Shawls, Continued

Two more shawls (I think numbers 11 and 12) are off the needles and blocked. I've already shipped the Ardent off as a surprise gift for a long-ago Flickr friend with whom I was recently re-acquainted on IG. She once spoiled me so much in a swap and when she commented that this shawl was made "in her colours", that sealed the deal. Plus, she lives somewhere that it will really come in handy in a couple of months.  I can't possibly keep all the shawls I'm knitting (I have kept 3 for myself: the first Boneyard, the first Ardent and the Abalone pictured below).

This asymmetrical Ardent Shawl pattern by Janina Kallio of Woolenberry is available on Ravelry. It was suggested to me by Danielle as an idea for a one-skein project. When I was in Australia, Dan came to Sydney for my Improv Under the Influence workshop and gifted me a gorgeous grey skein of Merino (which became my first Ardent Shawl).  This blue/pink/purple one is made with Providence Bay Sock dyed by Bayview Fibre Arts, a Canadian shop in New Brunswick. The colour is Bachelor's Button. My mom recently stopped into their shop and came out with several sheep worth of wool, I think. She sent me this pretty skein and it was lovely to knit with!

Also purchased in Australia was this incredibly beautiful single spun lace Merino (below). The Abalone Shawl pattern is available on Ravelry. Carle' Dehning of Nurturing Fibres designed the shawl and dyed the yarn, too. I knit up the shawl in the same colour combination that was in the pattern images and I love it so much. The shawl is breezy, light and soft.

This was definitely my most challenging knit to date. I thought knitting holes on purpose would be all kinds of fun, but the holes are made differently in every lace row and the instructions were new to me, so I had to call on the experts for help: mom (superknitter), Double N Dianne (beezersnana) and Leanne (shecanquilt) who actually came to town prepared and gave me an in-person tutorial as well as treating me to a delicious breakfast!  I could not have finished this shawl without Leanne. I'd already frogged that second-to-last lace row about 8 times but I really didn't want to give up!

I also contacted several strangers on Ravelry who had successfully knit the shawl. I'm so new on Ravelry and don't have a community there, so I was thrilled and delighted that every single person I contacted got back to me with answers, advice and plenty of encouragement! How nice! I knew from project reports there that the shawl improved dramatically with blocking to stretch out the lace rows. The blocking really did have tremendous results, not only increasing the size of the shawl by a ton, but also just evening out the very fine stitches and creating a lux garment. I am very proud of this knit even though I'm sure there are some mistakes.

My needles weren't idle for long. I'm already well underway with my next shawl: Feyre by Shannon Cook (soveryshannon on Ravelry). This is knit in worsted weight and it feels like I'm knitting on broomsticks after that dainty laceweight project. It'll be a much chunkier, warmer winter shawl. I love the MadTosh colours I'm using: Antler and Smokestack. Every project has taught me new techniques and stitches. With this one, I learned the Garter Tab Cast-On, Classic Slip-Stitch Rib and when I make it to the end, I'm going to have to figure out how to do a slip stitch ribbed edging. Eep.  Luckily, Dianne was on retreat with me this past weekend and helped out when I got stuck. My knitting is definitely a community effort.

The next few weeks bring more travel for me as I visit family and settle my daughter in university 4 provinces to the east. It is an incredibly exciting time, but I guarantee you that tissues will be required. I don't imagine I will be blogging again until sometime in September. Enjoy the rest of your summer month(s) and welcome spring to my southern hemisphere friends!