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Ishbel Issues
2009 @ 8:07 am
You’re not going to believe it, but I think I have something of substance to share with the knit-blogging universe. My current lace knitting class has chosen Ishbel (Ysolda Teague) for its project. I couldn’t be happier because I want to knit this too! Since I haven’t done the pattern before, we are all sort of figuring out the idiosyncrasies as we go. For their benefit, and yours, I am posting some of my findings as we knit along. I’ve just completed the stockinette portion of the pattern and, throughout, experimented with the yarn overs along the top edge of the shawl. As you can see, my original method resulted in basically no eyelet on the left edge…
I learned that this is because different amounts of yarn are used to create the eyelets on the WS edge. It makes sense: the first yo is followed by a purl stitch. This requires that the yarn be moved from the back to the front and then wrapped around the left needle (thanks Stacey!). The second yo is followed by a knit and, at first, I was not moving the yarn at all to create the YO since it was already in position. Bad move as it uses about 1/3 the amount of yarn as the other YO. Something had to be done. I hopped on Ravelry to find some clues and found this very helpful thread–several solutions were discussed. I tried two with varying results.
First I kept everything the same, but when I knit into the tiny YO on the RS, I knit through the back loop. What resulted was a larger hole, but one that is not constructed the same way as the YOs to the right of center.
I like the way it looked in terms of eyelet size, but was not happy with aesthetic difference. The other YOs have just one strand between them, where this has a knit stitch (like a chain). So, I tried another suggested method.
The remaining eyelets where made by changing the second YO on the WS and then knitting through the back loop of that YO on the RS. I adjusted that YO as follows: move yarn to back between needles and then wrap around right needle again, preparing to knit. Do this loosely to create a larger eyelet. This results in a backward stitch so you must k through the back loop when knitting into it on the RS. Confused? It will make sense when you try it 
Does it look perfect? No. But, that’s what blocking is for, right? Right.
And so, I have completed the stockinette portion of the pattern and am ready to move on to the lace, yay!
BTW, the yarn is Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy in Beach. I think it will be perfect for cool Vermont evenings this summer. I’m using US4 needles.
Comments
Hm. I have thought about his but my shawl will have glimpy left side yo’s. That is OK for my first try. I *think* I figured out how to drop down and ‘fix’ in improper yo, that felt like an accomplishment. I also used my lifeline and really see the value. Looking forward to class on Monday.
I’m on with one of these, too — my solution for the WS rows is to make the YO quite loose, nudging its origin point down below the needle with my middle finger if necessary. And yes, I knit them through the back loop on the return. My eyelets are coming out pretty even in size, although you can see there are “front” strands and “back” strands.