I recently finished a long-term project and wanted to show you how it came out. This is the Field of Flowers shawl by Evelyn Clark. I bought the pattern and yarn at the Madrona Fiber Arts Festival in Tacoma, WA, er, about three years ago. The yarn is from Toots LeBlanc and is a jacob/alpaca blend. I believe it's the DK weight but not sure about that. I plan on taking it by their booth when I go to Madrona this weekend, so they'll be able to tell me what yarn it was. I do remember that the owner knit this shawl in a week, having to have it done for something or other. Well, it took me quite a bit longer, but I finally got it off the needles.
I wore it to work at the yarn shop one day with a nice silver shawl pin. Since this is the first shawl I've knit, this project taught me some things about their construction, and I think this one is very traditional in its construction. The middle panel is done first with a provisional cast on, then stitches are picked up on the remaining sides and the old shale border begun. Then the lace edging is knitted on a separate needle and knitted together with stitches from the border.
I can't say I'm ready for another shawl project any time soon, but I'm glad to have one to my credit.
The other project is the Oatmeal Pullover by Jane Richmond, a Ravelry designer. It's a really quick knit as you can probably tell, and mine was done over two weeks, but there were some days in there when I didn't work on it (so you could knit yours even faster than that!). The original was knit in Lion Brand Wool Ease Chunky, and that's what I used, although now I wish I'd used something with more wool in it. The 80% acrylic/20% wool yarn is oddly comfy and scratchy to wear. But it can be washed and dried in the machine, which is good as the sweater pretty much has to be worn next to the skin.
Here's the back:
Now that I'm done with these, I've been working on my unfinished projects so that one day I have only one project on the needles at a time. I'm about seven projects away from that.
Sorry this post is so boring, I've picked up the upper respiratory crud that's been going around and have trouble putting two words together. But I did want to post because I haven't in a while, and besides, it's a nice distraction to be poking about online, with my cup of tea, where I can go look at things that inspire me (maybe your knitting!). Take care and hope you're all well.
