I am so excited to be a part of this KAL! At the end of the summer, I got back in to knitting and Icarus was what got me back! It was part of a "get-back-to-the-real-me-post-break up" process of being single again. I had never done anything from a pattern, and certainly had never done lace. Now i'm hooked! I have really gotten in to knitting and even get paid to knit by a designer now! Please check out more on my blog, I would love some comments and ideas! So here is my Icarus so far. I have had to divide my attention among more projects lately, so progress has slowed, but I still am loving it. I am in the middle of the 3rd repeat. I am knitting with Kid Merino Crystal Palace Yarn Color:4670 Lot: E0065348. It is very nice to knit with, and I have had my share of mistakes. I actually had to start over after the first repeat because I made a mistake that just kept growing and growing. I have really gotten in to a rhythm and this has been a challenge but a GREAT learning process. Thank you, Miriam, for such a wonderful pattern. So here is my Icarus in a pale green.

Finished!

This must have been the longest shawl-in-progress...ever! All my own doing, of course. I started my Icarus, named Carmelita, a looong time ago. Last summer, to be exact. However, I put it down for nearly a year, and just started knitting again last month. So while this shawl was technically on the needles since last June, I would approximate the actual knitting time at around 4 months (still pretty pathetic, I know). You can read more about the history of this project on my blog. I'm so excited that I finally finished this shawl!

Even after I was done with the knitting, it was hard to picture what I had on my hands until blocking began. Blocking is fun!




This was an admittedly (and somewhat embarrassingly) frustrating process for at times, but I was determined to finish this shawl one day...even if it killed me. Now that all is said and done, I am able to look back on the journey with fondness and a great sense of accomplishment. I know it's just a little lace shawl, but it's a pretty big deal to me.

The end result is so rewarding. I love this shawl. Leftover proof of mistakes and all. I'll wear it with pride.

Thanks again, Miriam, for such a great pattern, and thanks to everyone on the KAL for sharing your inspiring shawls!

Hi there,
I'm late to the party -- between the time I e-mailed to say I'd like to join the KAL and the time I heard back and got around to signing in, I've actually finished my Icarus. But it's my first Knitalong ever so I hope it's okay for me to show you just the product and not the process. I've detailed the various stages of knitting this shawl on my blog if you'd like more evidence that I actually knit this myself. Here are the highlights though:

first, winding the Misti Alpaca 2 ply into balls, on July 12th. Someday, I hope someone who loves me will buy me a ballwinder and swift. I'm being pretty proactive about that hope, dropping lots of hints, pointing out where to buy them, what they're for, etc.

The next stage of Icarus really puzzled me. The only other lace shawl I've knit is Birch which starts with about 300 stitches and then decreases. Starting with so few, I assumed I was at the bottom point, but I couldn't understand where the lace would come in. Only gradually, I realized that these stitches were fanning out from an inverted "v" into the wide top of the shawl. And then when I was chatting about this with someone at my LYS, I found that this is really typical of Shetland shawls. So ingenious.

But after figuring out that puzzle, the excitement faded with all those hours and hours and hours of stocking stitch. What kept me going through this stage and stopped me from complaining too much was knowing that it's the simplicity of the stocking stitch that makes this shawl so beautiful to me -- the calmness of the body really sets off the busier "feathers" edging.

Finally, though, I got to the lacework -- challenging but not too difficult to keep track of, and I managed not to make any huge errors that would make me regret not using lifelines.

I finished late last week, September 7th, and then blocked the shawl outside in the sun where it dried in a day. I do wonder if I should have blocked it more aggressively -- I see more pronounced "feathers" on other shawls. Maybe next time, if/when I eventually have to wash it. Here it is blocking:

and even closer inAnd finally, here's the way I'm most likely to wear it. I realized with Birch that restricting it to summer wearing wasn't good enough and found that it folds into an attractive scarf, more than doubling its usefulness. I'm going to do the same with Icarus which is a bit smaller and won't need so much folding. It's too warm here to try it with a winter coat yet, but I think I'll wear it like this through the fall and really enjoy its lightweight comfort. Not the best shot, but not bad considering my left arm is stretching out to take the picture!
So! I've completed a very satisfying project and I've also joined in my first Knitalong. Thanks to the moderators for setting this up and thanks to all of you for providing me some guidance through your posts as I was knitting.

Did you all happen to see which pattern was chosen to grace the cover of the new Interweave Press book, The Best of Interweave Knits? None other than our favorite shawl!

