Luna Moth Takes Flight

Here she is! It came out a bit small following the pattern as-is (3 repeats), I will definitely have to make it bigger next time. But now I know, and this will help me when I make my second one. And yes, there will be a second one!!! :-) More details/pics on my blog.

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Luna Moth Shawl is Done

I am so very happy with my Luna Moth! Thank you, Shui, for such a beautiful pattern! I used Elann's Peruvian Pure Alpaca, less than 4 balls. I did 7 repeats. The picture above is more to show an outline of the beautiful lace pattern Shui came up with, so the actual color is not so dark. More details and pictures are on my blog.

Trish

http://mymerinomantra.typepad.com

Catching up!

Hi all, Thought I'd start this with a current picture of me and my, Vogue Knitting spring 2007, lace sweater:-) Biased knit fronts really kept this interesting. (done in Patons Merino, denim blue)
Sun Ray Shawl done in Ecofil burnt orange.

The Garden Path Shawl, done in Ecofil purple.

Luna Moth Shawl, done in a baby weight 95% virgin wool and 5% Lurex. I should have done a few more repeats of the pattern but I couldn't tell how big it would be when blocked or if blocking would even work...?
It turned out a lit better than expected:-) I did 2 rows of the yo k1 yo to get longer points.


Moonlight Sonata Shawl , done... of course in Ecofil ,2 blue tweed. Just started this last night. It's a bit of a struggle but I'm getting the hang of the pattern.

It seems that I like EcoFil cotton and I do but... It's the only yarn in the stash that would work for these beautiful shawl patterns. So..... (I still have more too... green and pink and light green tweedy colour arghhhhh!)

Diane

Keep On Designing SK!!!!

Sunray Shawl finished!!! I used Elann's Endless Summer Luna, in Aztec Gold. I don't usually enjoy working with cotton but I LOVED this yarn. And what a shimmery gorgeous shawl it made. Finished at 84 x 56 it took 5 skeins of yarn, and size 9 addi turbo's.

Luna Moth blocking

My shawl is blocking. This was a really fun shawl to knit, I can see myself knitting another one. I hope to post finished photos on my blog soon...

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Luna Moth in Zodiac is done

My Luna Moth shawl is done. Use US10 (6mm) needles and 4 balls of Zodiac.

Awaiting a Knit Picks Options Cable . . .

and a few tips. A Loooong cable. Couldn't find anything local long enough for my Pacific Waves shawl in Sonata Print Incan Clay colorway.

Just a short update; I was hoping they'd be here in time for my camping trip this weekend, so's I could bust out alot of hours on it!

Alas, no such luck (okay, so I procrastinated ordering too long!)

I've just gotta figure out what I'm going to take with me to knit, now that I'm medium to large project-less. Going to get caught up on reading recent posts and commenting on them tomorrow!

In the beginning

Well after about an hour of trying to figure out how to do a provisional cast on, I succeeded (I think ) in getting my Luna on the needles. I am using KnitPicks ShineSport in Coral, its very light and soft and a pleasure to work with. No splitting, as of yet. This is my second attempt at a shawl. The first time I took the easy way out and avoided any of this top-down, provisional cast on nonsense. ANyway, so far so good. I made it through the first repeat. Enjoy the pics! I shall return when there is more to report


The first picture is more indicative of the true color than the second for those who are interested.

Luna has landed!

I finished up my Luna Moth Shawl over the weekend and add me to the long list of happy Luna customers in this KAL. Luna was THE pattern, wasn't she? Awesome pattern, SK! Yes, mine is a BIG one and that was intentional. I think I did 7 or 8 repeats of Chart 2. I lost track.
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Particulars:
Yarn is Austermann Peru held doubled throughout, color 17, merino & alpaca (feels amazing...have I said enough how much I love this yarn?). Needles are Knitpicks' Options size 10. Blocked dimensions are 75" wide by 43" long at center back.

Thanks, Lisa for hosting the KAL! And huge kudos to all the first time shawl and lace knitters who jumped in for this great KAL. I hope everyone gained the confidence to continue.

Please, everyone, don't tell Jayne about this because I just promised her I'd let her finish her shawl before I picked up my Luna again. LOL. See how totally unreliable I am?

