Focus on shawls
Today’s entry will be all about shawls. I have two finished shawls to present, one you haven’t seen at all before, and the finished Friendship shawl, alias Swallowtail shawl.I talked my older daughter Hanna into modeling the shawls. The first shots were like this, but then I managed to calm her down and make her behave in accordance with what you except of a shawl model. Elegance and ladylikeness can be very far from what a teenager is.
The sharpeyed have perhaps seen that there has been something called the Ti-to-tip shawl in the sidebar. This is a shawl I started and finished last autumn. My son had a period of practice in a hospital for elderly people, and had for five weeks to be on the other side of Helsinki at seven o’clock in the morning. My schedule was to wake up at five, take out the puppy for his morning business, wake up the son and keep him company while he breakfasted before I headed back to bed for one hour of sleep after he had left. While being up I knitted on this shawl, it was simple enough for those very early morning hours. It’s a very simple garter stitch shawl, you cast on three stitches, and on every row make a yo before the last stitch. The shawl is inspired by the shawls the American illustrator Tasha Tudor wears over her everyday dresses. I had some Rowan WoolCotton left, and used up everything for this shawl. It’s very everyday, warm and snuggly, and perfect to have under your jacket on cold days. It’s knitted on 4 mm needles. The shawl pin is by a Swedish designer who had a shop in Malmö, unfortunately I don’t have his name anymore. I like it a lot.
The Swallowtail shawl, renamed to the Friendship shawl, got finished almost exact one year after I finished my first Swallowtail shawl, a present for a dear friend’s birthday. It’s a tad bit bigger than the original, knitted with five more rows of buds. The Lily of the valley pattern matched exact with the extended bud pattern part, but the border pattern didn’t match. I simply left out the last decrease on the first row before the mid stitch and the first after the mid stitch, and after that did everything work out right. This bigger version used two hanks of Wetterhoff Sivilla, while the original version used one and a half.
I had serious problems with the nupps on the original Swallowtail shawl, and I'm happy to report I managed better this time. The pointier bamboo needles grabbed the yarn, and even if it wasn't fast working, it worked much better than what it did with metal needles. I'm still waiting for the lace needles I ordered eons ago, so I don't know if it would have worked even better with them.
Project details:
Pattern: Swallowtail shawl by Evelyn Clark in Interweave Knits Fall 2006.
Yarn: Wetterhoff Sivilla, two hanks in colour 916.
Needles: 3.5 mm Addi bamboo circulars.
Alterations: Shawl made bigger by knitting five more pattern repeats of the bud pattern.
I have a new wip to present, one that is simply flying off the needles (in spite of all the colour changes), and new pictures of Chuck's Cabled socks. The second sock has already reached the heel, and will soon be finished. It's amazing how fast the knitting will advance when you have only half the amount of cables left!
Comments
Beautiful shawls, and your model did a great job. The colors are particularly nice. The garter stitch shaw looks like a perfect piece for a chilly evening!
Posted by: Silvia | February 22, 2008 03:15 PM
They are lovely, I could knit the Swallowtail shawl again, it is a great pattern and really keeps your interest. Look forward to finished knits you have.
Posted by: Lin | February 22, 2008 06:03 PM
Both are lovely :) I love the simple elegance of the Tip to Tip shawl! Your daughter did well modeling - I wouldn't stand still (or straight or anything remotely resembling lady-likeness!)to save my life when I was that age!
Posted by: mel | February 22, 2008 06:14 PM
Both are beautiful (love that color). I, too, really like the simplicity of the Tip to Tip shawl.
Posted by: Rachel | February 22, 2008 06:29 PM
Beautiful shawls! Great modeling!
Posted by: tiennie | February 22, 2008 09:53 PM
Beautiful shawls and lovely model. :)
I never thought of wearing a shawl under a coat, but it makes a lot of sense.
Did you block the garter stitch shawl or did it keep its shape naturally?
Posted by: Francesca | February 22, 2008 10:52 PM
Those are beautiful shawls, Maud. It certainly helps to have such wonderful model too. I'm working on a shawl right now too and just got the pattern for the Old Shawl Shawl which will be my next shawl project. They're perfect for keeping one warm on a chilly evening.
Posted by: RuthieJ | February 23, 2008 07:56 PM
Jag tycker så mycket om den första sjalen. Sådant enkelt mönster, och man stickar så länge man har garn eller tills den blir tillräckligt stor. Själv skulle jag sticka den mycket större. Det skulle gå med ränder också, smala eller breda.
Posted by: Elsa X | February 23, 2008 11:50 PM
Lovely, lovely shawls. I always admire the how beautifully you knit and how well your things appear to fit. I have a question about the tip to tip shawl (I'm a beginning knitter.) Does one do only one yarn over per row or one yarn over after the first stitch and one before the last? Thanks.
Posted by: Penny | February 26, 2008 03:39 AM
They're both lovely! :)
Posted by: Romi | February 29, 2008 03:51 AM
The shawls are lovely. And your daughter is a very cute shawl model.
Posted by: Sheila | February 29, 2008 04:17 AM
Just exquisite Maud! That one shawl looks like delicate lace--pretty!
Posted by: Suzanne | March 5, 2008 12:49 AM
Hi Maud,
If you get a chance to play, I've tagged you for the six-word memoir! You can find more information on it over at my blog. :-)
Posted by: RuthieJ | March 6, 2008 04:43 AM
That swallowtail shawl is beautiful!
Posted by: Lisa | March 6, 2008 04:34 PM
Just discovered your blog and am so happy to see that you knit an enlarged Swallowtail Shawl, as I am knitting one now and am thinking of making it larger. I might need a Tip-to-Tip Shawl, too :)
Posted by: Kathleen | March 8, 2008 07:35 PM
Hi Maud!
I love your shawls..... what to do next? Put my socks on hold to start a shawl
or finish something for a change before starting something else....ugh!!
Are you interested in wooden blockers- sock and mitten? My husband makes them &
we've got a new shop on ebay. Wightwood Blockers. Also a blog- sockblockersrock.blogspot.com.
Might be useful for chuck's socks?
Posted by: Nicky Carter | March 9, 2008 10:44 PM