First post to the KAL

Icarus Shawl: Progress
Originally uploaded by elemmaciltur

Started: 24th April 2007
Finished: WIP
Needles: 3.5 mm - 80 cm Addi Lace circs
Yarn: Rohrspatz & Wollmeise Lace-weight, 100% superwash virgin wool, 300g Hank (530 m / 100 g), colour: "Poison No. 5"
Pattern: "Icarus" by Miriam Felton from Interweave Knit Summer 2006

Hi everybody!

I've been in the KAL for quite a while now but never got around to posting anything. This is probably due to the fact that my Icarus had been in hibernation for a couple of months. I just picked it up again about three weeks ago and had been plugging away at it.

I'm still on the 3rd repeat of chart one....and it's growing slowly. I'm at about 310+ stitches on each row now...and it takes longer and longer to knit each row.

I switched needles from the 60 cm long Inox to the 80 cm long Addi Lace when I picked it up again...the gauge changed very slightly, but I think it will be okay after blocking.

And from the size it's getting, there's no way I'll be able to take a photo of it in my small light box the next time....we'll see. :-)

My Icarus is done! And it's lovely. It was such a great pattern to knit. (That it took so long is a testament to my project polygamy, not to the pattern itself.)

Cast on: January 2007.
Cast off: 21 August 2007.

Knit in KnitPicks Shadow, in the Oregon Coast colorway. Edges beaded with jade chips. I used a 3.25 mm circular bamboo needle (metric knitting needle sizes make more sense, so I'm trying to switch... but that's a US 3) of whatever length Miriam suggested in the pattern... I forget. (Note to self: use a pointier needle for lace next time.)

More details and pictures can be found at my blog (either Blogger or Wordpress).

Woo-hoo - finished! Loved this pattern so much! [About a gazillion close-ups on my blog]

I did it in Handpaintedyarn.com's laceweight [Bombon and Sunshine] and got the colour change idea from Craftster. The colour choices are supposed to be; the frame and part of the feathers have already been burnt by the sun and are smouldering, whilst the [highly flammable] feather tips are actually on fire.

My only difficulties were with not using lifelines [duh!] and the varying ways of doing yarn overs depending on whether between knit stitches, knit & purl stitches etc.

I can't stop wearing this and am now officially addicted to lace knitting!

Thanks so much for this KAL - great fun watching everyone's progress and different yarn choices.

She's done.

Here are a few glamour shots if anyone is interested.







Definitely love. Beautiful pattern Miriam. Thanks for all of your advice and encouragement along the way.

More information about the yarn, etc. on my blog.

Hello All!
Well, I've gotten off my butt and decided to get back to knitting. I think I had some pretty good excuses (grad school, thesis...), but I'm happy to be back to it.

My Icarus, that I'm knitting out of the laceweight Misti Alpaca (sooo soft!!!!), is officially 20% done. Which means I'm still on the first chart and knitting endless, ever-increasing rows of stockinette. But, I will not be defeated! The fact that I can definitely see it growing is a good sign:


More rambling on the blog, but I'm happy to be back.

I'm rather excited I was able to join up with this K-A-L. I have been wanting to make this shawl forever. I am on the search for the perfect yarn as you read this...any suggestions? I'm thinking maybe something from knitpicks...Shadow maybe...

I hope to make two this year. One just to make and one for a Krystmas gift for my grandmother.

Wish me luck...

Here is my finished Icarus, knitted in Posh Yarn's cobweb weight cashmere/silk yarn Cecilia, color Memories.
I really love the feel of cobweb weight shawl. It's so airy and light!

For encouragement for those of you still knitting your Icaruses - it took over five months to finish this. I started this in late December, finished in May and was too lazy to block it until now. Blocking wires were great help.

Chart 4, how I love/hate thee!

The love should be obvious. It's such a pretty design, and the pattern is fun to work. Then again, the hate should be obvious, too.

It's so big! The rows go on FOREVER!!!

I'm trying to get at least a row done a day in the hopes of finishing this up soon. We shall see how well that works, since each row is a significant time commitment at this point. I am very much looking forward to adding beads to this sucker. I have them purchased and all ready to go, but am not going to show them off until they're actually ON the shawl.

One last picture for closing, just because I love the design. (thanks, Mim!)

I finally, finally blocked my Icarus shawl! It was all ready yesterday and I just want to say: swoon. These aren't the best pictures, but I took them last night when I got home:

Ok, so maybe I've let this Icarus thing get a little out of hand. In the last few days, my need to dispense with the first chart and move on to lucky number two has displaced sleep, and created a general aversion to anything that would potentially break my rhythm.

