On triangular shawls and why I design them the way I do

I've been thinking about this for a while and planned to do a post about it, but because I'm lazy and a master procrastinator, before I could post, a question was posted on the Mawelucky group.

Both Gail and Luiza use the exact same construction and it's no coincidence.  Knitting a shawl from the neck down is a great way to use the most of the yarn you have without running out of yarn or leaving out parts of designing elements.
The fact that I used leaves isn't an accident either.  Granted, I do like leaf pattern sts, but it's the shape that makes leaves so easy to place on a triangular shawl.
Because leaves usually have increases on both sides, it makes for a smooth riding when placing them in a triangular shape without having to do pieces of a st pattern - the increases are there for the designer already, no need for complex calculations!

Now, before I get designers angry at me thinking I'm dismissing their efforts, let me say this.  What I wrote above is a gross simplification of the process so people can understand the construction of a shawl.  People thinking that all they have to do is crack open a stitch dictionary, choose a st pattern and publish a "new design" are bound to be disappointed with the number of items knit from it.
A good design involves putting together different elements in a harmonious way, and most times, to achieve that, a designer has to modify (heavily) a st pattern or create their own.

Back to the topic.  Some time ago Fleegle described Luiza as being a beer bottle shawl - as in the song 99 bottles of beer on the wall.  I had the image in my mind for some time already, but had never thought about the song.  And it makes perfect sense.
Imagine, if you will, a pyramid made of cans. How would you go about stacking the cans up? Every row has one less can than the previous one, right?

Now, if you turn the pyramid upside down, you’ll have a clear image of how each half (left and right) of the shawl is created.   So:

- on the first row you have one can,

- on the second you have two,

- on the third you have three…

Each row of cans is actually a repeat. Did you notice that the row number is the same as the number of repeats you have on that row?


I blame the smooth time I have putting st patterns together on 2 years of folding origami tessellations.  When doing them there are only so many geometric shapes that will behave well (give you a decent grid): triangles and squares being the best two.
Paper, of course, is way less flexible than yarn, and there are only so many shapes you can create when following the grid lines, yet the combinations are mind blowing.
Somehow, this mental exercise made it easier for me to visualize how different st patterns go together and I usually only tink because I find out I'm running out of yarn or I decided that an element doesn't go so well where I'd put it.

If you look closely at a leaf, you'll realise it's a rhombus, or two triangles placed together with one side touching.  The rhomboid shape makes them very easy to stack together.


I hope I didn't make things ever harder to understand.  Feel free to message cursing me for my lacking of writing skills.

A little note on Gail (aka Nightsongs)

Lately I've been noticing an increase in Gail's popularity.  It seems there were still a bunch of people who had never heard of it before.  Who knew there was knitting outside Ravelry? (ok, that was a lame joke).

Here is the deal, I tend to be blunt, and the following might sound like rudeness - it's not.  It's just the way I talk.  I hope you guys will understand where I'm coming from.

Gail was published almost two years ago.  All I had to say about it is already said.  I cannot and WILL NOT give hands on help for it.  Not because I'm mean, but because it was all said and done before.
I will say this, though.  Gail was never meant for beginners and when I published it, it was meant for a very small audience - I never thought so many people would want to knit it.

If you have questions/wants to talk about it/wants to curse me, here are a few links that will help you:

- The pattern page.  Make sure to look at the shawls done by other people too.  Chances are, someone already answered your question in their project's page.  This is also the fastest way to find out which yarn/color I used in the original one.

- The group's link.  Here you'll find out a place to vent, ask questions, talk about almost anything you want and also links to a few FAQs.

- FAQ for Gail.  All the important stuff.

If there is something you didn't find on the links above, feel free to post it to the group (second link above).  It's the fastest, best way to get a good response (instead of my cryptic ramblings).

BTW, there are at least two Gail KALs going on right now on Ravelry.  To find them, click on the "forum posts" tab on the pattern's page (first link above).

You need to be a Ravelry member to see the links above.  Joining is fast and painless.  I highly recommend you do join.  If you think Gail is nice, wait until you see what else is available there(warning: I will not be held responsible for your queue list exploding or your day becoming shorter due to the time you will spend on Ravelry).

Challenges

So, I joined the fun over on Ravelry and joined the Ravelympics and 10 shawls in 2010. Here is what I've done so far.
A second Gail - because I needed to review the pattern. The challenges here were to use a yarn that was stashed for a long time (more than 2 years for this one) and finish it in less than 48 hours (life got in the way...sigh).
This one was entered in both Ravelympics and 10 shawls in 2010.















The second one is a baby jacket, done, again, with "what was I thinking" yarn which I tried to make into something before with no success:

It used less than one skein of yarn and was done in less than 24 hours.

This jacket, along with a few other items I knit just because and have no use for will be donated later on.

If you look to your left <-- you'll see that I finally have something up on my Etsy shop. It is a commission and won't stay up for long. I have one skein of sock yarn drying in the closet right now (the only downside to winter, IMO - I like to put stuff outside to dry) and if it turns out ok, I'll put it up in my shop too. Let's see what else...One of the reasons I slowed down when knitting a second Gail was because new ideas kept on popping up in my head. I cast on for another project yesterday - twice, so far - and will probably fog and cast on again today using a different yarn/needle combo. If this new design works out, it will be flexible enough so that a pletora of shapes can be done - from scarves to blankets :).