The Long and Skinny of It

Crafster really is a great source of information. You can ask a question, and someone out there has an answer for you. Which is great, when you're trying to fix your errant knitting. In theory, the advice I received made a lot of sense -- drop the goofed stitch, and pick it up with a crochet hook, on every other rung of the "ladder," to accommodate the skipped stitches. Like I said, theoretically sound. I managed to correct three stitches in this fashion -- but because of the alternating worked and slipped stitches, I had to fiddle with the tension in each goofed stitch to get the adjacent one to even out -- a tug here, a pull there, and a slew of foul epithets accompanying each jerk of the yarn. Those three stitches took almost a half hour, so I gave in to the frogging and ripped a few rows back. The good news is that after all that grief, it's done! All this from catching an episode of Knitty Gritty a couple weeks back! This scarf was featured on the show, and it seemed a great way to use up some odd balls of yarn I had, and get a fun scarf out of it in the end (because we all know that one can never have too many scarves). The fun scarf I got, but it sure took much longer than I anticipated it would!

I cast on more stitches than the pattern called for, since I was using a lighter weight yarn, but was unconvinced as they sat all mooshed on my needle that I'd get much length in the end. So I was pleasantly surprised during bind off, watching it just grow!

Thus, this,



which clearly exceeds my tape measure's 60 inches, somehow came off of these:



I really like the texture of this stitch pattern, which lies completely flat, and is reversible to boot!



Anyhow, this served as a nice distraction from my other knitting. I'd been unable to really focus on anything, so I think I just needed to whip up something quick and get an FO out of it!

Kelly, who has revamped and moved her blog, which now goes by the moniker Fondle My Sweaters (how great of a name is that?!) asks about working up Lelah in Shine. Christine's original pattern utilized worsted weight yarn. I chanced upon the idea of using Shine for her pattern while I was using it for something else. Since it was a lighter weight, I had to recalculate her pattern to accommodate it, but Christine made it really easy. It also helped that I always was a bit of a math geek (how many other English majors do you know that minored in Math?) ...

I used smaller needles; specifically, US 7 and 5. My guage was 4.8 stitches to the inch in stockinette, using the smaller needles. I measured above the bust as Christine recommends.
Let's say B=bust measurement. I wanted my Lelah to be proportionate to the pattern, so I added a step to the formula she lays out in the pattern. Using her model of a 32 inch chest measurement, her bottom circumference = 40 inches. Therefore, (40 x B)/32 = I (inches around the bottom).

4.8 x I = M (the minimum number of stitches needed to cast-on.)  If M is an odd number, add 1.  Is this number divisible by 11?  If not, add stitches to make it divisible by 11.  This is how many stitches you will cast on.  Your cast-on stitches divided by 11 will tell you how
many times the lace pattern repeats in a row.

The lace pattern develops over six rows. Repeat these six rows for the desired length. I repeated this eight times, for a total of 48 rows in the lace pattern before getting to the decrease round.

It's as easy as pi! (Couldn't resist the pun).