The yarn was 348m/380yds in length and 4-ply/fingering weight. It had a 2-ply construction which meant it would show lace stitches well. However, the slightly fuzzy nature of a yarn spun in a woolen style and comprising Alpaca, Bluefaced Leicester, Mohair, Shetland and Silk, meant that a complex lace pattern would probably get lost. I spent a long time looking for a pattern that would suit the yarn construction, the weight of yarn and the yardage and the Demiluna looked to be ideal, having large sections of stocking stitch to show off the subtle variegation of the yarn and enough eyelets to be interesting.
The shawl is semi-circular in shape and uses the Elizabeth Zimmerman pi-shawl formula, a little like my Lily's Slice of Pi shawl pattern, though this one is on a smaller scale. As well as the increase rows, this shawl has rows of yarn-overs followed by knitting two stitches together to create an even spread of eyelets throughout the shawl.
The edging of the shawl was the part of the project I liked the least. I don't like doing broken rib, especially when the purl stitches in the ribbing increase in number. It's very hard to work out where to purl from the wrong side of the pattern, I find. I'd much rather do the ribbing on the right side of the work and then purl straight across the wrong side. I'd forgotten about that when I started, so unless I wanted to rip back the few rows I'd already done, I was stuck with doing it the way the pattern was written. Despite my loathing of actually knitting the border, I really like the way it finishes off the shawl.
The shawl itself is shawlette size. It sits nicely around the neck and would work beautifully as an evening shawl in the Summer over a lightweight dress, as it falls just over the edge of the shoulders.
I am really pleased with this project, as it is the first shawl I have knit with my handspun yarn. It's so satisfying seeing the yarn, you created, turned into a fully fledged accessory. It's really no wonder that knitting this project really fired up my enthusiasm for spinning, even more than before!
