Forest Canopy shawl

One of the handy things about clearing out your space, is that you find lots of WIP's that you had tried to forget about so you would feel less guilty about starting new projects:-) Not that these older projects weren't exciting when I started them, they were just put aside for a little bit whilst working something else out and then that little bit of time grew bigger and bigger until it got stashed and eventually forgotten about.

So, true to my new year's resolution of bringing these back into the light of day, we have the forest canopy shawl - work in progress.

Indeedy.  This was where we left it, oh, sometime last July..... :-) I put vivian aside for a day or two and decided it was time to get this finished. It was very easy to get back into the pattern too. All it took was a few evenings work and DONE! If I'd known it would have taken so little time, I may not have shelved it so readily. For someone who doesn't like old knitting projects hanging over her head, I do seem to have a fair number of them.

I left it wet blocking overnight and most of the next day and the cat didn't attack or try to eat the pins, thank goodness! She did think it was nice to sit on though - go figure! Personally I think it would be a bit wet on the bum but there you go. This was the best shot I could get as the light has been terrible here most of the week but you get the gist of the full shape and pattern - right? Apparently it's meant to stop raining by the weekend so fingers crossed we get a bit of sun so I can get some final photos outside. But I was trying to be creative inside as much as possible:-) So here you are, the finished forest canopy shawl in lovely Fuchsia pink;

Pattern and edging detailing

I think when I take some more photos I will get some help so I can show you what it looks like on. It was too difficult one handed in dodgy light so this is the best so far.....:-) It's a bit bigger in size than my magenta ishbel scarf which I like as it will be more versatile to wear.

As a shawl pattern, this is super easy and ideal for a first lace shawl knit. The pattern has very clear instructions and helpful how-to tips if you are just starting. I used a lifeline near the end in case I ran out of yarn before the pattern finished - another thing I've learned with this project;-)  

Using 4.5mm needles, I only used one skein (352m/385yrds) and managed to get 13 repeats and the edging pattern knitted comfortably with about two rows worth of extra yarn at the end. It's very quick to do (despite me having a few breaks in between) and very easy to increase its size being only an 8 row repeat. You can just keep going as big as you want or until your yarn runs out!  There are some gorgeous versions out there in ravelry and blogland to inspire. I quite fancy trying this out with a hand painted shawl blank - in colour bands with no colour repeated. Harmonious or contrasting colour palettes...... :-)

But I have promised myself to start the Luiza shawl first. Now that will be a little more challenging for me! At least I've got my hand back in knitting lace shawls. Maybe after knitting luiza, I will feel accomplished enough to sort out the mess I left poor nightingale in - all part dropped stitches on holders with no lifeline:( Sigh! But you live and learn!

Back soon with progress on Vivian!