Hyrna Herborgar – Finished

There are lots of full-sized pictures of this design floating around the web that do it better justices than my pictures do.

I got it finished up and dressed out yesterday. Actually, I’d finished the knitting last  weekend and was about to do the crochet cast-off, but I looked at the decrease shapings in the last 24 rows and didn’t like them. Dumb, dumb, dumb mistake on my part, because I wasn’t paying attention and just kept on knitting. So I ripped out the rows – and those of you who’ve worked this will understand what that means in terms of lost work - and reworked them. Much better.

The "Hyrna Herbogar" is probably the most knitted shawl from the book Three Cornered and Long Shawls and understandably so. It’s small, has modest yarn requirements, and it’s very dramatic. It’s also not difficult to work, provided you count, pay attention, and use a few markers in locations so you remember what you need to do and where you need to do it. (That's true of all lace.)

Lace designers would benefit from working it, to see how the transitions between pattern motifs are organically achieved using multiple increases, twisted stitches (knit in back of stitch), and careful planning in stitch counts. Very good.

The pattern calls for the commercially spun Icelandic singles yarns called  éingirni. I bet the shawl would also look great worked in Rowan KidSilkHaze.

I made one small (intentional) change. The pattern is started at centre back of neck with 7 stitches cast on, and worked down. When you are finishing the shawl, you fold the cast-on edge and sew the 2 ends together. I replaced that with a short provisional cast-on; the arrow points to the cast-on. Not bad; were I to do it again, I’d use a smaller needle for the manoeuvre.

A few other pictures.

To recap:

Pattern: “Hyrna Herborgar” from page 73 of Three Cornered and Long Shawls by Sigridur Halldórsdóttir. (Scroll down the page.)

Yarn: 90% / 10% Icelandic wool / silk from Barb at Wild Geese Fibres. She had 2 skeins remaining from that run of yarn and I took both. There were 300 yards per skein; neither Barb nor I remember the weight of the skeins. I’ve weighed the shawl and the remaining yarn; it comes in at 137 grams, reinforcing my vague memory that the skeins might have been 70 grams. The shawl weighs 105 grams. (Yarn gains and loses weight depending on humidity anyway.) Assuming 300 yards per 70 grams, the shawl has 450 yards in it.

In Other News

I am confirmed to be doing a short presentation on blogging at Hicktech, on May 1st. My talk will be about blogging basics: the really simple stuff.  It'll be very much an "around the world in 10 days" tour, presenting an overview of why people blog, how to get started, and so on.  Hicktech, by the way, should be really interesting all around. There are several workshops that I'm wanting to attend myself.

Have a good week, everyone.

Comments

[fleegle]

Just gorgeous! I like your provisional cast-on idea and it worked wonderfully.

[LaurieM]

A beautiful shawl, beautifully executed. Is the icelandic yarn rough? How does it compare to Lopi or Shetland yarn for example?

Also, is it destined for the freezer? :-)

[Barb B.]

Simply beautiful! And I like the cast on idea. I'm saving that info up to use in my next shawl.

[Jason]

Ted. That's insanely beautiful. WOW!

[Lee Ann]

You realise (with an "s," even) that I will definitely make a connection with those kneecaps if that shawl lands in the freezer. Jurée, promis, bro. It's stunning.

[emmajane]

It looks great Ted! And reminds me that I really do need to wash and reblock my own. I wear it all the time and don't ever seem to have the time when it's not on my shoulders to get it wet and wait for it to dry.

[Mel]

As always, I'm simply blown away. Absolutely gorgeous.

And thanks for the e-mail. I was unaware, and I have to finalize my tax returns next week - the latest I've ever done them.

[Diane (Tailfeathers)]

Wowza, what a beauty! Nicely done, Ted.

Good luck on your blogging presentation.

[Barbara-Kay]

Oh, I say, bravo! Well done!

[Rabbitch]

Oh, yum! One day ...

[Debbie]

Ted, this is absolutely wonderful! It is literally breath-taking, and I am having trouble finding the words to describe how beautiful it is.

And thank you for the information about "Three Cornered and Lace Shawls" -- I wasn't familiar with it until now.

[roggey]

It must be the season for lace shawl knitting - so many of the blogs I'm reading are blossoming with lace recently.

Beautiful work!

[Rachel]

WOW, beautiful! I think yours looks amazing

[Mary the Digital Knitter]

When I first saw the title of this entry, in the little list in my sidebar, I read it as Hyena Harbinger. That paints quite a different mental picture.

The shawl is exquisitely beautiful (even if it has no hyenas) and is wonderfully knitted and dressed. Congratulations.

[Emma in France]

That is stunning! As always your work is so inspirational.

[alice]

Lovely work! Now I'm curious to knit it because of your description of the transitions (and the fact that it's beautiful!) :)

[spider]

Bee-YOU-tiful knitting, Ted!

[Lynn]

Almost thou persuadest me to knit a shawl...lovely, just lovely.

[Marcy]

Oh, well done, Ted! Perfectly beautiful.

[anne]

it'a a lovely shawl; i also love how these patterns segue one to another. when i sit down to design, i try my hand at drafting designs with similar transitions, but find it mind-boggling on paper in a way that i don't find at all when it's in my hands and i'm knitting it . . .

[Fredda]

It's exquisite! Once again, I'm tempted to actually finish a lace shawl. Some lovely yarn from Barb is just waiting for me to start. What an inspiration.

[Franklin]

As my grandma would say, "Holy shit!"

[MarQ1]

Yes, yes, I'm late to this. I'm in awe.
I admire the math too.

[Darlene]

::GASP:: Awesome job! This is simply stunning!!

[Jean]

Just To Much and a very Awesome piece you shoud be very proud of IT!!!