The Swallowtail Shawl

While mum was here recently, we sat down together and perused page after page of shawl patterns on Ravelry (why do I always feel the need to give that a capital R?) and she short-listed around half a dozen patterns before whittling the huge choice down to just one: The Swallowtail Shawl. I didn't have the magazine that it was originally published in - Interweave Knits Autumn 2006 - so I looked online to see about backordering it and unfortunately found that particular issue to be SOLD OUT. It looked like mum was going to end up with her second choice before Interweave released the pattern for free the very next day! Talk about perfect timing!

This pattern was released along with four other Interweave patterns that were apparently chosen by readers as the all-time top 5 Interweave patterns. Also included was the Sunrise Circle Jacket, which I really like and perhaps someday might get around to making. Someday.

But anyway, back to the main event: mum's Swallowtail Shawl.

Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl (Ravelry link), originally published in Interweave Knits Autumn 2006, now available for free here until the 14th of May, 2008, after which it shall disappear into Interweave sold-out-back-issue territory. I think that in order to download the pdf file, one needs an account of sorts on the interweave site.

Yarn details:

• Pirkanmaan kotityö ohut pirkkalanka
• 100gr = 400m
• 100% pure new wool
• colour # 214
• about 85-90gr used

Needles: 4.5mm
Measurements: hmmm, good question. I'm feeling too lazy to go and measure it now :-)

The original pattern calls for sixteen repeats of the first chart, but as it uses thinner yarn and smaller needles, I just did eleven repeats before heading onto the next chart. Those p5togs really slowed me down! I used a 2mm needle to help with them, but I was often tempted just to leave them out altogether. Of course, now I think they look great and am happy that I persevered.

Our lounge room window happens to be just about the same width as this shawl and I somehow managed to rig the shawl up in front of the window, so the pictures you see have the sun and sky in the background, which shows off the pattern nicely but makes the yarn appear darker than it really is. Enter the last foto, which shows the colour in a more true-to-life form.

I'll post this shawl off to mum tomorrow, along with the shortpaper mitts. I'll probably end up making another one of these for myself someday. Someday.

Shortpaper Mitts

I made a pair of Eunny's Endpaper Mitts for my bro as a Christmas present last year, and here we have another pair, this time for mum, on request.


Pattern: Enpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang, free on See Eunny Knit! (her old blogsite, where lots of other delicious goodies can be found)
Yarn details:

• Garnstudio Drops Alpaca
• 100% Alpaca
• 50gr = 180m
• colour #100 (white) and #6347 (purple)
• about 15gr of white used and about 10gr of the purple
  

Needles: 2mm for cuffs and 3mm for mitt (dpns this time, no ultra short circular)

Mum asked me to make her these for the the bus trip to work, as it's sometimes cold and she's tired of taking her glove off every time she wants to turn a page in her book. Also, her office suffers from the same disorder as seemingly every other office in Australia: hyperairconditionitis. It's silly how sometimes the temperature outside reaches levels at which the road starts to melt (I mean that most literally), and yet inside one needs a shawl, slippers and of course a pair of fingerless mitts.

She didn't want them to be as long as the pattern states, so I just made 20 rounds of the ribbing for the cuff and then launched straight into chart B. Other than that, it was pretty plain sailing all the way with these. I still love the way the kitchener cast off looks and I'm very glad that I took the time to do it, as the edge looks professional and is strong and stretchy.

There so nice a soft that I'm a bit sad to have to post them away, but I know they're going to a good home, just in time for the 'winter' (scoff) to start in Aus. Enjoy, mum!

The Luna Moth Shawl

Here she is: the Luna Moth Shawl!

Pattern: Luna Moth Shawl by Shui Kuen Kozinski, free on Elann.com
Yarn Details:

• Baruffa Cashwool
• 100% merino wool
• 100grams = 1335metres
• about 60-65gr used
  

Needles: 3.5mm
Finished Measurements: 152cm x 88cm

I had had my eye on this pattern for quite a long time before I got the opportunity to cast on, but the yarn really makes this project one of my favourites. It's oh so whisper-fine and luxuriously soft. The shawl itself seems so impossibly light that it's almost like it's not there at all.

I have to admit that I was surprised at how much concentration this shawl took, and how I had to refer to the chart for the entire pattern. It took quite a long time before I had a good idea as to whether I was doing the right thing (do the yarnovers line up or do they float, same goes for the double decreases), and the whole experience has led me to deem this as an intermediate level pattern.

The original pattern calls for thicker yarn and larger needles and six pattern repeats for a full-size shawl, and I think I ended up doing nine repeats for a shawl that is a similar size to the original but nowhere near the density. As a result, my prediction is that this shawl is going to be used as a summer mosquito net! Haha, I'm so funny (I've been sick with the flu, give me a break). Nah, it won't be any good at keeping the mossies away, but it's fit for summer and pathetic for winter. I actually thought I saw a glimmer of summer the other day, with the outside temperature climbing to +10 degrees, but as I write now, that white stuff is falling from the sky again. Will the winter never end?

Oh well, we may not have the high temperatures, but we do have lots of daylight now: over 16 hours per day.

To end on a lighter note, I still have two more finished objects to share with you, plus news of the yarn shops I visited in Oslo and Stockholm (and the happy purchases from these yarn shops). See you soon :-)

I'm Baaaaaack!

Hello friends, glad to be back after a couple of weeks away. I didn't mention in my last post that the reason I was taking a break from blogging was because of some holiday time in Hamburg, Oslo and Stockholm. I had a lovely time and enjoyed visiting the three different cities.

Now I have lots of things to share, including not one, not two but THREE finished objects to parade, plus some of the new yarn that was purchased abroad and pictures of the shops with drool-worthy yarn selections.

But for the moment, I've limited myself to just one picture from each of the three cities that I mentioned before, plus one more picture from Levi.

This first one is from Hamburg:

And this is Oslo quite early in the morning:

And this is from the Vasa Museum in Stockholm:


And a puppy from the Husky Safari place we visited in Levi: (so cute!)


Coming up tomorrow: the finished Luna Moth Shawl. See you then!

A quick goodbye...

Hello friends, I'm taking an internet break for a couple of weeks and so this is goodbye...for now, not forever!

Try not to miss me too much [cynical laughter].

I'll leave you with this:

It's the beginnings of the Clementine Shawlette from Interweave Spring 2007 with Novita Bambu. I'm really enjoying the pattern and yarn so far and hopefully, the next time we speak, I shall have a lovely finished object to share.

Happy internetting, and may the yarn be with you.

-Stefanie-