FO: Old Shale Shawl

Pattern: Old Shale Shawl by Evelyn Clark in Piecework, January/February 2005 [Ravel It]
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Lace, colorway 8105 (an almost indescribable shade of grey/periwinkle/lavender)
Needle: Bryspun 29" US6
Mods: None
Recipient: BFF Karen

I'm still shocked that I used the yarn called for in this pattern. Last time I made one of these it was in sock yarn, and this yarn is sooo thin in comparison. Apparently, I have trouble counting to, like, five these days, so there was a bit of tinking, which is a challenge with this yarn, though it held up nicely. Very happy with the final outcome, but I've come to realize this is not my favorite pattern, as I seem to recall having similar counting problems when I knit this for my mom last spring. Oddly, I seem to do better with a slightly more complicated lace pattern.

It is interesting to go back and knit a pattern you've done before after some time, to realize what you've learned about knitting. So, I'm glad I did this one, and maybe I'll knit another one in a few years to see if I can finally count to five!

Shawl-tastic

Many thanks to Suzanne N. for encouraging me to look at sock yarn in a new light. The pictures are of Mom modeling her new shawl. I used Cherry Tree Hill Supersock - a lovely colorway reminiscent of Monet's Waterlillies. Since I ran out about ten rows from the end and the shop didn't have another skein of that color, I ended up using a complimentary purple mix for the last ten rows and the crochet castoff. Can I just say I love casting off with a crochet hook?!? Wow, so much faster than the picot castoff I did on the Kidsilk Haze shawlette. The pattern is from an old issue of Interweave's Needlework - Old Shale Shawl by Evelyn Clark. It came out really well despite me losing the stitch count a few times. I do need to re-block it now that I have two packets of blocking pins - I couldn't pull out all the points this time around, since I was running out of time to give it to Mom before she went on her trip.

I have the yarn called for in the pattern (Misti Alpaca Lace), so I may do another one, though I'm also interested in upping the level of knitting.

And then Clara goes and writes up her recipe for shawls, so I may wing it with a lacey stitch pattern from my Mon Tricot. I'll keep you posted!

Mermaid in action

Here's the sweater in action on Easter. Sorry I don't have a full shot yet but I didn't think to get one. Love the color, love the fabric, love my mods to the pattern. I am quite happy, though I think it needs some more blocking. It's a little sheer, so I wore it with a similarly shaded long-sleeve shirt because it's so blasted cold here in the Chicago area this April. I mean, it snowed today! And the snow is still on the ground. I don't even have the heart to photograph it, it's just so ridiculous (and wet and not very photogenic). Thank goodness I'm a knitter! At least I brought Isobel's hat/scarf/mittens set and my Malabrigo gloves.

I'm working on a beret from Greetings from Knit Cafe in some of the leftover Alpaca Silk. There should be enough also leftover to make some long gloves for next winter.

And I'm ten rows from the end of the Old Shale Shawl I started when attending Stephanie's talk last week. Man, is it going fast - thanks again, Suzanne! I'll let you know if I need packing help. Unfortunately, the shawl got out of hand, and I had to buy more yarn to finish it. Of course, they didn't have the very pretty Monet's Water Lillies-esque yarn I started with, so I found a mixed purple skein that should complement the main yarn nicely. I'll post a pic when I'm finished, which should be in a couple of days. The pattern calls for one skein of Misti Alpaca lace, which I have, and the yardage is almost the same, but I did go up a needle size, since the Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn is bulkier than the laceweight. So, lesson learned: that means you need more yarn :)

But guess what?!? I think we're going to stop at The Fold on the way to visit my Grandma on Saturday! Home of lots of Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn! I'm anxiously awaiting my next STR club shipment, even though I haven't done up my Monsoon socks yet, since that yarn is in the boxtobeshipped.

Since my stash is in cardboard, I'm working on acquiring a new stash by checking out some of the new "local" yarn stores. There will be a full report later.