FO: Aeolian

I'm still not feeling great, but I had to get out of the house today. After three days of barely leaving the couch, I just couldn't stand to stay there any more. So I headed up to Mom's to get some shots of Aeolian and Tea Leaves. Tea Leaves will come tomorrow, but here's my new favourite shawl. It was very cold out, with a biting wind, so I had to work very quickly to get these pics.

The pattern is Aeolian, one that's been in my queue forever! I used a lovely matte topaz coloured bead, but the shawl isn't as beaded as the pattern calls for.

The pattern has beading on the first set of leaves, but when I started the shawl, I didn't have beads for it. But as the rows grew, I knew I definitely wanted to include them, so I made a special trip to get them.  I'm quite pleased with the amount of beads though. I think more would have been too much and would have slowed my progress exponentially.

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The yarn is out new Solo Cat, and the colour is Mulled Cider (as I'm writing this, there's still a skein in the shop). It's a single-ply merino with a nice tight twist, which means it will hold up better than less twisted single-plys, and gives beautiful stitch definition. You will definitely see me make more projects with it. Right now Mom is knitting a pair of fingerless gloves from it. (And I'm very sorry I didn't keep the second skein of that colourway!)

I ended up using about 700 yards, so it's a good sized shawl - probably one of the largest I've made. I had a little trouble blocking out the edges, but overall, I'm happy with it.

And, for the curious... last night after posting, I started working on a new design. I ended up frogging after just a few rows - the yarn just isn't right for what I have in mind. So instead I started the Stray Cat shawl. I'll share more with you later. Tonight, however, I'm going to be a good girl and cast on the second Embossed Leaves sock so I can get it off the needles before the end of the month.