My blog: http://vamantaknits.blogspot.com/

A finished Luna Moth - and my first ever post.

I've finished my first Luna Moth! I say first because I've got plans for two more - one for my son's teacher who is moving to New York soon, and one for myself. This is a photo of my daughter Rachel modeling it before it was wrapped as a gift.

I really enjoyed making this, and though I never did manage to memorize the pattern it went surprisingly fast - cast on May 1st, final cast off on May 15th. I gave it to my best-friend (since second grade) for her birthday today - it is a big birthday (one of those ends-with-a-zero ones) so I wanted it to be really special. She is also a professional chef (with a national reputation no less!) and does attend some pretty swanky affairs and she said that it'd be a perfect accessory so I'm really tickled that she liked it.














I made it in black Rowan Kidsilk Night and added a line of small Swarovski crystal beads on the final half-repeat starting at each point and going in. Try as I might I couldn't get the crystals to show in the picture... the kidsilk has a bit of silvery sparkle to it and the crystals set it off nicely. I initially knit it as instructed but when I cast off I realized it was a bit small, so I pulled out the cast-off (a painful process thanks to the mohair) and added two more repeats.

Now I just need to find the right color for the teacher - she asked for blues or greens & I'd love to find something like the teal color in Elann's Highland Wool but in a yarn like the Super Kydd. Any ideas?

-Melanie

Planned to start Moonlight Sonata but.....

I had bought some beautiful torquise cashmere yarn to make this beautiful shawl, but while looking through my stash today I found some lace weight silk by Fleece Artist. It was screaming at me "sonata" so after lunch today I got out my swift and ball winder to put this into a proper center pull ball and get started. Round and round the swift was going and then all of a sudden it was stuck I gave it a bit of a tug cause sometimes this happens with hand dyed yarn, they stick together and a tug will do the trick. NOT THIS TIME. It is now 5:36 ct and I have about 1/3 of the 600 m skein untangled. I quit after 5 hours and was ready to throw it away. DH jumped in and took over cause he loves doing things like that, he has the patience of a saint. It is as if the skein was not tied correctly and part of the loops were on the wrong side of the skein.
Has this ever happened to anyone else? Hopefully I'll cast on tomorrow and have a little something to show you.

Luna Moth or Spring butterfly?

I am using Zodiac for my Luna Moth Shawl, it is not a proper color for it. It looks more like a Spring butterfly to me. I wish I had used Fiddlehead color instead. It is season for collecting fiddleheads right now. See my dinner - fiddlehead with chicken breast.

Yarn Question?

I have finally decided on the pattern , Luna Moth, but the yarn is still up in the air. I have 10 skeins of knitpicks SportShine on its way to me. Its 60% cotton and 40 % Modal. Will that be usable for this??? I am new to the whole shawl knitting and am not sure about fibers and blocking etc. I just finished the the candle flame shawl from knitpicks (my very first shawl, please see my blog for pics) and i used their Shimmer line for that. Any and all comments are welcome. Thanks!!

New Shawls on the Needles

Tom and Jeannie went to the Tattoo SHop tonight to visit with their buddies so I have time to knit and blog. Before she left Jeannie left me some of those 7 layer bars, made with graham and coconut and nuts and chips etc, and the one I just ate tasted so good. I haven't had much of an appetite but that was a nice treat.

This is the Sunray Shawl under construction, made from gold Elann Luna, on size 9 addis, It is such a deligthful pattern, the first one I made back in December was shipped out so fast I had forgotten what a delight it is.

This is LunaMoth Shawl done in Estelle Dazzle in 2 colors, one is Passion and the other is Fireweed, it is being done on size 7 addi's the larger needles just weren't working for this project at all. It is hard to see with this yarn and after 4 repeats its in a bit of a time out. I am enjoying SUnray more while I think long and hard on this one.

Progress report

Yes, yes, yes...I know she's not supposed to be square! And my Luna ISN'T. It's just the way I pinned her out. I wanted to see how large she'd be getting (can I admit that I didn't do a swatch test?). I think I'll likely go at least 2 more repeats, but possibly 3.

BTW, the ecasey wrap has had NO work to it. I guess now we know which shawl will be done first, don't we??!

