Friday, June 24, 2011

Jaali

One of the things I love best about Ravelry is browsing other people's favorites. There are knitters who have the same taste as I do, and some of them have thousands of favorites. My meagre list only has about 200 entries, because when I see something I like, I spend a lot of time admiring it and then forget to click the little heart.

One morning, while perusing one such glorious Favorites list, I stumbled across Jaali--a shawl similar to Percy--both use the elegant Frost Flowers pattern as the main motif.

Jaali was especially lovely to knit, because it starts at the bottom by casting on a zillion stitches and decreasing to the top edge. By the time the honeymoon period is over, the rows are short and getting shorter; I found it difficult to put down because I wanted just One More Decrease.








The yarn was handspun by me from an EverImprovingMe batt--merino, firestar, and angelina--using a Tibetan spindle. I added a few beads (6/0) on the border, and, in a miracle of pre-planning, I actually did not run out of them before finishing that section.



There's not much else to say about this piece--it's a relatively quick knit, especially if you choose the small or medium size. I went with the large size, because it required 680 yards and my skein of handspun was 700 yards. I had exactly 18 inches left over and knit the last five rows holding my breath.





35 comments:

Cecilia said...

The shawl is wonderful!

blandina said...

Awsome, the pattern is very nice but you certainly are an excellent knitter: knitting lace is not THAT easy as you seem to hint!

Jenn said...

Beautiful. I have yet to knit a shawl - I think part of my hesitation is the concern about the increasing number of stitches. The concept of decreasing is much more appealing to me.

Your work is amazing.

Bonny said...

Stunning! I love the colour change in the yarn and the beads add a really nice touch.

I love knitting lCe but I don't know if I would try this one. It's amazing though.

JelliDonut said...

I'm not sure which is more glorious--your knitting or your handspun. Your Jaali is glorious!

momsue84 said...

I love the way you add your own stunning touches to a pattern. Beautiful!

Mom IsAmagpie said...

That is gorgeous the pattern and the yarn. I love how easy you make lace sound too.
I'm still locked out of Ravelry, I forgot my new password. doh Anyway there are certain people who's work I love. What makes me chuckle is most of them are in Japan and eastern Europe. Makes me want to move because I feel like they must be "my people".

Unknown said...

That shawl is just breathtaking! Tom was looking with me and we are both just amazed. We can not wait to meet you! It is just amazing to see something so wonderful come from a batt we made! You make me want to do more batts with graduated colors! You inspire me!

yarnlot said...

How lovely, a shawl with the delicate complexion of a blushing rose...
To comment is always a bit confusing, there is Ravelry with the choice between a heart or a comment and there are personal blogs which offer more detailed information.
Voila, a heart on Ravelry and a comment on the blog, well deserved!

Vivianne said...

Beautiful, and the pattern is shown off to such advantage by the yarn you chose.

Lisa said...

It's gorgeous! I'm not brave enough to cast on that many stitches to begin, though! I'll stick to neck-down shawls, tyvm!!

Lovely spinning.

Arella said...

Wonderful shawl!

Sandy said...

Just gorgeous!!

Gale Bulkley said...

What a beauty!

Sharripie said...

It's gorgeous. I especially love how subtly the color changes. Well done!

fluffbuff said...

Another gorgeous shawl. You like to live dangerously… starting a shawl with barely the required amount of yarn!

knitterPat said...

So beautiful! Love the gradual colour change and the addition of beads! :)

Kirsten said...

This comes close to art! Beautiful

gayle said...

Love the graduating colors - what a gorgeous shawl!
(And I remembered to 'favorite' it...)

Annie Cholewa said...

Another triumph :D

Linda said...

So gorgeous. I don't wear shawls much, but may have to knit that one anyway. Thanks for the inspiration.

Laritza said...

Very pretty!

CeltChick said...

Awesome shawl, chickadee. Not sure I could start a shawl this way, as I usually have to frog the start twice before it meets my standards! I do like the idea of the thing getting smaller as you work it...

Anonymous said...

Absolutely beautiful, I love shawls that get smaller with each row.

Delusional Knitter said...

Beautiful! The yarn too - beautiful spinning! Love the beads, nice touch!

LittleBerry said...

As I said on Ravelry it's Stunning! and after reading that it's what I'd say the best pattern useage for the available yarn ;o) I love how he colour shades and the close ups show some beautiful spinning there too...

Soo said...

Absolutely beautiful. The yarn, the colours, the knitting, the beads - all wonderful!

PenCraft said...

As always, your work is absolutely gorgeous and very inspiring. I love the color transition and the beading is an inspired way to really tie it all together in such lovely fashion. The entire execution, from spinning to blocking--it's all amazing!!!

Bethany Hendrickson said...

I thought it was amazing enough and then you said it was handspun. Very nice work!

How did you measure the yardage on your handspun? I always have trouble getting an actual count on that.

Lacefreak said...

Wow! What a glorious shawl! Your hand spun yarns are always beautiful but the burst of color is really fantastic. I love the shawls that get faster and faster towards the end too!

Anonymous said...

I was lost in admiration of the shawl, and then I discovered you'd spun the yarn too... fab!

Monika said...

Another beautiful shawl!

Mizia Camargo said...

many many Thanks! Reading you I found the beautiful Jaali and... I really need to do one for me!
Yours yarns are very beautiful too! congrats!

*gooocha* said...

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW !!!!!!!!!!!!

Rosemary said...

Breathtaking.

Completely awesome!

Stunning!

Thanks!