On a Shawl Kick
You know how I’ve been itching to use some of the hand dyed single skeins I’ve collected over the last year, but find that I’m always in the middle of a sweater? Well the day for my fancier skeins has arrived! I could wait no longer and cast on a toque with some of my Tosh Vintage in Mockingjay and then immediately cast on Libby Jonson’s newest shawl. Her Antipodes pattern was my initiation into shawl knitting and it converted me. So after seeing her Rattan Shawl, I knew I had to knit it in my fingering weight skein of the same Mockingjay colorway.
I’d been waiting for her to release that pattern after seeing numerous sneak peeks on instagram. It looks exactly like rattan, when blocked. Of course, these are photos are of it in-process and not blocked. Originally, I thought it would be great to dye up some yarn for it, but I’m going through some health crisis with older relatives, planning a wedding, and mentally unable to try one new thing. Except the KYOK stitch. That one I could tackle.
I figure if I can’t have the perfect tweedy, ropey color for this shawl, it may as well be in the perfect grey. And it is so perfect. It has been hard to set it aside for some gift knitting.
Where Antipodes was extremely feminine and delicate looking to me, this one has an everyday, earthy feel to it- like a a wicker basket or a familiar jute rug. Does that sound silly? I always feel like a wannabe expert when I try to describe things I love. At least I didn’t use words like “essence” or “boho”, right?
This will not be the end of the shawls for me. (That sounded like a fatalistic novel title, at least to a knitter.) Libby is hosting a knitalong, in her ravelry group, through the month of July for any of her patterns; so I think I’ll do the Settler Shawl next. I’ve had a special skein of blue yarn earmarked for that pattern for months. Why not check out her designs and join us?
