Handspun heaven

Pins have been removed, ends sewed in - and she turned out beautiful if I do say so myself!This beautiful yarn (an alpaca silk blend) was spun by the uber-talented Monika (if you want to get your hands on some gorgeous handspun, her shop is here). There are two greens - a very yellowy one, and a ghostly silver one - and they mix beautifully with a dark raspberry purple/pink.

The thing I love about this shawl is it was hand-dyed, hand-spun, and hand-knit! I love the way it subtly striped, and the fact that the stripes were absolutely unpredictable.

The pattern is the Holden Shawlette. It's a well written, free pattern and the design is so pretty. Although I love the look of the picot cast off, I was not thrilled with the knitting of it. I am not a process knitter - I want the product and I want it now. By the time I get to the cast off, I'm ready to be done! The picot bind off slowed me down and annoyed the crap out of me, but I have to admit it was worth it in the end - the shawl wouldn't have looked right without it.
I only made one small modification to the pattern. I was worried about running out of yarn, so I started the lace pattern earlier than designed. It was such a pretty pattern, I wanted to get as much in as I could. As it happened, I probably could have knit as written and been okay, but I hate having to rip back after running out of yarn. It's a decent size for shawlette - 56" wide, but I'll probably be using it as a scarf. I want to dye up some yarn in similar colours so I can make a matching hat and gloves.

So, that's eight shawls done. I have been working on my STR Silkie shawl here and there - but admittedly, I've been cheating on it. Today Dave had some errands to run, so while he was driving, I was working on his socks. And, tonight I've been working on a hat that will probably end up being a Christmas gift. I really should get moving on the shawls - only a month in a half left to finish two - but I just can't seem to get my groove on - there's always tomorrow....right?