Invisibility Shawl

Pattern:  Invisibility Shawl from Charmed Knits: Projects for Fans of Harry Potter by Alison Hansel
Yarn:  Lace weight wool (stash yarn, no ball band)
Needles:  U.S. size 7 and 10

I have decided not to buy any new yarn until I have used up everything in my stash.  I have a lot of lace weight yarn, so prepare yourselves for a perfect storm of lacy shawls!  (No, not really.  This one knit up so quickly that I got ahead of myself - it'll be more like a perfect trickle of lacy shawls.)

Anemone agreed to be my model, even though she had just finished ballet class and was hot and tired and thirsty and dying for some dinner.   I told her she ought to start charging me by the hour for her services.  Doesn't she look sweet, though?

This piece is the perfect thing for throwing over bare shoulders when stepping into an overly air conditioned establishment, but it also makes a lovely scarf:

And now I'm off to start a new shawl, because my boy is scuba diving today and I have to do something with my hands.

Cap Shawl

I didn't think there'd be much use for hand knits in Hawaii.  (It's hot.  It's humid. People run errands in their swimsuits.)  I have never been so happy to be wrong!  This shawl was perfect for keeping the sun off my already freckled shoulders as we splashed around in the tide pools.  It also worked beautifully as a substitute for a tote bag.  And, of course, it gave me an excuse to torture my Anemone.

"Stand up straight!  Straighter! Turn your head to the left!  Now the right!  Up on your toes!  Turn towards the ocean!  Turn towards the mountain!  Straighten your right arm! Admit it, you still love me! Ack!  Not so close to the edge of the cliff!  Back up!  Right now!  Wait, that was pretty.  Go back!"

Pattern:  Cap Shawl from Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby
Yarn:  JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk
Needles:  29" U.S. size 7 circulars

I enjoyed knitting this shawl.  The pattern was easily memorized and went well with movie marathons featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Shetland Shawl

Pattern: Shetland Shawl from The Best of Knitter's Magazine: Shawls and Scarves

Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool (45% wool, 35% silk, 20% nylon)

Needles: 29" U.S. size 7 circulars

This is the first shawl I ever knit. I hadn't planned on making a shawl at all; I bought the yarn to knit myself a sweater, but after I got it home I realized the shop owner had sold me yarn from three different dye lots. Since it was an hour drive back to the store, I just kept it and tried to look at it as a learning experience. (You can bet I always select my yarn myself now!) I decided that if I knit a shawl it wouldn't matter if the the colors were a little off in places. I had never knit lace before, so I chose the simplest pattern I could find and went to work.

I finished it the day before a cross country flight in 2006, so instead of blocking it I shoved it in a backpack and used it for a travel blanket. It has served that purpose ever since, and I never bothered blocking it until last week. And I didn't bother blocking it very well, as you can see. After all, it's usually on a Goober or under the couch (or a dog) so I didn't see much sense in getting all nitpicky about it. Still, it's prettier than I thought it was.

Here is a detail of the mitered joins:

And here is a picture of the simple edging:

All of a sudden I feel like knitting another one in navy blue.

Shetland Tea Shawl

Pattern: Shetland Tea Shawl from Meg Swanson's A Gathering of Lace

Yarn: Jagger Spun Zephyr Wool Silk 2/18

Needles: U.S. size 4 29" circular

Gauge: No idea

Finished Size: 6 feet in diameter

Modifications: Worked Diamond Madeira chart twice, and though I did something wrong when knitting on the border, I liked the way it looked so I went with it.

There really isn't much to say about knitting this shawl. I finished it at the end of August, but I didn't block it until the end of September and I didn't feel like blogging about it until now. I had to buy a few packages of those foam puzzle pieces to block it on because my bed wasn't big enough. You'll notice that I had not yet sewn the ends of the yarn in - I like to wait until after blocking so I can match the gauge of the finished project. This shawl belongs to Anemone, but I haven't told her yet. She can just covet it until Christmas. I have fantasies of her wrapping up my grandbabies in this shawl someday. Someday far, far, FAR into the future.

These are links to other knitters who have completed this shawl. Enjoy!

http://www.thedailypurl.com/shawls/shetland_tea_shawl/

http://tiaknits.typepad.com/photos/wips/knitting_projects_491_small.html

http://laceshawlkal.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html

http://kamikazeknits.blogspot.com/2007/02/shetland-tea-shawl.html

http://fruitcakeknits.weblogs.us/archives/304

Pioneer Shawl

I have so been knitting!  I just haven't been knitting very much, and I've been finishing even less.  But today I finished a shawl for three little girls I know who like to play Little House on the Prairie.  Anemone will be our model today.

The yarn is from my stash.  My mom bought me several balls of lace weight mohair several years ago for my birthday.  I started many projects, but didn't like any of them.  Evidently, every time I started a new project, I used a new ball and threw away the label.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  Anyway, it's mohair.

I adapted Meg Swansen's "Garter and Lace" shawl pattern from The Best of Knitter's Magazine: Shawls and Scarves.  I cast on and followed the very basic pattern until all of a sudden I found that I was running out of yarn.  I didn't think I had enough left to complete the lace border (that turned out to be a good call) so I edged the shawl with Elizabeth Zimmerman's garter stitch edging (from The Knitter's Almanac) over three stitches.  I figure pioneer girls weren't much for fussy edgings, anyway.  They were much too busy playing in creeks and pretending to be Indian braves.

The dimensions are generous; unblocked, the shawl measures about 90" from tip to tip (I tied knots at both ends to help bring them in a bit) and about 56" from top to bottom.  If I were to block it I fear the recipients would be lost in its folds forever.  The blocking option remains open, for their mother is also a knitter and I just know she is dying to block a shawl.

Anemone has informed me that this is the second shawl I've given away, and she'd better be next on my list.  I dare not disappoint her.