Argyle Adventures

Hello hello! Today I come to you with a finished project: my argyle lace shawl! It's been knit, it's been blocked, and now it's ready for the spotlight! I've already introduced this project and shared my work in progress pictures, so let's cut to the chase and get to the main event, shall we?

Lovely, isn't it? I really couldn't be happier with how this shawl turned out. The argyle-esque pattern works so well in lace, and I love the way it looks in this color yarn, too! It drapes beautifully and looks good open in front or held closed with a shawl pin.

I will say, the shawl is a lot bigger than I imagined it would be. Its wingspan is probably close to six feet, though I haven't measured it precisely: that's a lot for a triangle shawl! When I put it on, the point at the bottom reaches to the back of my thighs! It's definitely a full-coverage type of shawl, and given that the yarn is alpaca, it should prove to be quite warm in the fall months. I think that doing one fewer repeats of the main lace pattern would also make a good shawl that's just a bit smaller. 

My final verdict on the pattern itself is a bit mixed. Although I love the way the shawl looks when it's done right, it was tricky to figure out what "right" meant given the instructions. As I mentioned before, the pattern starts out with a vague comment on how the chart only shows "half" of each row, and that seven stitches are omitted from each row. I also had some trouble with the bind-off instructions, though when I went back to figure out exactly what I had trouble with, the instructions seemed clear enough. I'm not sure whether it's a case of hindsight being 20/20 or me misreading something the first time through. In either case, though, I'd recommend putting in a lifeline before attempting the bind off. You never know when your dad is going to sit on your project and pull out 30 stitches! Overall, I'd recommend it only to practiced knitters who already know their way around a shawl pattern. That way, you'll be able to make sense of murky instructions without tearing your hair out. 

Now that this big project is out of the way, I want to make a smaller item or two before moving onto the next big thing. And I do have to get started on the Taako costume as well. So many crafts, so little time! Join me next week and I'm sure to have something new to show you. But until then, stay crafty!