Wool and Spice

For those of you who don’t think you can knit lace, go read our Nora’s blog post today before you say “I can’t.”  Then come back here and see what I have to say about this pattern.

Pattern: Labyrinth Lace Shawl by Evelyn Clark Designs (Ravelry link)

Needles: Addi Natura US 4

Started: 8/9/08

Finished: 8/16/09

Yarn: merino fingering weight. I don’t know the yardage or the make; it was a couple hanks from the stash that I originally bought from a friend at Knitting in the Neighborhood. The pattern calls for 1250 yards of fingering weight.

Finished Size: About 60 inches square.

Mods: None

Notes: Despite the designer rating this as Challenging, the only thing that’s a challenge is finding room to spread out all your charts. There are no repeats in the design so you need the charts to follow the pattern (there are written instructions too if you’re afraid of charts). It’s mostly the border that you need to follow since a large part of the labyrinth is intuitive and if you can count to six, k2tog, yarn over or knit 6, yarn over, ssk, you’re golden. The wrong side rows are knit with a little fancy work at the ends to make the picot edging.  There are 233 stitches in the longest row at the center.

I honestly think this would be an OK knit for someone who wanted to learn to knit with charts. Here’s what I would suggest:

• Blow the charts up so they’re readable,
• Tape the larger charts together so you can see the whole row all at once,
• Use highlighter tape to mark your place, and
• Count the plain stitches between the fancy stuff and mark that on the chart. You only have to do that on the border and in the center since the width of the labyrinth is constant.

I enjoyed the knit since it was something I could grab and take with me to knit night and didn’t feel in a hurry to finish it. The yarn is lovely and I apparently didn’t goof the pattern because the labyrinth really does lead to the flower in the center. Like other Evelyn Clark designs this was well written and a pleasure to knit.

Having said all that, I’m not that fond of knitting fingering weight shawls. I like the challenge of laceweight or cobweb for my shawls. Still, the shawl I wear constantly around the house is made with fingering weight and it’s taken some abuse over the last 10 years and still looks great. Hey, I didn’t say I made sense.

Tags: Evelyn Clark, Knitting, Labyrinth, Labyrinth shawl, lace