FO Catch-up (part 1)

Let’s do a little bit of catching up on finished objects (FO’s). I have got a few finished things to show you that have been ready to share for a while (ahem… months). But somehow, life came in between. It’s too bad not to share them here, though. For me personally, this blog is also a kind of diary where I keep track of all things creative.

First up is my version of the Birds of a Feather shawl, a beautiful design by Andrea Mowry (known online as @dreareneeknits). The pattern was initially published in Laine Magazine no. 2 and it’s available on Ravelry as an individual pattern now too.

This shawl was one of my holiday projects almost two years ago. I wrote about the preparations of it here. And I have had my issues with this pattern. Up until a point where I put it aside… But hey, it’s finished and it only took me a year!

The Yarn

Back to the beginning of it… As I wrote earlier, for this pattern Andrea chose a combination of fingering yarn and mohair. I really liked the light and airy look of her finished shawl, so I went for a similar combination (which proved to be quite challenging later on).

I have used two yarns by Cowgirlblues: their Merino Sock and Kidsilk Mohair. You can find the details on my Ravelry project page for this shawl.

The Knitting

My first attempt failed when I dropped a stitch at a critical point and I realised that mohair can’t be frogged very easily. The second attempt went a lot smoother. Of course, I had some practice now. But I also had the bright idea to put in a lifeline every now and then. Especially before starting the lace sections!

Being determined to finish it, I took it with me on another holiday (almost a year later). By now, I had tackled most of the challenges of the pattern and it was a relaxing knit project.

At the very end, I had one more challenge… I ran out of the mohair yarn (probably because I had started over and couldn’t re-use the first bit of yarn). Luckily, the lovely Juffrouw Lanterfant had one ball left in the right colour and I could finish my shawl. I think I adapted the final border a little bit as my other yarn became scarce too.

What I Learned From This One

Let’s be honest… I didn’t have a huge amount of knitting experience when I decided to knit this shawl. I was confident at knit and purl stitches and could do the basic increases and decreases. Therefore, I learned a few new-to-me things while making it. One of them is the way that this shawl is shaped. It’s basically a triangular shawl, but it doesn’t have the ‘traditional’ deep shape. It’s flatter and I find that more comfortable to wear.

It was also my first attempt at lace knitting! Now, the lace sections are not very large, however, for a beginner, the challenge was just about right. I gathered all the stitch markers that I had available and marked each repeat to make sure that I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I’ve gained confidence and some lace doesn’t put me off when picking a pattern now.

And don’t you just love the subtle waves it creates here?

Tadaah!

So, let’s move on the final part… the finished shawl! I am really happy with it and it makes me a little proud of myself that I actually knit this! I’m still very satisfied with my colour choice, although I’ll keep a distance from mohair for a little while, haha!

As usual, all details of this project can be found on my Ravelry project page!