Finis

I apologize for waiting so long to post the final photos. There was a good reason for holding off. But without further ado, I present Print O' The Wave.


Pattern: Print O' The Wave by Eunny Jang (PDF)
Yarn: Fearless Fibers Laceweight Merino, "Notorious," 3 skeins, approximately 1200 yards
Needles: Knit Picks size 4 (3.50 mm) circular and size 3 (3.25 mm) DPNs
Finished size: 25" by 74"
Modifications: Added two pattern repeats to each center panel (19 vs. 17). Picked up 272 stitches along each long edge.


First, the pattern. It's lovely, but not without errors and and a little heartache. The errors are well-documented, so I won't dwell on them here, except to add that I think the first stitch of row 1 on Chart B should be slipped purlwise. To be honest, I can't understand why the PDF hasn't been updated. I understand that Eunny has an important new job, but really, it would take all of two minutes to correct the PDF. In any case, I just kept repeating the mantra, "Free pattern. Free pattern. Free pattern."

If I were to knit this again, I would probably leave off the last purl row of each center panel. There's a strip of stockinette down the center of the stole where the panels are grafted. It isn't all that noticeable, but it still bothered me a bit. Of course, another way to get around that is to knit the center panel in one piece. However, I chose to knit two panels because I like the way the pattern is mirrored out from the center.


The picking up of stitches for the inner border was a monumental task, and probably unnecessary when it comes down to it. There's a very similar stole pattern in Victorian Lace Today that has no border stitches to pick up. (For those interested, it's the "large rectangle in leaf and trellis pattern with trellis border" on page 54.) But pick up stitches I did, and although I felt at the time that I did a rather half-arsed job of it, the final result looks just fine.


On to pleasanter subjects: the yarn. It's no secret that I'm a huge Fearless Fibers fan, and this laceweight merino did not disappoint. The yarn is so soft, and yet it's still pleasantly woolly (if that makes any sense). And the color—oh, the color! Rather than distracting from lace pattern, the subtle color variations add depth and richness. The photos really don't do it justice.


I knit the center panels and the inner border on size 4 needles, but I switched to size 3 DPNs for the border. Why? Well, I didn't have any size 4 DPNs, that's why! I made an effort to knit extra loosely on the size 3s, and it worked out swimmingly. (I swear I could hear EZ in my head telling that needle size really doesn't matter that much.) If I were to knit this pattern again with the same yarn, though, I'd probably go up a needle size or two. This yarn is on the thicker side of laceweight, although it is definitely finer than fingering weight.

For Jeri: The center panels of the stole (minus the inner and outer borders) weighs 85 grams. The finished shawl weighs 163 grams. I have only 4 grams of my third skein left over.

Final verdict: Love it, love it, love it. (Consequently, I'm almost sad about giving it away.) I've been bitten by the lace bug.


Note on the photo shoot: It clouded up and became blustery just as the Professor and I stepped outside for these photos. Let me just say that it's extremely difficult to get good shots of an airy lace stole in the midst of a stiff breeze. I also got five mosquito bites in the 10 minutes it took to do these photos. Who knew modeling was so hazardous?