Monday, April 18, 2011

Spring has sprung!

IMG_8727Here is my Cedar Leaf Shawlette, finished and ready to go to work! This was such a fun, fast, satisfying project.  I finished it in a week.  The week included a couple of heavy knitting days, but also many days where I didn’t touch the needles at all.  The first part was mindless enough that I could have done it at work (though I started on a weekend, so that was the weekend part).  The leaf edging wasn’t really office knitting.IMG_8730The pattern very specifically said that blocking was needed to make the leaves behave properly.  I started to fret about this partway through, since I was knitting with a sock yarn containing nylon (this Crock O Dye is actually a superwash/nylon/silk blend).  Both the superwash treatment and the nylon fight against blocking.  You WANT these qualities in sock yarn so that the socks spring back into shape after wearing and washing.  You generally don’t want those qualities in lace.  Oops.IMG_8733 However, I knit this sock yarn on a US 5 needle, and thanks to that – and the silk content, I think – the final product seems to drape just fine.  Note: the designer calls for a wool/silk blend in DK weight on size 7 needles.  I downsized a bit since I was working with fingering weight yarn.

I have received so many compliments already at the office today, and it’s only lunchtime.  I’m thrilled with how this came out. It is the perfect accessory for this time of year, when it’s chilly in the morning but wearing a jacket feels like a bit much.

My mom might need one of these for her birthday this year…

3 comments:

  1. It turned out great. Love the shot of you looking over your shoulder!

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  2. That is really lovely. I'm surprised you don't get orders when you wear something so beautiful.

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  3. That really is lovely. How much yarn did it take? Might be something you'll want to put in the Gettysburg/Leon auction next time 'round!

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