Finished: Sun Ray Shawl

Here is my Sun Ray Shawl. I loved knitting it. It was my first shawl and a very good one to learn on. I used elann.com Peruvian Highland Wool in Bisque. Not my favorite color, but it looks very good, especially over black. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of that...

Forgot to put this in earlier... there are more pictures of of blocking on my blog.

Help, please

Hi everyone, I'm having a problem with the cast on for the sun ray shawl. I can do the knit 3 but then how do you pick up the stitches on the sides? Is it the same way you would pick up stitches on a sock? I hope this doesn't sound stupid !
I think my yarn is too small , I might get some heavier yarn. Thanks in advance :)

Lisa's Luna

Finished the third repeat. Enjoying the pattern very much so far!

Yarn: elann.com's Adara in "Fern", 2 skeins & a bit of the 3rd so far.
Needles: KPOs, size 9

Plan: 6 or 7 repeats of rows 15-34 before she's done.

Progress!

Details are on my blog. It's going to be a photo finish to get it done by the 27th, but I am a champion Olympic knitter, so I'm up to the challenge!

Luna Moth in Hyacinth

Here is my progress on Luna Moth so far. I have just completed the third repeat of rows 15-34, with Elann's Peruvian Pure Alpaca in the Hyacinth colorway. Love that purple! I want a larger shawl, so in my mind, I would like to do two more repeats, but in reality, I may end up with one more before starting the edging.

Moonlight Sonata FO

SK's lovely design! Thanks for the fun.
Made with 8 repeats instead of 10. Used 4 balls of Elann's Baby Silk on #4 needles.
It would have been nice to have blocking wires so the little loops along the top edge would be round. I knit the picot bind off a bit too tight so couldn't get it to make nice little holes.
I had no idea that I had picked a challenging pattern when I decided to make Moonlight Sonata, I just thought it was pretty. It didn't take long for me to get used to concentrating on all the rows though. I will definitely make sure my next lace project has a purl row every other row.
My detail was a bit washed out from the flash. I will try to take a better picture in the daylight. Not promising.

Marie's Luna Moth

Here's my Luna progress so far. It's coming along. :-) I'm surprised I managed to get this far with all the other stuff that's going on in my life right now, mostly house hunting, you can read about it on my blog. Looking forward to finishing the shawl...

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Amanda & her Peruvian Cuzco Wrap

Amanda, for some reason, comments are not enabled at your post the other day about your cuzco wrap so I am moving it here for comments. I would not worry about stitch definition. I've knitted with Cuzco and it shows zero stitch definition even when blocked. Your pattern is supposed to be fuzzy and it looks to me like you found the perfect yarn for it. I also love those colors. Keep posting!

Luna (moth) Shawl progress

I took Luna off the needles to see exactly what 7 or 8 repeats (I lost track) of chart 2 look like and decided I want another repeat, or two, before the final edging section. For most people, she'd have been long done a few repeats ago. But I am aiming for a warm, woolly, cozy, toasty winter wrap for my drafty New England house. (You know, something appropriate to go with flannel PJ pants and UGG boots.) Since I am up to nearly 300 sts in a row already, this equates to total pattern fatigue for me so I plan to set Luna aside for a while and pick her up later in the summer. I am loving the yarn, Austermann Peru (doubled) merino & alpaca. It is bar none one of the softest, non itchy wools I have ever handled, on the order of malabrigo. Or Fleece Artist BFL. Love this stuff. I plan to start either Luna or Sun Ray soon in cotton as a gift. Still deciding. Callista yarn is what I am considering. Or maybe Luna (yarn) for Luna (shawl)? My fingers may rebel but we'll see.

I enjoy watching everyone's progress and enthusiasm.

My attempt @ Moonlight Sonata

First let me say OT "Happy Mother's Day " to all mothers, in any shape or form. :D

Here is my question since I don't have picture to post, but started on Moonlight Sonata.

(total sts 101,125, 149, 173, 197, 221, 245, 269, 293, 317) <<<< what does this mean?
When I did R1 it worked out I do have 101, but now what are the subsequent numbers?
I notice that they are different as I move along. R3 is different than R5 and so on.

