Not sure why I decided to undertake a second shawl – but I did. This one was made using sock weight (fingering) yarn. I used leftovers from a couple of pairs of socks – the colours blended surprisingly well, I used Sisu solids to blend with the variegated yarn and to create the light to dark effect.

The shawl went quite a bit faster than the original in lace weight yarn, because I was ending up with fewer stitches as the shawl grew longer. However, the neckline went wonky – for some reason the stitch increases at the beginning created a “hump” that made it impossible to wrap the shawl over my shoulder. I filled in part of the hump with leftovers from yet a third pair of socks so the shawl drapes a bit better. Because I used knit and purl rows, there is a definite right and wrong side to the shawl, but the edges also curl. I crocheted a border around the entire shawl to stabilize the edge.

Oh well, it will keep my shoulders warm.

It’s finally done! I thought this Colour Affection Shawl would never end – by the end rows had close to 600 stitches – it took at least a half hour to knit one row!

I started it on June 27 2013 (it has been nearly 6 months since I started!) and knit quite a bit until the rows started getting long, and then boredom set in! It was all I could manage to knit a row or two in an evening – many evenings I didn’t even look at it. However, I learned a lot about “lace weight” knitting (which I’ve never done before): the yarn called for a 2.5 mm needle, part way through the first colour I switched to a 3.5 mm circular needle (I started with a 32 cm circular, had to switch to an 80 cm circular) – to get the size and loose affect I was after I should have used at least a 4.5 mm needle – that would have substantially reduced the number of stitches in those long rows at the end. I also would have used three somewhat more contrasting colours – the contrast between the aqua and white is minimal so you don’t really see the three colours. One last thing I discovered is the way I increased stitches made the neck edge of the shawl too tight – I will have to explore a different way of increasing stitches that produces a looser edge, maybe actually doing a YO (yarn over) which would produce an open space would work better – I’ll have to try a swatch to see if that works.

Nevertheless, I love the striping effect of the partial rows when the dark colour is added. I wanted to add more to the bottom edge, I still had a tiny bit of yarn left (maybe enough for 4 more rows) but I just couldn’t face knitting one more row.

The cast off has to be loose – I used a size 3.5mm crochet hook and did a single crochet knitting two stitches together – the tension on the edge turned out perfectly.

Yarn: I used Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace which I bought in my local yarn shop.

Shawl: Color Affection by Veera Valimaki
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/color-affection

I have the usual pair of socks on the go – I’ve just turned the heel on the first sock. But I’ve been sidetracked – while I was in Portland OR, I visited a yarn shop and found there a lovely knit shawl. The gal in the shop gave me the info on where to find the pattern online so I looked it up when I got home. I downloaded the pattern. Yesterday I visited my local yarn shop and picked up some lovely lace weight yarn in three colours and started the shawl. It took me three tries before I realized the shawl starts at the neck edge and not the outside edge – duh! So switching colours of yarn, I started over again (once more it took three tries before I got the shawl rolling.) I’m using a seafoam blue/green, white, and eggplant – starting with the seafoam at the neckline and working through white to the eggplant on the outer edge. I have no idea how long this garment is going to take me – but the socks are set aside for now – I won’t need them until the fall, anyway. And all this because I loaned my wool poncho that I made 40 or more years ago to a friend and it came back with an odour I can’t get rid of and which triggers my asthma. I’ve washed it twice, soaked it once; I’m going to try soaking again, this time in a solution of baking soda and put it out in a fresh breeze to see if I can get it to freshen. If that doesn’t work, I guess the poncho is a give-away.