I’m back! We took a wee trip to Scotland. And Barcelona. And St. Louis! More on all of that when I get myself sorted. I did manage to visit one yarn shop while I was away, Ginger Twist Studio in Edinburgh.
Jess’ shop is tiny and packed with beautiful yarn, much of which she dyes herself. I bought only one skein, this lovely British BFL fingering; the color is Pappy’s Garden.
I wish I had bought a coordinating color, but I needed the bag and yarn to fit in my purse because we were hiking the Salisbury Crags that afternoon after a visit to the Scottish Parliament. Packing in the fun! (The bag is wrinkled from being crammed into my purse, true story.)
I took a new shawl design project on this trip. I didn’t have a lot of knitting time, but it kept me occupied on planes and trains. When I got home, I decided I didn’t like how the later stitch patterns were playing with each other. Or were not playing with each other, really.
I asked Biscuit what she thought. “To the frog pond!” she squeaked. I agreed, but not before tackling another issue that was bugging me.
My first try at this had a hump in the middle. Sometimes these block out, and at the beginning of my knitting it looked like it might.
But it seemed to look worse the further I got. Since I was going to frog it anyway, I wanted to try to avoid the hump on the next version.
This is so much better. The difference? A much longer garter tab cast on.
My first one was very short, because the numbers worked. But there were so many stitches concentrated right there at the beginning, and a short, unyielding garter tab. Hump! Even worse, when I tried to straighten it, it folded over.
Besides the longer garter tab, I added YOs between the picked up stitches along the edge of the garter tab. This serves two purposes. It adds a stitch between the picked up stitches, which gives a little more stretch. And it mimics the YOs that are going to continue along the edge of the shawl.
I’m back on track, and it’s flying along.
Do you ever feel like you need a vacation after a vacation? Catching up!
Drum roll…the winner of the Delicate Details e-book is Terri Oliver. Thanks to everyone for commenting and playing along!
Coming soon…puffins!
PDXKnitterati 
Oh, I love the ingenious idea of adding YO stitches to the garter tab! That’s genius!
Also, that yarn. It’s absolutely wonderful! It looks like you had an amazing time on your trip!
The trip was beyond fabulous! Another place I could happily live.
I’m working on that garter tab, and I found a way to make it even better. This one still wants to fold a bit. Will work up a tutorial and post soon.
Thanks for reading!
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Very good idea on the garter tab!
I went to Edinburgh in May. What a nice city. I did not go to Ginger Twist, because, as luck would have it, Jess was in my hometown, NYC, at the same time. I saw it on Instagram! Gift of the Magi, sort of. I caught a fabulous display of vintage Fair Isle knitting at the Edinburgh Museum. Did you see that? Not a special collection, just a few items.
I am perfecting that garter tab, and will make a tutorial soon! It’s getting even better. This one still wants to fold a bit.
Lots of people going to Scotland, and I can see why! I didn’t do museums in Edinburgh; I was trying to keep DH and adult son happy, too.
I was giggling that I went all the way to Edinburgh to visit Ginger Twist, and found out that Jess is from Hillsboro, a suburb of Portland! Small, small world. I love that she speaks with a lilt now.
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Michele, Thanks for sharing your solution for the hump in the shawl. Interesting how it changed with the changes you made to the garter tab cast on – great thinking and experimenting!
Your trip had to be wonderful! Welcome home. Y’vonne
I find that the center still wants to fold a bit, so I’m working on changing that. I think I’ve got it! I’m planning to make a tutorial for it soon.
Vacation was wonderful. I wish I was still there! See you at Puddletown on Thursday?
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What’s a great idea! I hate the hump.
Excellent! I have always frowned at the ‘bump’. Now I’ll have to reconstruct my shawl patterns around an elongated tab. Your trip sounded fun! Leigh