Turntable is DONE

August 12 was National Vinyl Record Day, and I tried to finish the Turntable shawl then. It was not to be, though - the knitting was completed August 13, then it sat for a few weeks before I finally gave it a quick bath and gently blocked it.

Since this is knit from alpaca, I didn't block it all the way to the dimensions in the pattern, as alpaca has a tendency to stretch. Still, I was within a few inches.

Pattern: Turntable, by Hilary Smith Callis
Yarn: Alpaca in undyed dark brown (suri/huacaya alpaca blend from Raval and Tess) and natural beige (suri alpaca from Zathura), from Turtle Creek Alpacas
Needles: US6 (bound off using US8)
Modifications: none

This is one of the easiest shawls to knit, as it is garter stitch all the way. The only tricky part is the increase rows, and they are tricky only because of the mindfulness required to execute the increases instead of knitting merrily along. But even if you mess the increases up a bit, the pattern is very forgiving.

One problem I have had with shawls is when out and about, as the shawl rarely works under or with any of my coats. This soft beauty, however, can serve as a scarf in transit, then shift to shawl duty once the coat is ditched, the perfect solution to chilly restaurants in winter. I anticipate getting a lot of use from this baby.

Some progress

Everyday, I knit a bit on each of these projects.

The curtain gets a minimum of two rows per day, 200 stitches per row. I estimate I am about halfway done, plus 10% for shrinkage, plus curtain rod sleeve.

When I started the shawl, I knit ten rows a day. Now that there are 295 stitches on the needles, it too gets knit at least two rows a day. (The next row is an increase row, then it will be 319 stitches.)

The curtain requires a lot of counting, not so much the shawl, except for the increase rows. Some days I am tempted to work on something short and sweet, but we all know where that path leads - more UFOs.

The trouble with shawls

Most shawl patterns start with about 3 stitches. Initial progress seems rapid, despite the increase rows. But once there are over 200 stitches on the needles, things bog down a bit.

The photo above was taken around row 98, 223 stitches. I'm now on row 112, 247 stitches. The finished shawl will be 176 rows, 391 stitches. Gah.