Tuesday, January 24, 2012

FO: Lilac Leaf Shawl

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Over the Christmas break I finished up a few languishing knits in progress, and this shawl, Lilac Leaf Shawl (rav link) from Knitted Lace of Estonia, was one of them.  I had an embarrassingly small amount of knitting left to do - about two leaf repeats and an edging - but that was enough for it to sit around in the WIP basket for months on end.

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This is my second time making this shawl out of Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace, and both times I've ended up really happy with the end product.  The first Lilac Leaf shawl went to my host mother, and I liked making it so much that I decided to cast on for another one, this time to keep.  The pattern is very, very easy - probably the easiest pattern in Knitted Lace of Estonia.  The edgings give it just a little bit of complexity, but are very fast to knit.  I think what killed me was the endless repeats of the center lilac leaf pattern.

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As with the first shawl, I knit it way longer than the pattern calls for.  The pattern says to knit the leaf repeat (each of 2 leaves) a total of 14 times, plus two more to end, making 30 leaves total.  I knit 40 leaves and used right around 900 yards of yarn, which makes me think that the pattern as written needs right around 700 yards rather than the 500 yards called for.  With this type of rectangular shawl, though, it's really easy resize for whatever yardage you have: just knit both edgings and then knit the center pattern until you're just about out of yarn.  Then graft, block, and feel mightily impressed with your ingenuity.

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Another for the shawl drawer!

Pattern: Lilac Leaf Shawl by Nancy Bush, from Knitted Lace of Estonia
Needles: Size 6 US Addi Turbo Lace
Yarn: 2 balls of Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace, color 2419 Fandango Pink (hahah, Fandago)
Yardage: about 900 yards out of 940
Mods: Knit 40 leaves instead of 30.

2 comments:

Mags said...

It's very pretty. It looks light and airy, but still warm.

Lindsey said...

I love the color you chose.
Looks better than anything in a store.