Handwork: Entrelac Scarf Start

Entrelac has been one of my favorite knitting styles, both the Garterlac and the regular in stockinette stitch.  I found a pattern on Ravelry which I love.   I REALLY love that scarf.  I don't love the cost of that gorgeous yarn. I saw some Caron Cakes yarn in a colorway I liked and thought it would work.

This is what I got:

DID NOT WORK. The entrelac is nice  BUT if one is going to go to all the work to keep track of where you are in the pattern it really needs to have spectacular results.  This was not it.  That is why I tore out the shawl and turned it into that triangular shoulder scarf I made a couple of weeks ago.

Now I will have to save up so I can buy the correct yarn to make this pattern and do it justice. If someone has a suggestion on some shorter color repeats, similar to Noro Silk Garden, I would love to hear from you!  Thanks.

Knitting: Grandmother's Favorite Shoulder Shawl!

As part of the Craft Yarn Council program to become certified, I need to prepare three lessons in knitting.  Often when I am teaching beginners we use the Grandmother's Favorite Wash Cloth pattern.  It is so easily memorized and everyone needs a washcloth.

My plan was to do something a little different.  I was in Michaels when they first opened and found a lovely color way in Caron Cakes.  I had thought of using it for an entrelac scarf but it turned out the color repeats were too long.  Well, if you are going to go to that much work for a scarf or shawl, it should look impressive. It really did not with those long color ways, so I tore it out after about three or four rows of squares.

The yarn was then available and so soft and lovely to work with that I thought a nice triangular shoulder shawl/scarf would be a good way to use it, plus would teach the simplest part of Grandmother's Favorite.

This is what it looks like:

This was knit just as Grandmother's Favorite Wash Cloth (Cast on 3 stitches, turn.  K2, YO, knit to end of row...every row. ) is knit until you get to where you want to start decreasing.  (To make it as square cloth you K1, K2tog, YO, K2tog, K to end of row to decrease until binding off 3 stitches.)  Instead of doing the decrease to make this a square shawl, when I got to where I thought I needed to start the ending part of the triangular shawl I did a K2, *YO, K1, K2tog,  Repeat from * until the end.  You might have to fudge a bit at the end to finish out that row.  After the eyelet row, knit one garter ridge/2 rows then bind off.  It makes a perfect little shoulder shawl.  I only had about 5 yards of yarn leftover...!

Using US size 8 circular needles and the Caron Cakes worsted weight yarn, the shawl measures 20 inches deep and 47 inches across at the top of the triangle.