My third shawl of 2010 is all done, blocked and everything. I actually finished it over the weekend and blocked it on Monday but it took a couple days to dry since it has been cold and snowy here.
I’m very, very happy with this shawl, it is one my favorites of all the shawls I’ve made. The entire time I was knitting this I was worried about the yarn, how it would look knitted up and how it would block since this is a superwash wool and nylon blend. But, it came out just fine, nothing to worry about. The yarn blocked beautifully and it is holding it’s shape really well.
The stitch definition is lovely, too. This shows the top part of the big center border and the top section of the shawl. I love how crisp it looks here and how defined the nupps are (can you see the mistake where I lost a yarn over and didn’t notice it until I pinned out the shawl?). The top part of the shawl has a thick, squishy texture, it’s very soft.
And here’s the lower border with the cast on knit with doubled yarn, I love the little points and those crossed stitches between the rows of garter stitch.
The details:
- Pattern: Miralda’s Triangular Shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush
- Yarn: Valley Yarns Franklin, between 700-800 yards, I bought it undyed on a cone from Webs
- Needles: US5/3.75mm
- Finished Size: I blocked it 60 inches across the top, 30 inches down from the center but it shrunk up about an inch all the way around
- Modifications to the pattern: none, just used smaller needles, I like the way it looked better
- See more on Ravelry.
I forgot to blog about this book after I got it, I don’t even think I mentioned that I ordered it, but it is one of the best lace books I’ve ever bought. I would knit every pattern in it, there’s not a dog in the bunch. It has a nice mix of scarves and shawls, both triangular and square and rectangular stoles. There’s a section in the front on the history of lace knitting in Estonia and information on how to knit lace, how the shawls are constructed and how to block and a small stitch dictionary in the back. The instructions are very easy to follow and the charts are big and clear and nicely labeled. The patterns are all charted, the directions for the lace isn’t written out, which I love since it saves space and I find charts to be much easier to follow than written directions. If don’t like charts, you won’t like the patterns.
Today I’m knitting the trim on my Alpaka Tunic, which I seamed up yesterday. Tomorrow I’ll steam the yoke and the trim and try to take some pictures of it.
I also got a huge box of books and yarn today that I’ll post about later.
