Shawls and other things

I decided this year that I would cut back on the shawl knitting. I mean, come on, I have so many of them and I don't know what to do with them. But I do love knitting lace shawls, which is why I accepted the challenge of testing Mary-Anne Mace’s High Country Circle. She called for a DK or sport-weight yarn as her vision for this lovely thing was as a throw for a couch and a lap warmer for cold winter nights. I went to my LYS and was daunted by the cost of enough yarn for the whole project; but, happily, the owner had a pile of Sandnes Garn Tove she was trying to get rid of and made me a very good price. I found the wool a bit scratchy to work with, and it didn’t soften up that much in the subsequent washing and blocking, but it did make a lovely small blanket, which now adorns the couch in my living room.

The colours are kind of dull in that photo. Here’s another picture:

It only took me two months to make, which is pretty good considering I didn’t work at it every day.

I also made another of Mary-Anne’s shawls, The Emperor and the Scarab, from some silk-linen yarn I had got in a subscription box with beads. I had made one of these before from Patons Lace, which I was not happy with. It is now hanging in my friend’s LYS as an advertisement for that yarn. This time I used Grazioso by Sweet Paprika and was very happy with the result.

I also made a necklace with the beads and leftover yarn and gave them both to my sister-in-law for her 60th birthday.

There is one more shawl, another test knit, this time for Heather Anderson. I had received another subscription box including a pattern which again I disliked, but the yarn was perfect for Heather’s Hungry Caterpillar Shawl, so I used it. I was not too happy with the end result, as I had wanted the cool colours in the subscription and been sent the warm ones by error. But one of the ladies in the knitting group absolutely fell in love with the shawl and even offered to buy it from me. I could not refuse her.

I have made other things that weren’t shawls. I finally finished a pair of fingerless mitts I started last November, Jane’s Barathea Mitts from Jane Austen Knits 2014. I still had a large quantity (and still have 30 gms left over) of Rhapsody Light by Artyarns, the stuff that turns my hands green, so I used that and I'm very happy with the result.

I also finished a test knit in a similar colour but totally different yarns, also leftovers, for Sabine Kastner (not yet published).

The yarn for the main body is Qiviut Queen from Cottage Craft Angora and the contrasting cuff edging and hand flap Silver by Dye-Version. I like that they are only subtly different and that the silver has that discrete sparkle to it.

This post would not be complete without mention of my latest Biarritz Cloche. I love how this hat turned out. The one I’d made several years ago was from Patons Grace, a very nice mercerized cotton fingering weight yarn, but this time I used Drops Muskat, a slightly heavier weight of cotton. It’s labeled DK, but seems a bit sportier than that. Nonetheless, the resulting hat is fantastic. I don’t need any starch for it to keep its shape, and I get untold compliments on it.

Not the best photo. Here’s one my daughter took with her cellphone at my son’s recent convocation: