More on the Lacy Cables Shawl

Here is a close-up of one of the cables in the shawl. The shawl is folded in half, which is why the open areas to either side look like they have another layer or two of fabric underneath.

My other photos of the shawl did not turn out well enough for my tastes. The camera needs new batteries, so I will try again some other time. How many times can I inflict photos of this shawl on everybody before the boredom becomes terminal? I'll stop after I get a good photo that displays the shawl to advantage.

Soo asked:

"I really like the lacy cable shawl - is that your design or is there a pattern somewhere??"

It's not my design. It's by Gayle Roehm. The Lacy Cables shawl was published on the back page of the Fall 2001 issue of Knitters Magazine. It's issue 64, with the Cable Ready theme. Here is a link to a vendor on the XRX website who sells a yarn pack for the pattern. It shows the photo that appears in the magazine. You can see that the shawl looks somewhat different in white!

Here are more photos I've found of the shawl.

Gayle Roehm designed the well-known Sleeves in your Pi sweater/shawl/shrug thing. Her designs have appeared in many publications. She is a very talented designer.

The shawl is easy if you are looking for a lace shawl project that is relaxing to knit, easy to follow, and able to be put down and picked up without trouble.

I like the pattern's concept of columns of fagoting that get cabled every now and then.

Elizabeth commented:

"Your comments about its wearability are interesting, as my initial reaction when you gave its dimensions were pretty much in line with your original posted thoughts on the question. If I were making it I would tend to start with the idea of widening it, so your later comments are good to know."

It would be quite easy to make the pattern wider. Each additional pattern repeat requires another 28 stitches. That is the only adjustment, aside from total yarn requirements, of course.

If you feel like knitting this but don't think it would be useful, do it in cotton and call it a table runner. Or a curtain or wall-hanging.

I am wearing the shawl right now. When I drape it over my neck, it looks and feels like the front of a tabard-style vest. It stays on all by itself without slipping. I have no idea if I look ridiculous.

It's not the most practical thing I've ever knit. However, it's more useful than I feared it might be. I definitely like it. It's pretty, it's comfortable, and I made it myself out of my very own handspun. Part of me has never grown beyond the child who was thrilled to be able to make things with my own hands.

Speaking of practical, I finally am making progress on the stalled sweater. Whew. Even with the maximum number of stitches per round (just above the sleeve/body join), it has fewer stitches per round than many doilies. If I can knit a complex doily, surely I can manage a decidedly non-complex sweater, right?

I'd share a photo of the sweater, but that's when the camera batteries went dead. Maybe next time. I'm sure you can imagine what it looks like -- a heathery gray thing mostly recognizable as a sweater, consisting of two sleeves, a lower body, and lots of stitch holders.