Thoughts on the Spider's-web Fichu

In our post-Christmas gift card shopping spree, I bought myself Jane Sowerby's Victorian Lace Today (click on the "thumb-through" for sample pages, or go and browse Grumperina's paean to the book here for even more photos).  It's a lovely book, perfectly suited to the knitter's coffee table, filled as it is with gorgeous photos of lace shawls and stoles, and a nice dash of history.  My eye was caught by a number of things -- not even including the Cambridge locations -- but a few days later I started on the Spider's-web Fichu, mostly because I conveniently had the yarn waiting in a drawer, namely,

Jaeger Alpaca 4-Ply in shade 393 Damson.  (Not 395 as in the book, apparently a misprint, but perhaps it will not be much of a problem as it seems that Jaeger has discontinued this line entirely).  The fichu is a fairly easy knit, although it took me a few rows to settle in with the chart.  The triangle is in fact one repeat, worked x times depending on whether you are making the half-hexagon (3 repeats) or the full version (6 times), the pink squares being the single line of st st that runs upwards between the triangles.  Thus, here --

is one full repeat of the chart on the right needle, with the garter st edge border, which is not included in the chart.  Once you see how it grows, very organically from the previous rows, it is quite simple.

The crochet cast-on for the border as given in the instructions leaves the working yarn at the left side, without mentioning a set-up row to bring it back into place for starting Chart D, and so I used a regular lace cast-on instead, attaching it to the edge of the shawl on the next (WS) row.

You do have to start the border at the opposite corner to where you finished (wh. is not mentioned in the pattern), otherwise the RS will be facing the back.  This may not matter terribly much on a garter-based border, really, but somehow I just couldn't bring myself to work it that way.  (Be sure to visit the corrections page at XRX for errata and clarifications.)

It seems to make a rather larger shape than a half-hexagon, coming off of the needles in what is actually three-quarters of a square, each repeat of Chart A being an equilateral triangle.  I couldn't get it to block as an actual half-hexagon without making it much larger than the specified measurements -- either the garter stitch edge was straight and the triangles waved a bit, or the triangles were smooth but the border curved.  This is nice, though, as the finished piece sits on the shoulders much more easily.

And some details of the finished fichu --

A satisfying knit, with very pretty results.  Laura is utterly charmed with it, too!

Comments

[Maureen]

So very lovely - but I would expect no less from such a talented knitter! The color is just beautiful - and I'm amazed that you finished it so quickly! I haven't ventured into knitting lace yet as I've had some special projects to knit. But I'm off to Barnes and Noble to get a copy of this beautiful book! Thanks for continuing to share and inspire!

[Marie]

I really like the simple diagonals and eyelets! The dangling beads add a delightful touch too. Lovely job! :)

[Kathryn Estelle]

As always, lovely work. I've been enjoying your blog for some time now, and I'm so glad you're back from your hiatus! A question for you: Do you have an idea why your posts don't show up in my Bloglines account? I subscribe to both feeds to no avail. Thankss!

[diana]

I love the beads! It's perfectly lovely.

And thank you for posting the link to the corrections. I am working on the Cap Shawl right now, and plan to plough through every single thing in the book, so I was glad to get a heads-up to corrections.

[Laura]

I too am a lurker, delighted to see the Bluestocking posting again. The fichu is lovely. Your daughter's doll house is a dream come true.

[Rose Red]

This is lovely - a gorgeous colour too. I have to get that book!

[Mary]

Lovely! I like the beads on the border. I have the book but haven't knitted anything from it as yet - the choice is rather overwhelming.

[Claire]

Beautiful shawl and color!

[ami]

Your shawl turned out beautifully. This one is definitely on my shortlist to make out of this book. I really enjoy your attention to detail when you talk about your projects. Thanks so much for sharing!

[erin]

Just realised today that you've started to blog again. This fichu is lovely, the colour, the edging and the beads. This book is on my wish list, I'm waiting for the bookshop to stock it.

[--Deb]

Your Fichu looks so, so pretty.....

[Mary Tess]

The fichu is beautiful and I love the beading along the edge. How many yards of yarn did it take to complete?

[Jeanne]

Mary Tess, I got to the end of the second ball not quite halfway through the border, so it took much less than three balls, probably not even two and a quarter.

[kelli Ferrigan]

quelle merveille! ;-) gorgeous.

[Amy]

a question, hopefully you can help, I am ordering my needles for the spiderweb shawl (full size, crazy me!) but I do not have the book at work, can you tell me what size needles the kidsilk haze option calls for? thanks

[Tonna Marroni]

I am currently working on the same fichu and wish I had found your link before beginning the border. I am confused about the directions in the border that state, "K border st tbl tog with 1 center section st." I just can't wrap my brain around what this should look like! Am I to knit two stitches together through the back loops(TBL)? Can you help or give me a description so I get it right?
Thanks,
Tonna Marie

[Jeanne]

Don't panic, Tonna Marie! you are right.

At this point, you will have the main body of the shawl on the long circular needle, and the 7 sts of the border on a short dpn, making a sort of L-shape.

As you work a RS row (from the outside edge of the border towards the main body of the shawl), you will soon come up against the circular needle, and here you will K tbl the last border stitch together with the next available st from the circular needle. This new st will be worked as the first st of the WS row when you turn the work over.

The knitted-on border is a very tidy way of both securing the main body of the shawl and attaching the border without a lumpy seam.

There is a nice tutorial with pictures on Mim's Blog here: http://mimknits.com/wordpress/?p=379

Best,
Jeanne