My Old Friend, Irtfa'a

Yes, it’s true…

I’m still knitting Irtfa’a.  And yes, I was knitting Irtfa’a during the very first Season of Lace.

I’m also still beading Irtfa’a.  That part has gotten a bit insane.  This raven is gonna shimmer!

But, today, I calculated up the total number of rows that this shawl will have (as well as the number it was written to have), did a little fudging, and plugged it into the Shawl Percentage Calculator.  (Yes, I know, this is a faroese shaped shawl, and the SPC is really only accurate for triangular shawls, and further this has an edging which the SPC doesn’t really account for, but it’s close enough dammit).

The original shawl has 186  rows (56 in the shoulder feathers, 80 in the body smaller feathers, 32 in the larger feathers at the bottom, and what I’m calling 18 rows in the edging, even though there are really only 8, but those are sideways).  Mine will have 236 rows (70 in the shoulder feathers because I added a repeat (thus increasing that length by 25%), 100 in the body smaller feathers (because I added 25% to keep the ratios even), 48 in the bottom feathers (um, ratio again?) and the 18 at the edging (because I’m not insane enough to try to rewrite that, thank you very much).  The end result.  Last night I hit 45% completion.  And that means that if  this were a full season, with all the raffles and such,  she’d still qualify for a raffle prize.

Dang.  I’ve been working on this sweet thing for TWO YEARS and I’ve only just reach 45% completion?  But she will be lovely (and large).

What’s that? Oh, I know… I said I’m beading this thing, and that picture hardly shows a bead.  Which is scary when you consider that there are two beads in every eight-stitch repeat on at least half of the knit rows these days…. (one row gets only one bead for every eight-stitch repeat), and that last ten-row repeat will have two beads in every eight-stitch repeat for three of the four knit rows.

This picture does a little better at showing off the beadedness….

So, I have twelve rows left of this chart, five of them get beads.  Then we’re on to the last body chart (and more beads! but likely the bigger ones, which are slightly easier) and the edging (which will definitely use the bigger beads).  This makes this not-the-best Olympic knitting, what with the stopping to look at beads every four stitches, but I persevere anyway.

How can it seem so close and yet still be half the shawl left to knit?  I mean, c’mon, I’ve only got that one chart left plus the edging!  And unlike this last chart (twelve repeats thank-you-very-much) I only have to repeat it three times (or twice if I’m willing to give up this whole ratio thing) before I get to start the edging.  That seems like nothing on paper.  It’s “only” 70 rows to go including the edging”.

I wonder if there’s any chance I’ll finish it by the Equinox? (End of the Winter Season of Lace).