Not much knitting progress this week. I picked up the olive tablecloth after my sock urge was sated, continuing to produce a couple more inches of the spiderweb section. Then I moved to the set-up round for the final edging. Unfortunately, I made a mistake early on that I did not catch for four more rounds. At ten zillion stitches per round (most of them incorporated into double decreases separated by double yarn overs), the tinking back has been painfully slow. But I’m finally past it and moving forward again. In the left hand shot below, you see the spiderweb section. In the right hand shot, a bit of the center medallion’s outer band motif.

To recap, the center of this tablecloth is from The Knitted Lace Patterns of Christine Duchrow, Volume III, edited by Jules and Kaethe Kliot. The center is on page 72, charted on p76.

As I neared the end of that medallion I decided I wanted to make the cloth bigger. Thumbing through the same book I found the edging on page 56, charted on p. 57. I apologize for not having pix of the edging, but my scanner is playing dead tonight.

In any case, the math worked out, so I decided to merge the two patterns. Success however isn’t guaranteed. Although the spiderweb portion is very forgiving in that it will resist ruffling due to the ability of its brides (the horizontal twists of the double YOs) to compress, it may well ruffle when the peacock like terminals of the pattern are added. The trick is to make the spiderweb portion wide enough. It’s a clear gamble. Too wide, and the cloth won’t lay flat. Too shallow and the piece will ruffle at the edge. Add to that the fact that the pattern as written is for edging a smaller circumference; that I’m working in a fine linen thread – guaranteed not to be a cooperative, stretchy blocker; and that I’m working with all of the stitches jammed onto a way too small circ, making it hard to judge how flat everything is working out. It’s an Adventure in Knitting, to be sure.

Even with all of these disaster factors and putting the piece down for several months, I’m having fun with it. I find that I really enjoy noodling out lace. With the end in sight on this one, I’m not sure what I’ll do next. Probably something more scripted with a lower chaos factor. One possible candidate is Heirloom Lace’s Princess Shawl. I bought the pattern a while ago, before it was revised and expanded. I am considering doing it up in the black laceweight I just bought.

But there are so many other things to knit. I need to work more on my North Truro Counterpane. I would dearly like to finish it off and use it as a summer weight blanket. Someday. And if I don’t finish Elder Daughter’s Kyoto and dragon skin Rogue, she’ll have my head. And there’s the Sempre pullover from this past winter. And projects even older languishing in my Chest of Knitting Horrors(tm).

Finally, some folk have written to me to complain that I mis-characterized the gentleman spinner in the last post. Apparently he’s Dan of Gnomespun Yarn, and he’s got a huge following in the hand spinning/blogging community. I meant no disrespect. On the contrary, I was quite taken with his matter of a fact attitude and general uber cool confidence. So was my photo-taking friend. So all the best to you, Dan. Should our paths ever cross again, I’ll be sure to introduce myself and buy you a drink to make amends. Any other complaints about this blog or its contents can be sent to me either care of this website or at my wiseneedle inbox on Ravelry.

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