Anyway enough of that, you want to see the pretty finished object don't you? This will be a bit out of the blue, because I've not really blogged much about this project lately. The project is Nuvem by Martina Behm. You are going to think I only ever knit her projects, but it's really just a co-incidence that last week's finished object was one of her patterns too.
I started this project in October 2012 and I finally got it off the blocking boards last week. This was a marathon project, but oh so worth it.
This shawl was knit in Garnstudio DROPS Lace, which is 70% alpaca and 30% silk. The shawl is very fine and light, but incredibly warm. This yarn is very pretty, and reasonably priced for a luxury lace weight.
The pattern calls for 1600m of yarn, but I got really really bored after a while, so I just stopped knitting when it seemed big enough. In the end I used 1440m and the shawl is plenty big enough for me and I'm not petite.
Once I got to the end of the miles of stocking stitch, the ruffle nearly killed me! You double the number of stitches on the needle and then knit 6 rows. There were a LOT of stitches on my needle. Then instead of casting off with a bigger needle, as suggested in the pattern, I decided I wanted to add a little more oomph to my ruffle and so I decided to *K2, pass the first stitch over the second knitted stitch and drop it off the needle, then slip the second stitch back to the left hand needle and then repeat from * until there were no more stitches. It was a crazy thing to do, but look how pretty it is.
When blockeing this shawl, I threaded the wires into the spaces made when the number of stitches were were doubled for the ruffle. This meant the body of the shawl was stretched and the ruffle was left to just curl up on itself. The fabric of the main body of the shawl evened beautifully, despite my fears that the crumpled mess would never look right.
As with all Martine's patterns, she takes a very simple idea and gives it an unusual twist that adds interest to the knitter and to the finished item.
I am really happy with the project, despite the time it took to knit. It was perfect for evenings in front of the TV or whilst chatting with friends, because it didn't need me to pay much attention when working on it.
I've already worn this shawl a lot. It is perfect Summer wear because it is so light I can pop it in a bag easily, but it is still warm enough to keep the evening chill off when wrapped around my body. I think it will make a lovely big scarf in Winter too.
Funnily enough one of my blogging friends, Cassy, of Knit The Hell Out, has just finished a version of this shawl, and it looks really different. She didn't take quite as long as I did, to finish it, either.
If you ever have the right yardage for this shawl, I would recommend it. It might take a while, and sometimes you might feel like hurling it into the corner out of boredom, but the finished object is fantastic to wear, to look at, and to make you feel accomplished because you stuck with it!