Am I repeating this whole stack of rows again? (R1-R12) x3? or x10?

I'm so sorry if this is a stupid question I just didn't know where to turn to.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Patty's Luna Moth Shawl

Originally this was supposed to be a travel project, since I will be spending around 45 hours roundtrip air and airport time starting Tuesday. I cast on, finished first pattern repeat and staged a couple other projects for the whole trip. But the other projects were staged, being a little easier to memorize, and the Mom's day projects finished, so I picked it back up and now the Luna Moth Shawl is done and ready to be worn on the trip.

I am always amazed at the difference blocking/dressing lace makes. Off the needles the shawl was about 36 inches wide. It dressed to 48 inches. I love lace!

Getting close to the finish

In spite of baby duckarama, I've managed to get to row 29 of my 5th repeat on Luna. After I have finished the 6th repeat I'll decide whether to do another repeat. I love the fabric the luna yarn makes but it's a little tricky with the rayon/cotton because of splittiness. It's dark, so no pic, and I can't fit the thing on my scanner but I'm happy with it. Still wondering how it's going to block but instead of swatching and blocking the swatch, I'm just going for it. ;-} I hope to finish tomorrow or Monday. Oh yeah, baby, a finished object is at hand!

Took a Wren break today...

It's the middle of the month and I am just getting started! (I took a break from my Wren sleeves.) Wound some CTH Silken Mohair up this afternoon, and printed up a copy of Luna. Why is it soooo much more interesting to do a few rows of this than it is to do sleeves?

Hold that pose!

Here she is--blocked and ready for storage. The Lisa W. inspired shot is on the left. This photo took several attempts--had to get proper coverage of the region to which the shawl points. My six year old is getting quite adept with the camera. I'm going to have to start paying her. Thanks again, Lisa, for hosting this KAL and thanks to Michelle Ciccariello and Elann for a terrific pattern!

Finished knitting

The knitting is done. I only did 8 repeats because I wanted more of a shawlette than a full blown shawl. Tomorrow I will get to see the true beauty of this pattern when I block it.

Check out The Walker Treasury for a swatch of the original lace pattern as shown by Barbara Walker. It is called Sunspot in her book. SK did a brilliant job of translating it to a triangular shawl.

progress on peruvian cuzco wrap

minus the cusco yarn, here is my wrap/shawl so far.



I am using Moda-Dea, thick and thin yarn. I really love the yarn, the imperfections, the texture and little bit of gold. The colorway is called Tootsie, all of my favorite colors. Was this the best yarn to use for this shawl? I don't think that the pattern shows as well as it could. But now that have some pointy needles and am used to the double strands it is knitting up quickly. Lots more to do, but not bad considering I have ripped it out 15 times! Ha.

541 stitches later . . .

WOW! I'm so amazed by all the shawls that are done! They are gorgeous and I'm totally intimidated. I've just started mine. I'm making the Pacific Waves Shawl in the Sonata Print Rose Garden. I love the color and am excited to see how it turns out. However since it requires casting on 541 stitches that in itself is a herculean accomplishment! Also it only reduces the equivalent of 1 stitch per row and there are a total of about 60 rows so basically you are knitting on somewhere around 500 stitches per row for THE ENTIRE SHAWL! It takes me quite awhile to knit each row. So far I've finished 8 rows. I noticed a problem in the instructions for Row 5 - after you knit the center stitch it doesn't tell you what to do until you get to the part where you are supposed to start the 14 waves again. Also oddly enough I noticed on the Elann site that the instructions for the solid Pacific Waves Shawl are actually different than those that are found in the Rose Garden one. Very strange! Is anyone else making this shawl?

- Res Ipsa Knit with Her

Hi !! Newbie Warning

Hi, Everyone, Oh my goodness ! What beautiful shawls ! You ladies should be very proud of yourselves. I only hope I can knit one.

I am having a problem tho. I can't get the Luna Pattern to download. It keeps sending me the 'can't go to this page' error.

Also, could someone suggest a pattern for beginner/intermediate?
I got my ' swallowtail pattern' yesterday and tried the cast on. LOL !! I was Stumped !

I have faith in myself tho. Not a quitter !

