Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Tutorial: Karen Shawl right edging

I've noticed a lot of people have stopped by this ol' watering hole the past few days, scouring the internets for help regarding the Karen Shawl by Amy Swenson. I posted my FO in the last post I made a few afternoons ago, and decided to post a photo tutorial on how to finish up the right edging of the shawl. It is kind of intuitive.

(Obviously, this tutorial does not feature my Karen Shawl. I tried to recreate it as best I could :D)

My tutorial starts on page 3 of the pattern PDF, just after the main body part is worked and Amy instructs you to begin knitting the edging along the bottom of the shawl's edge. The first task is to work Row 11 of the edging chart (the bind-off row), leaving you with four stitches on your right hand needle. The next step, after removing your right edge marker, is to turn your work around (WS is now facing you) and slip that first stitch. For this part (and this row), you will only be working over those four stitches. You are now back to work the RS of your work.

Ready to go!
 Effectively, you will just be working through the right edging chart over and over again (well, 18 total time). The only exception to this is that you will be joining the edging to the "body" of the shawl as you work. Think of the RS rows as the joining rows.

Working row 1 of Right Edging Chart
 As the pattern instructs, here I have worked Row 1 of the Right Edging Chart (K2, YO, K2)...except I only K1 after the YO ("work to 1 stitch before the gap"). Here, I am knitting that last stitch of the Right Edging Chart together with the first stitch of the "body" stitches. This will join my edging to the "body" of the shawl and complete the first RS row. All WS rows throughout the edging are worked the same way: turn your work, slip the first stitch (purlwise) and knit until you reach the end.

After RW Row 2

At the end of (RS) Row 9
As you work, the stitch count on your needles should stay the same until Row 11 of the pattern, where you bind off. Even though you are K2tog at the end of each RS row, take into consideration that you are also adding a stitch at the beginning of each RS row.

Following Row 11 (The Bind-Off Row)
You end up working the Right Edging Chart a total of 18 times, ending at the center stitch. Amy mentions in her pattern that you may end up with an extra stitch or two (I think I had two), but don't worry because you can just K3tog instead of K2tog. The other side of the shawl edging is worked in the same fashion with only a few minor modifications.

I hope this helps some of you!

1 comment:

  1. I skimmed this tutorial but I wanted to tell you I like the look of those needles.

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