Block(ing) Party

Last week I finally got to take care of a task that I've been meaning to do for weeks: blocking Aestlight and the second scarflet. I'm so happy with the results.

Pattern: Aestlight Shawl by Gudrun Johnston

Size: small

Yarn: 1 skein malabrigo sock in colorway Tiziano Red

Needles: size 6 (4.25mm) Addi lace circular needle

Time to completion: Oh my, I really have no idea. I remember the knitting part of this project flying by but I wouldn't let myself mark this one as "done" in ravelry until I had blocked it. My best guess is somewhere in the ballpark of 2 weeks. It's really quick.

Mods: none to speak of. Well, that's not quite true. The pattern calls for knitting into the back of the loop when picking up stitches from yo's. I tried that but didn't like the look of the stitches - not open enough for me - so I just picked up and knit like I normally do.

Mods I wish I had made: This shawl is made with a traditional shetland construction, where you cast on a single stitch at the bottom of the garter stitch main/center section and then increase your way up. Then you pick up stitches around the edge of the center triangle to work the border. Finally, you knit on an edging to finish off the live stitches on the outside of the border. The pattern calls for leaving the main section garter stitches on a holder while the rest of the shawl is worked but I don't really think this is necessary. As long as you use an elastic bind-off, I don't see why this can't be done at the end of the garter section (and you wouldn't need to join a new strand of yarn at the end just to bind off those stitches). That's it. This is a great pattern.

I absolutely loved working with the malabrigo sock yarn. The subtle color changes were beautiful to watch and always kept me interested, even in the (somewhat boring) center garter section. Of course, garter stitch makes for a great reading project, so this little shawl just flew by.

The bird's eye lace section of the border was so much fun to knit! I had a blast watching these giant circles appear in the knitting. 

It's really too bad that this shawl is slated for gifting to a friend - I'll just have to make another one for me.

Switching gears, this next piece could be described as a "big squishy love fest," as Jared of Brooklyntweed often refers to some of his creations.

Pattern: scarflet (forthcoming)

Yarn: 1 skein Dream in Color Smooshy, colorway Strange Harvest

Needles: size 4 (3.5mm) Addi natura circular needles

Time to completion: Same as above. The knitting flew by but it languished in the knitting basket for several weeks until I had a chance to block it. Let's just go with "very quick." Probably a week.

Mods: Well, the whole thing is my pattern, if you want to call it that. It was inspired by Multnomah. I just changed the construction a bit and altered the proportions of the lace section, as well as modifying the traditional old shale lace pattern to be a true garter lace.

Yellows aren't really my color but that's ok since this is a gift for my sister. 

I can't get enough of this pattern - there's something incredibly addictive about it. Plus, it's just so wearable. I wear my handspun scarflet all the time (or did until the temperature started to warm up around here).

It's really just a big squishy - or should I say smooshy - love fest.