That said, I think it's starting to pay off since I'm down to about one and a half more repeats. What are your thoughts on the colour? Do you think that the slight pooling in spots will detract from the gorgeous simplicity of Miriam's design or am I just pooling paranoid?

Many stitches later,

Amanda

Okay, I feel such a moron for asking this but here goes.

I have only just started Icarus and already hit a snag. I just cannot get the hang of the chart. I down loaded the pattern from Mim Knits, followed the written instuctions up to row 5 (Row 5 and I'm in trouble, good grief!) and about there everything goes wrong as by the time I get to row 8 I have 19 stitches.
Okay, that's what it says is the count on the written instructions. Time to get the chart out and the little squares number only 9, now I know that these represent either stitches or knitting operations as it were but even counting the decreases as a stitch each there are only eleven actual stitches represented on row one of the chart. I know I'm being dense but I know also that this is why I joined the KAL.
Help!

Update.

Thanks to Socherry and Nicole, I paused in my grand plan to break between charts one and two. Sometimes, just throwing an idea out there causes one to reflect a moment, and not dash off in a wild goose chase.

Icarus will be completed as written. This resource has saved me hours of grief, I'm sure of it.

Chart two is nearly complete, and I hope to post a photo in the next day or two.

Once again, thank you for this amazing resource.

Icarus Progress!

(Click on photos to be taken to my Flickr site and bigger pictures)



Here is the current state of my Icarus shawl.



And a close-up of the pattern. I'm part-way through Chart #3, and loving it.

Please excuse the blurriness of the pics; I wanted to get a decent representation of the color, and so didn't use the flash.

I'm using Knitpicks Shadow in the Oregon Coast colorway. It's a great yarn to knit with, even though it's not a fancy expensive one. But it works very nicely for a first Major Lace Project. It is not very splitty, which is good, but even more importantly: it can stand up to a bit of ripping back while I try to fix mistakes.

I would love to be knitting this shawl in something silky or fuzzy or shimmery, but I think it's going to turn out lovely as is. Plus, this is a safer first-lace-yarn. So it was a perfect pick for me.

I finished my icarus! Except for the blocking. I had the most problems with making mistakes in rows one and two of the last four rows than anywhere else in the whole shawl. Go figure. I think I was so in the rhythm of following charts that I felt a little lost without them.

Pictures will come after blocking. Unfortunately, that may not be until next weekend. Going out of town this weekend and want to block it at my SO's grandma's house so I have enough room. Our 'guestroom' is really a storage room full of stuff. Plus, I don't trust my cat...

Here's my Icarus.

I'm about to begin chart two. I have enjoyed every stitch, because the pattern is stunning and the yarn was dyed especially for me.

I have exactly 800 meters, and I do think some will remain, but I want to use every last inch, if possible. My proposal is this: putting chart one aside, and using a provisional cast on, complete the remaining three charts, and then grafting the two together. That way, if (and that's a big if) I have more yarn, I can add extra repeats of chart one. Has anyone attempted to graft more than stockingette? I think it should be possible. However, it may break up the vertical line of the shawl, so I'm quite hesitant about this.

That said, I will use my new digital scale to determine the weight of my remaining yarn and calculate all the stitch requirements before I make my decision.

This knit-a-long is a fabulous resource! I had no idea such a thing existed. Thanks to all for participating.

Misty

Hello all, newbie here (and KAL virgin).

I've decided to make (or become obsessed with making- tough line to draw) Icarus out of some Hand Maiden Lace Silk in the Bronze colourway. I fell in love with the shawl when it first came out but never thought that I'd actually make it since I had sooooo many other projects on the go and I wasn't sure what I would do with a lace shawl. A quick trip to the Downtown Knit Collective's Knitter's Frolic here in Toronto, threw all of that calm rational thought out of the window and I found myself clutching these beauties:

A small apartment yarn acquisition rule I have: never buy yarn that has no purpose. Quickly racking my brain, I remembered Icarus and thought that it would be a beautiful pattern to set off the variegation in the yarn. Like magic, there was a copy of the Summer '06 Interweave next to me where I could check the yarn requirements. Needless to say that I was off.

I've been trying to get some projects off the needles before plunging into this one. After about two weeks, I couldn't wait anymore. Here's the little that I have so far.

I was reading an earlier post where someone was trying to use Handmaiden for her Icarus and it was pooling badly. Hopefully I won't have the same problem since, at this point, I love this yarn so much I could cry.


Happy knitting,
Amanda