sewn down to the inside of the skirt and elastic inserted. This made a bulky waistline on my skirt. For the second version I worked a stocking stich band with the Shirakaba. This also meant that I did not have to buy a third yarn. After sewing the seam I picked up stitches along one edge, I had worked out my row and stitch gauge and picked up stitches in this ratio, and then knit (I was working in the round) two rows in each colour until the band was the same width as the elastic. I worked a purl row for the fold line and then worked the same number of striped rows. And then came the fun part. Elastic was measured around my waist and the ends sewn together to make a circle, this was held against the waistband and I picked up one stitch from the pick up edge and knit it with the stitch on the needle thus enclosing the elastic. I really should have taken a photo of this process to show how it was done. After the elastic was enclosed, I cast off. The waistband is exactly the same width as the elastic so it will not twist.

Here's a picture of the skirt and a close-up of the waistband. No photos of the skirt being worn yet.



The other project, the shawl, was a quicker knit in terms of start and finish dates. The Yahoo group for Mystery shawls is very quiet but they decided to have a new mystery starting on March 14 - Pi day. Rather than using lace yarn (and I do have some in my stash) I used a sport weight alpaca that had been in my stash for who knows how long. The only thing I can say is that I purchased it in Calgary and there was an original purpose for the yarn which eventually went out the window. I had four balls of the yarn and intended to knit until I had none left so I knew I would not make the full shawl. I ended up with two full sections and half the edging. This is a circular shawl worked on the Pi basis of doubling rows and stitches, I still doubled the stitches before working the edging although I knew this would make the edge ruffled but I like the effect.

After completion, I just did a gentle block. I soaked it and then spread it out to shape. I really like it but once again the photo does not show it being worn.



I forgot to measure it before blocking, but post blocking it is 112cm in diameter.