Lace Shawl Repair

Repairing my lace knitting disaster

Nearing the big FO (Finishing Object) stage for a shawl, I instead detoured to the "disaster" stage. I washed and went to block the 2-ply shawl from the Shepherd Shawls booklet, and a big area in one of the corners was nearly disintegrated.

(Note: The reason I have documented the process by which I repaired this shawl is to help inspire and build confidence in your knitting. The Shepherd Shawls booklet has long been out of print and sorry I do not know where you can buy a copy of this booklet or pattern. Please do not ask me for a copy as sharing a copy would be against copyright law and and illegal for both of us.)

And this is what it is supposed to look like (a pic of an undamaged corner).

Apparently I missed catching a loop in one of my decreases (probably a k3tog, which was the case I later confirmed). Sometimes I miss those compound stitch manipulations, but I usually catch it before it causes big damage. Also, this was superwash wool I was working with, and it is more slippery than regular wool (which grabs, and even if there is a run, it doesn't go too far). I set it aside to repair when I was mentally fresh and not still p*** off at myself! I got plenty of sympathy from my lace knitting buddies, and good advice like —

• sit down with a hot cup of tea
• eat some chocolate
• get out a good lighted magnifier
• wet the area to untangle the ladder threads
• be careful to pick up ladder threads in the correct order
• etc. etc.

Here is how I tackled fixing this mess.