Thanks for inviting me to the group. I can't wait to get started on a shawl.......Star

Gosh I don't remember when I started my sunray shawl, but I finished it yesterday. This is the second one that I've made.The first one that I made is the red one and it was a Christmas gift. It is such a well written, easy to follow, pattern. Once again thank you SK for sharing your talent with us. I used Jaeger super fine merino and KP #10 for the yellow one. I did one extra repeat and blocked the bejesus out her.It is heading to Japan tomorrow to my DDILwho is in the Air Force and currently stationed in Tokyo. I will make another of these very soon.

Marie's Luna Moth

Wow, you guys are speed demons! I've made a little more progress on my shawl, and hope to finish this before the next Ice Age, or at least try not to be the last one here to finish. ;-) I love working on this shawl, it is so well written which makes it so much easier to follow. More on my blog.


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Hello!

This is my first knit-a-long! I usually miss the boat on things like this, but I found it when I was searching for pictures of the Moonlight Sonata shawl. I'm knitting one in handpaintedyarn.com's laceweight in Damask Rose to go with a dress I'm wearing to a wedding on May 27. I don't know if I'll get it done in time, but I'm going to try!

I actually got started on this KAL

Never thought I'd find myself posting on a blog :) I rarely read them and nearly never comment and here I am with my own post.

Decided the plane today was too crowded for work, but it is never too crowded to knit!
Thus I stole a little knitting time and got started. I'm doing the Luna shawl in cream Lara, yummmm. No pictures yet, but I'll try to find a camera or use a scanner after hours.
SK - the pattern is amazing.

Can't believe so many shawls are so far along. it is really fun to see all the pictures. Thanks for setting this up.

Elimination Round 1

You're GONE!

Some might mistake this for 35 rows of the Luna Shawl in Idena EVITA (cotton/viscose/linen blend). Others would recognize this bad ball for what it is...frogged! This shawl has officially been eliminated. More like disqualified for misbehaving. It's thin and thick properties combined with a stringiness to make me realize that it needs a tighter knit pattern, as in less hole-y! Well, less than "holy" is how it's been behavin'! I should have stuck to using it for a SunRay...but that will be another day, another KAL!

I'm now down to two shawls! But I really don't see there being a 2nd elimination round. The second shawl is just as hard to put down as the mohair Luna. Probably because it's totally different from the Luna. It's heavy where the Luna is light; it's chock full of knit stitches compared to the lacy Luna...not a lacy hole to be found (not intentionally, anyway!). And the heavy duty Highland Chunky is like huge...huge stitches, huge needles, huge-in-your-face progress! I feel like a hearty maritime sea captain down at the tavern every time I pick her up (Ever been to sea, Billie?)!!

Compare to the demur, lady-like Luna, that is.

So, here it is...the start of my Highland Wool Wrap. It looks like the cables are getting weird, but they're not (I HOPE!). It's just the photo was done with the scanner and it was kinda like doing a mammogram to my poor wrap...things got flattened that weren't ever intended to be squished !

The gentle little mohair Luna has seen a few rows but nothing like what some of you speed demon Luna knitters have been producing. But with this baaaaad Evita back in her box, the Luna and the Wrap should see a bit more lovin'!

Hmmm....Now might be a good time to ask: Is there a time limit on this KAL...

Okay, Here's The Real Action Chez Jayne

A woman I like very much has recently found out that her daughter is very very sick with a rare form of brain cancer. I feel just awful about it. I've met the daughter, and she's a dear one: lovely, lively, younger than me. It's just not right.

My friend is a knitter, and she loves orange. I am knitting her a suprise comfort shawl in a bright orange and buttercup yellow mix.



You've probably already recognized the pattern as Sunray. I am really enjoying the knit. It is smooth and easy and rhythmic. I can have the TV on or not. I could see making this shawl more than once.



I am knitting it up in some of my hand-dyed yarn. This one is the soft washable mercerized wool that I have in several colorways over at my etsy shop. I really like knitting with this yarn. It's a worsted weight and very soft. It slipped so smoothly along on my 6mm ebony Lantern Moon straight needles until I got to the third repeat and decided to move it over to circulars.



I'm trying to knit this shawl before doing any other knitting. I'd like to be able to give it away within about two weeks.