The Needles & Knots name is courtesy of the creativity of Cade.

If only it were fall…

…so I could wear this all the time.

handspun-shawlette

I am so excited for this to be done. So excited in fact, that isn’t entirely dry on my shoulders in that picture. Oh it’s mostly dry, but still has that slightly cool-to-the-touch feel of something that’s just barely damp. I just couldn’t wait!! Look at that drape, if it was a better photo I’d say look at the colors, and isn’t that lace pattern just wonderful? Ok, so I know it’s a pretty common lace pattern, but I love it. I didn’t get a picture of the back (later I hope to get better, brighter photos taken by my husband), but you can guess what it looks like.

Oh, and it fits so wonderfully on my shoulders!

This project was a labor of love, that’s for sure. It started out with some beautifully blended merino/silk roving that I envisioned spinning up for a shawl. I decided upon this very early this year before I’d really gotten a good solid skill for getting even yarn in my spinning. I decided to wait to spin it before I felt more comfortable with my skills at spinning finer yarns. I bought the grey version of the same roving blend (same dyer/blender) and my ideas became even more ambitious.

I think it was almost a month ago that I started knitting this project in almost a fever. I barely knit a gauge swatch, I didn’t really plan what I was doing, but I needed to finally cast-on for this. I was very surprised at the thickness of the yarn when I knit it up, as I was expecting something more lacey and less fingery. The result of this was disaster of course!

Finally, a bit more planning, questions asked at the Ravelry forum, and I restarted the project using Faroese shawls as my inspiration. I had no clue what I was going to do when I ran out of the coppery color, but ideas came when I needed them. I’d do a simple lace pattern and end with a few garter rows.

All of this is old news to you who read my blog anyways, but I feel like I’ve gone on a journey with this project. It’s so cliche (too lazy to accent it) but it’s so true. I’ve learned a hell of a lot about spinning, shawls, project spinning, and how exciting it is to go from start to finish with something. Like I said, I am so anxious to be able to wear this for real when it starts getting cold. It’s kind of a new style for me, but a style change I’m totally willing to make because I’m proud of what I’ve done.

handspun-shawlette-oops

Whoops, hand’s not steady enough! Let’s just try this again with the timer…

2 Responses to “If only it were fall…”

  1. Annie Says:

    Bravo! You look so elegant in that first picture. I can’t wait for a closer look at the lace and colors.

  2. nikkiana Says:

    So pretty! Nice job!

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