Butterfly Forest

 I  knitted this shawl for a fellow Raveler in return for some of her dyeing skills. I'm very taken by gradient coloured yarns these days and I believe its a bit tricky to do. I was very pleased when I found someone who was willing to dye some yarn for me and even more pleased when she was willing to do it in exchange for a shawl.

So here is the Butterfly Forest shawl (a Ravelry download). The yarn is Filatura Di Crosa Baby Mon Tesor. Its hard to see in the photos but the yarn has a silver thread running through it. I started this shawl on 3.75mm needles but by the time I was into the second chart I felt that the yarn was too stiff and I was worried that it wouldn't open up enough when blocked. So I gradually switched to 4.0mm needles and then to 4.5mm. By then I could feel the yarn soften in my hands and I new I would also get better drape.



The pattern has plenty of nupps in it but since I discovered doing nupps with a crochet hook I find it goes much quicker and I no longer drop loops along the way.

I found it difficult to capture the colour of the yarn but the last photo comes close.