Teasdale shawl KAL (knitalong)

Teasdale close up

Along with my real life knitters, I belong to a group on Facebook.  Although I’ve yet to meet most of these people IRL, we have become good online friends. Recently Marne mentioned this lovely shawl she found on Ravelry,  The Teasdale.

I immediately suggested a KAL, turns out it was just the two of us, we did what you do in KALs, share pictures advice and recommendations.Freckle Face FibersThis is called deep stash diving, I had bought this skein 3 years ago at the CogKnitive knitting retreat in Tehachapi, CA. I seem to recall that I bought the yarn on sale and yes, this is a color I use often.border of TeasdaleFor this shawl you knit an intricate lace border and add the body of the shawl latter. A new way of shawl knitting for me. Most patterns start you either at the top, and knit down – so you begin with a few stitches and gradually the rows get longer.

Or the opposite, you cast on the largest number of stitches and decrease as you go. Then there is the option of knitting the body and picking up stitches to create an interesting border.

adding body to teasdaleA wonderful thing about Ravelry is that you can see how others have knit a project. There were complaints here about a bump, one intrepid knitter figured out a different way to knit the body portion. I am following her instructions.

This is what lace knitting looks like, all scrunched up and very unlace like. Until you block it.Blocking TeasdaleBlocking means wetting the knit shawl, and stretching it to it’s limits. This is made from 100% wool, which means it is very resilient and will hold the blocked shape for a long time. Of course when washed it needs to be blocked again.

I am using foam blocks, easy to stick pins into as well as blocking wires – a wonderful invention that makes the job so much easier, otherwise it would be many more pins, like one on each point.Teasdale and owlsDone! You can see how lovely open and lacy it is, and oh – hi there owls and bird!wearing teasdaleHere is one way to wear it, yes, a lot of the lace is hidden, but it looks very pretty around the neck.Teasdale with shawl pinA shawl pin is a wonderful option, allows you to see more of the lace.close up TeasdaleCorrina Ferguson is a very creative designer. She came up with some new ways (to me at least) to manipulate knitting. Knitting is basically the knit and purl stitch as well as leaving spaces or knitting stitches together. What is fascinating is the many ways one can do this and come up with new designs. I love the center vine with leaves on either side.Back of TeasdaleFinally, view from the back. Lovely.

Here’s the deal, as much as I love this shawl, I have a number of shawls in this colorway. So this one is going into my gift pile. You never know, you may be the lucky recipient of this one of these days.

Leah

2 thoughts on “Teasdale shawl KAL (knitalong)”

  1. This is genuinely the most beautiful shawl I have ever seen. WOW!!! It looks so perfect… I’m kinda speechless right now. I wish I had your skills!

    1. Let’s just say I’ve probably been doing all this for a longer period of time. I started needle crafts when I was 5 years old. So just keep at it, practice makes things much better. I don’t know if there is ever – perfect – but one can get close.

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