Harbour Lights, she is blocked and woven in. Stick a fork in 'er.
(The spine went from 21" to a grand 28.5" upon blocking. Magic!)
I was initially a little worried how the cast-on and bind-off edges of the edging would look, especially after blocking. Verdict? They're not perfect, but they'll do. Overall, I think this shawl will definitely get some wear as a late-spring to early-summer shawl - the beads add heft, but they also add a chill factor! All those tiny little beads have a much lower heat capacity than the cashmere/silk blend yarn, which means they soak up cold and transfer it to your skin. Which may be nice in the warmer months, but isn't going to do me much good in the cold weather we've been having!
On another note, I read a blog post recently by a knitter who doesn't have a stash. (GASP.) I can definitely see how it would simplify one's life. Some days I aspire to be the kind of person who doesn't need a stash. There's something very appealing about finishing a project and going to the yarn shop to buy more yarn for the next project, never accumulating huge quantities of yarn that jump out to attack you when you stumble into your stash room at 2 am to look for a fix of aran merino.
But other days, I realize that projects like this one - made from a stash yarn that needed a few years of percolating to know what it wanted to be when it grew up - are part of the life cycle of the stash-laden knitter. Maybe it's blatant rationalization, but I think having a monstrous stash challenges me to find the perfect pattern for each yarn, even if it sometimes takes a while. I do have trouble knitting certain yarns in my stash, because I bought them when I was a much younger and more fearful knitter. I bought them knowing there was a possibility I'd never be skilled enough to work with them properly, and thus they have never left that yarn-pedestal in my mind.
Of course, at some point I have to realize the ridiculousness of this idea and just knit the stuff up. As my friend Teri says, there will always be new, pretty yarn to buy and put in your stash. I think I'll trust her on this one.
Project Page
Pattern: Harbour Lights, by Sivia Harding
Yarn: Jade Sapphire Silk/Cashmere 2-ply, colorway Sterling
Yardage: Almost all of 2 skeins, ~760 yards
Needles: Size 5 (3.75 mm) US Addi Turbo Lace
Notes: I used the knitted cast-on for the edging and cast off knitwise. Other than that, I knit it exactly as written.
3 comments:
This is absolutely stunning!!!
Sometimes I aspire to be one of those people who either don't or have very little in terms of stash. I have 2 friends that have that and sometimes I'm envious as to how easy it must be to pick a project and get the perfect yarn from it rather than having to pick from stash. At the rate that I'm consuming yarn, I don't think I'll be at that stage any time soon!
awesome shawl.......trust me, you can never have too much pretty jewlery or too much pretty yarn.
My mom is the only knitter I know who never has a stash. She finds a pattern she wants to knit, buys the yarn, and knits monogamously until it's done. Then she does it it all again.
She has been knitting on and off for the last 30 years but doesn't want to accumulate even a few skeins of yarn. It blows my mind. Apparently I didn't inherit the no-stash gene.
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