My FO cup runneth over

Three guesses what’s finished, and the first two don’t count.

Pattern: The Shoalwater Shawl by the infinitely talented Evelyn Clark
Yarn: Andrea by the equally-talented folks at Schaefer Yarn
Time Elapsed: Just under a month?
Thoughts and Modifications: First of all, if you have any variegated yarn in your stash, I highly recommend this pattern. It’s one of the few shawl patterns I’ve seen where the color changes are an integral part of the shawl, instead of detracting from the lace.

That said… I’m really not sure I’d knit with this yarn again. It tangled whenever it could–even with my ball and swift, it took over an hour to wind it up. The colors are lovely, though, and it produced an amazing shawl.

The yardage is a little on the slight side–1093 yards; the pattern called for “about 1200”. I didn’t check my gauge, but I’m sure I would have used up at least 1300 knitting the shawl as written. I eliminated the last 20 rows and an applied i-cord border to the top of the shawl, and had maybe 3 yards of yarn leftover.

I don’t think the removed length and i-cord detract from the shawl, though. It’s still a nice generous size and could probably fly on its own, so gossamer is the fabric.

As usual, more rambling and pictures on the shawl’s FO page.

*****

I still have the Phyllo-Yoked Pullover on the needles, and the stockinette part goes so quickly (and the Calmer is so luscious) that I’m sure I can finish it in time. I cast on for Friday Harbor out of Regia Silk to have something tiny for our upcoming travel, and those might wind up being a gift for my mother-in-law.

So the holiday madness will likely stand at: Afghan out of Ultra Alpaca, HP Scarf out of Cascade 220, Fir Cone Lace Cardigan out of Silky Wool, Shoalwater Shawl out of Andrea, Phyllo-Yoked Pullover out of Calmer, and Friday Harbor socks out of Regia Silk. Not what I’d hoped, but not too shabby!

*****

We’re headed East for a few weeks. In case I can’t blog from the road, Happy Holidays to all who celebrate!