10 shawls in 2010

I'm a late comer to the 10 shawls in 2010 group on Ravelry but I couldn't resist joining when I became aware of this group. I've been on a bit of a roll with my lace knitting of late and I think I'm catching up on getting 10 shawls done. For a shawl to qualify the minimum requirement of meterage is 250 meter (ca 273 yards) whereas 2 must use at least 500 meters (ca 546 yards) of yarn.

You have already seen three of my shawls for this year: Traveling Woman, Snow Queen Pi Shawl (much more than 500 meters!) and Brandywine Shawl.

I have just completed my fourth shawl, the Milkweed Shawl. I knitted this shawl in some Fleece Artist Sea Wool which I won in a karma swap on Ravelry. I get fed up having little bits of yarn left over so I decided to try and use up every last bit on this shawl and I succeeded. But I did have to fudge things a bit because I didn't have enough yarn for a full pattern repeat.





I have two more shawls on the needles at the moment but more about them later.

The next two

Two scarves to show this time. First my Dahlia scarf. Quick and easy on 5mm needles. The yarn is Henry's Attic Kona hand dyed by Kelebek. I was very pleased with the way the yarn bloomed ever so slightly after washing.



The scarf is soft and cuddly but light as a feather. It measures 188cm x 30.5cm.




The second scarf is the one I knitted for my friend Val. The pattern is the Oiseau de Feu by Caoua Coffee and is based on the following tale:

Igor Stravinsky’s ballet “l’oiseau de feu” (firebird) tells the story of Prince Ivan, who one day captures a bird with brilliant plumage, the Firebird. In exchange for her freedom, the bird gives him one of her feathers and her promise to come to his aid if ever he needs her. After the bird has flown away, Prince Ivan catches sight of 13 princesses who are captives in the magic garden of Kashchei, the evil magician. Though warned, he tears open the fence to follow the girls, whereupon he is suddenly confronted by Kashchei himself. When the magician tries to turn him to stone, Ivan pulls out the feather and summons the Firebird, who appears true to her word, kills the magician and frees the prince and the princesses.

The main pattern of the scarf shows the fence of the magic garden with the beautiful princesses behind, while in the border you find the feathers of the firebird.



The luscious yarn is Pagewood Farm Alyeska Hand Dyed Sock Yarn and I used 3.25mm needles. The scarf measures 135 cm x 20cm.

One of three

It has been a while since I last posted but I have been a bit busy. I've finished three things of late but so far I have only had the opportunity to block and photograph one of them.

Here is my Brandywine Shawl.



I knitted this shawl with a skein of Tofutsies and although at first I was a little uncertain about the wisdom of this I grew to love it. And I think it has worked quite well.



I added 3 extra repeats because I wanted to use up as much of the skein as possible. I must say there is a lot of yarn in a skein of Tofutsies! The yarn also blocks very well with no retraction when I removed the blocking pins. I knitted the shawl on size 4mm needles. The shawl meausres 143cm by 86cm.



I hope to show you my other completed projects in the coming days.

A little lace

I've been indulging myself by knitting some lace. First off I finished my Raha scarf. This was such a quick knit and great for a bit of instant gratification.


The yarn is Morris Empire 4ply in Luxe and I knitted on 3.5mm needles.


Since finishing that scarf I have cast on three more projects.

I'm knitting a Brandywine shawl. The moment I saw this pattern I wanted to knit it using the Tofutsies that J so generously sent me. I felt a little unsure that this was the right yarn to use but as the shawl progresses I feel that it is working out. The shawl is soft and drapey.



The second project I cast on resulted from my May Personal Sock Yarn Club. The yarn for this month is some Henry's Attic hand dyed by the lovely Kelebek and given to me for my birthday. She calls this colourway Strawberries and Cream. I had originally matched the yarn to the Traveling Woman pattern but as I have already knitted this pattern (that's what happens when you instantly forget what you put in your little sock yarn bags) I decided to try another pattern. I first cast on for a Multnomah shawl but the yarn didn't work for me. So I then decided on the Dahlia scarf and I think this is a good match.



The third project I have cast on stems from a request from my friend Val. She wanted a lace scarf so she sent me the yarn and we decided on the Oiseau de Feu scarf. Other than that the yarn is fingering weight I know nothing else about it. But it is a beautiful colour and very soft and silky - a delight to knit with.



Well I daresay these projects will keep me out of mischief for a little while.