Twisted Knitter

I've gone from swatching to actually starting the Kimono Shawl. I'm having better results with straight needles and I'm much happier with how the lace pattern knits up on smaller needles:

Here's the earlier swatch -- knit on Size 5 circular needles:

I used a cable cast-on for the shawl and I like it much better than the long-tail cast on for this. I'm learning how incredibly different it is to knit with 100% silk both in how the silk has no 'stretch' (i.e. "memory") and the fact that it probably can't be bossed around like wool (and wool blends) can. I've also learned that I shouldn't wet-block 100% silk. Therefore, unless my logic is wrong, I should be considering as I knit this shawl that the lace will end up looking much like it does on the needles. If it's looking too loose and open, it's just going to get MORE loose and open with steam-blocking and wear.

This won't be a "fast" knit for me. I'm already facing having to re-knit a row where I dropped a YO. (Yes, Lauri, I'll start using lifelines!)

For an excellent tutorial on chart-reading and getting comfortable knitting charted lace patterns, look no further than Sara's "Beginning Lace" handout (.pdf). I know now I should have gotten a bit more comfortable with some good lace-knitting habits before casting on for this shawl and I'm going to stop and work on my skills a bit. It's just an area of deficiency for me and knitting lace is not something I should be doing to challenge my inherent "winging it" nature.