This shawl.
I have wanted to knit it since the day it was released. I don't know WHY the
Pine Haven Shawl, designed by
Alicia Plummer, has so few project pages, as it's so pretty and rather classic, yet woodsy-looking all at the same time. I imagine wearing it whilst working my land in a lovely, tree-filled setting - hauling logs or somesuch... you know, like I do!
Yep.
I knit this gigantic shawl up in
Brooklyn Tweed. For my first knit with BT, I chose the
Arbor base, because I knew I'd love it so much - surely because it's worsted spun, which I am traditionally more naturally drawn to, though I do like woolen spun yarns, too, these days. I had help from Matt and a friend when it came to choosing colors. We went with
Butte,
Treehouse and
Degas, though I'd really wanted to throw a purple into the mix, aha! I purchased from one of my favorite Portland yarn stores,
Twisted. (By the by, they always have size 00 and 000 DPNs in stock, if you need them!!!)
The pattern itself was lovely and well-written, short and to the point. The major issue for me was with gauge. I strangely, for ONCE, may have needed to use the needle size called for OR may have needed to size up. That never happens. But that would have given me a fabric I didn't love. I will clearly admit Arbor is a DK weight yarn, and the shawl calls for worsted, so, it was a bit of a conundrum. I just stuck with my size 7 needles I'd swatched on and knew I'd have to make changes. And boy, did I EVER! (Did I just say that???!) I added one extra set of crosses to the top section, an additional two or three stripes in the next section then additional stripes and a bit more made-up colorwork below the called-for colorwork. I had to go nuts, in order to make sure my shawl was wide/long enough. What I knew would happen, though, in the doing of this, was that the shawl would be too deep. Thankfully, my row gauge is always pretty tight, because the shawl didn't come out TOO dreadfully deep, though I could honestly do with a few inches shallower. I was killing myself with back pain by the end, and I wanted it off the needles, though I really did try hard to get through most of the yarn, which makes me pretty happy.
 |
| A thoughtful boy helps with blocking - wearing Camden's old Abate |
Overall, it's an awesome shawl. I questioned how much I'd like it as I got further and further in, but it came out perfectly! Go knit one!!! And don't be afraid to modify like a lunatic in order to get what you want/need out of a pattern!!
Naturally, some January days in the life:
 |
| Table saw injury :O And it felt AND still feels way worse than it looks |
 |
| Sometimes, you tell them to pick up outside....and..... |
 |
| Getting her knit on.... for a couple minutes |
 |
| A girl in curlers - and a weird brother |
 |
| Week 17, I believe, of the school year for Camden, wearing her Tallulah and a skirt she made |
 |
| A flaming gas leak in the neighborhood gets you booted from your home, which means library time |
No comments:
Post a Comment