Tuesday 3 July 2007

Japanese Feather & Fan Shawl



I first spotted the Japanese feather & fan pattern in Barbara Walkers Treasury. I noticed it again in Vogue Knitting magazine last year, the issue with loads of shawls in it. At the time, I was playing with knitting a pinwheel sweater but the yarn I tried didn't work as it was slightly boucle & the rows to stitches ratio is different. (It is still sitting in time out, waiting to be turned into something else.) I finally got round to making this shawl for a wedding next weekend. I am going to try to put up the pattern in a sidebar...watch this space! I have my DH on the case! He's my hero, should be there now.

Added 16/11/07...
The knitting details.

My pink shawl was knitted on 4mm circular needles using 3 ends of 2/28nm laceweight silk from Colourmart UK. It weighs 85 grams. From Colourmarts website, 2300 yards is 150g. Using 3 ends, therefore divide by 3, is 766 yards for 150g...so 85 grams is 766/150x85 = 435 yards. Looks like you have plenty there, then! However, I didn't knit the last repeat of the pattern. Mine measures 15" from the back of the neck to the bottom.

Added 20/07/08

The excel spreadsheets have got a couple of strange things happening on them. I am test knitting it again now, and I will post a revised version -PDF, no less! in a few days. With some more pictures, if my camera will behave.

Added 07/09/08

Finally got it knitted, blocked, photos taken, pattern put in to pdf format & everything. Sorry folks for the delay, I decided to do the edging differently after I knitted it a couple of times. In 3 strands of slippery silk. 'Nuf said.

Added 18/09/08
Errata on pdf JFFshawl20080907
The written instruction for lines 11 to 15 have the K2Tog & SSK instructions swapped with each other. The chart is correct.
Added 19/09/08
The chart for rows 68 to 88 on page 5 should have a comment to repeat the 11 stitch pattern twice in the same place as the last chart shows where to repeat it 3 times.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your shawl is beautiful, and attracting some notice on the Knitter's Review forums --
http://knittersreview.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=80647

I've downloaded and printed your Excel file -- great charts. Can you tell me what yarn you used and how much yardage the shawl took. Also, if you have any suggestions of yardage for different weight yarns, i think that could be very helpful.

Thanks for such a fabulous pattern and i look forward to more of your designs!

Knits for Preemies said...

Beautiful shawl! Could you tell me which Barbara Walker Treasury this pattern was in? Also I would like to know what yarn and needles you used.

Lovely work.Thanks for posting.

Knits for Preemies said...

Also, which Vogue Magazine were you referring to (date or issue name).
Thanks

BadCatDesigns said...

Gorgeous! And a pattern too!? Thank-you.

KnitYoga said...

That's gorgeous! I used that very same pattern to make a long scarf in Tilli Tomas Mariel's Crystals - nothing as complicated as you've done though!

Diane said...

You are going to be a hit in that shawl! In fact, I bet the bride will be jealous. Wonderful work.

Anonymous said...

what a super design! and thank you so much for the charts. i can not wait to figure yarn out to get started on this.

you are going to be so lovely in this piece. :)

PURLEWE said...

WOW> just this morning I was designing in my head something simlar but no where NEAR as beautiful. Thanks for posting this. I can't wait to try it out.

Allison L. said...

I can't quite remember how I first found this (maybe from the knittinginjapan group?), but I bookmarked you and have visited a few times, and I swear, every time I see this shawl, I catch my breath. It's stunning. In fact, it's exactly the kind of shawl I would have designed if I had though of it first :) Seriously, though, I doubt I have your talent or design sense to have accomplished it. I do hope to make my own version some day. Thank you!

Shelda said...

This shawl is flipping GORGEOUS! How inventive. Thanks thanks thanks for sharing it with us!

UnderMeOxter said...

This is the first thing I've looked at in a long time and thought "I have *no* idea how that's done". Thank you for posting the pattern. I doubt I'll ever achieve it but I will come and look and admire often.

Ina said...

Surfed over from Ravelry - thanks for a great pattern!

fibercrone said...

…takes my breath away.

lablanche said...

I cannot thank you enough for such a beautiful pattern.

I am in the process of knitting it in an alpaca/silk blend on 4mm needles. It took me a few false starts, first with the loose cast on, and then reading the pattern back and forth. I ended up casting on with a huge plastic circular with no numbers on it that was too big for my needle gauge. And now I am knitting merrily along at row 50.

I hope to finish it by the weekend for my brother's birthday party.

Thank you, thank you again!

jeannie said...

Hi - I would love to knit this shawl. It's one of the most beautiful things I've Ever seen! I tried to follow the link but no luck.
Will you be putting it up again?
Thank you.
JeannieF on Ravelry

Anonymous said...

I love this pattern, and I'm in the process of making it. As you're no doubt aware, though, row 123 doesn't quite line up stitch count-wise with everything else. Looking forward to the fixed version!

Esther said...

I saw this and simply HAD to try it. Based on the yarn info you provided, I chose a fingering weight (1) yarn from Knit Picks. I'm using the Blue Yonder colorway of the Stroll Tonal Sock Yarn. (75% merino, 25% nylon, 462 yds, 100g). I'll let you know if I have enough yarn. It could be close.

One teeny errata beyond the ones you've already mentioned: row 15 is 77 stitches (every pattern row increases the stitch count by 8)

Thank you for the chart! LOVE IT!

Done 48 rows so far. I expect I'll be moving more slowly as each row increases in stitches and I get more busy at work. Sigh. Still, I'll let you know how it goes.

Esther said...

Well, I finished your pattern. It's absolutely GORGEOUS! I used 180 grams of the Stroll Tonal yarn in fingering weight (1) from Knit Picks. I did all rows of the pattern and it comes all the way around, full-circle (well, tip-to-tip), when blocked.

After doing this, I think I'd change the lace edging next time. There is one "knit three together" that has six yarn-overs on one side of it and four yarn-overs on the other side. While you can't tell that it's not perfectly centered when you're wearing it, I still think it would look just a little better if there were five yarn-overs on either side of that knit-three-together.

Next time, I think I'll also use a single color yarn instead of this striping one....even though the colors are beautiful and closely matched. The striping distracts from the elegant beauty of the pattern. There are beautiful curvy lines formed by the purl stitches that are lost in the shifting colours.

I might try this again in a lace-weight yarn. I think that would make an amazing summer shawl. This one is a little too thick for summer but just fine for all the other seasons. I'm debating whether I'd stick with the same needle size (4mm) or go down to 3.5 or something.

Of course, I love my shawl so much that I've been prancing around the house with it wrapped in various styles ever since I finished it....even though we're in the middle of a summer heat-wave! :D

Thank you so much for sharing this pattern! This is the first shawl I have ever made and I am absolutely delighted with it!

Unknown said...

I love when i am knitting, is wonderful, i love to spend my time snitting gloves, dress, or wherever i can do. I really love it because i feel relax when i am doing this activity.That is why i liked this blog very much. I think i reached what i was looking for.
__________________________________________
related with your sexual life,buy viagra and you´ll find what you are looking for too.I suggest you.

Unknown said...

I love your things!
Lavitra

Unknown said...

oh wow!
its nice how may i get one of them online.
buy viagra online

Reviews of pharmacy said...

how may i know more about knitting from this site.
you have a very informative site.
pharmacy reviews

ShamsRock said...

how may i get more information about flights from your website.
saudi airlines

Ramiro Bowdon NBA BLOG said...

It is very beautiful! I have very the same pattern, make a long scarf in Tilli Thomas mariel crystal, not so complicated, although you do!
jerseys cheap
cheap football jerseys