Comfort Shawl by Sandi Wiseheart

My Ravelry Post: here
Pattern: from Knitting Daily or Ravelry
Yarn: Natural Fantasy Baby Camel (for Beatrice Galli)
Needles: US 7
Note: There is an error in the current version of the pattern on Row 43 – it says you should decrease after the first YO at the beginning and the end of the RS row, but if you do that the front pieces won’t be triangular, so ignore those decreases, but do all the other ones.

Also I made the whole thing longer, by about 3-4″ (because I had 5 balls of yarn I wanted to use for the project), and I replaced the flower-lace edging with gothic arches, which I found in ‘Introduction to Knitting’ Edited by Nicky Hayden, (published by Marshall Cavendish Publications Ltd in 1975)

Here is the chart I made:

Conclusion: I like it. It’s incredibly soft, and I’ve loved the yarn (but not known what to do with it), for a long time. I think it’s going to prove really useful, both for wearing to posh do’s (like our friends wedding next month) or for keeping warm in front of the tv, or computer.

It knitted up really quickly (though it would have been quicker if I’d trusted my gut about the pattern error), and wasn’t particularly boring, given that alot of it is plain stocking stitch. It’s probably taken about 3 weeks in total, but I also knit a pair of socks at the same time. Point being that it would probably work as a decent christmas/birthday present, without being too much of a time commitment.

I’m definately interesting in learning more about Faroese Isles shawls, and their shoulder shaping, so I’m looking forward to reading Stahman’s Shawls and Scarves, which my sister is bringing back from North Carolina for me in a couple of weeks.

Next up: PEGBAG!

Well knitting the ripped section back up didn’t seem to take that long actually, and by the time I got to the Bluestockings meeting on Wednesday I was pretty much ahead of the game.

And by the time I got *home* from the Bluestockings meeting, (after a quick bit of dirty maths) it turned out to be time to start the edging. Actually it might turn out that I should have started the edging about 4 rows earlier, but there is a wiggle room so i’m not going to panic too much.

This is where I’m deviating from the pattern (well that and making it longer). So it’s 24 (or probably 22) rows of edging and then 8 rows of moss-stitch (at which point I lose the will to live…) and then I get to block and see what I’ve got.

Please note that W has decided it’s a cape. And that he’s a little jealous that I have knitted myself a cape, and not made him one.

So I used to post quite a bit, and then I posted a bit, and then I didn’t post for ages.

But what really happened was this:

I decided to start a business.

And I just couldn’t talk about it until I knew it was going to happen. And now I know it’s going to happen, I can talk about it.

Basically in the next few weeks I’m going to start selling my own natural dyed yarn. Currently everything is dyed in our tiny galley kitchen here in Oxford (hence Oxford Kitchen Yarns), by me. And I’m loving it!

I get to play with colour, and yarn, and boil stuff up… what’s not to love? 🙂

So basically that’s why I’ve been so quiet. But now I’ve told you, I’m not going to be quiet any more. There are a ton of finished projects that have never seen the light of day monitor, and a few adventures I haven’t yet shared, but now I’m back and I can post about them.

The old typepad account is dead, but all my earlier posts are archived here, and I’ve been undating over the last week since I moved so that there are new things to read about, new projects to see.

It’s good to be (properly) back!