Monday, June 15, 2009

Fountain Pen

It is done! Interweave Spring 2009 Fountain Pen Shawl, knit in US 6 using Cascade Yarns Alpaca Lace in a fun purple with blue flecks colorway.

I thought it was going to take forever by the end there. But that is the way of lace shawls, eh? Seems like quick going at the beginning, lace repeats finished by the hour, but as you near the finish line, they take for-ev-er.

But for the most part it was a fun knit. It's a very eye-catching and visible lace pattern, and I have to say that I like how it's one pattern all the way through. Ishbel, Laminaria, and others look lovely with the warmer pattern at the shoulders, moving into something more open as it drapes, but for something so light--and it is very light indeed--I like the consistency throughout. And boy did it ever hammer home the need for blocking wires. Those things are effective.

I did one fewer lace repeat than called for (the shawl looked oddly long and thin to me in Interweave, and this kept it big--no shawlette here--without being overly right-triangle-ish). As such, I had plenty of yarn leftover--a skein and a half, to be precise. I'm not sure what I'll do with it exactly....but it's lovely yarn, even if I had to be practically forced into buying it (purple is not normally for me).

I'm super proud of it--mostly mistake free! I mean, I know there were mistakes, but I haven't gone a-hunting for them, and they don't show if you're not looking for them, which is all one can ask for, right?

3 comments:

Jodi Meadows said...

That is *fantabulous*. I've never tried shawls, but geeze, now I really want to.

(Word verification is "letstab". I can only assume that has something to do with blocking. *g*)

Nikki Van De Car said...

Heh. That's hilarious.

Kate said...

Oh, that's beautiful! My pregnant brain can't cope with lace at the moment, which is really frustrating. So many shawls to knit! :-)