Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Well it could have been a wisp

When I dyed this wool I really didn't know what I was going to do with it - well I can't remember having anything planned, which probably explains why I didn't dye enough.
(Ok, my compulsiveness to always estimate waaaay less yarn than I need also helped the cause.)
In fact, I ended up dyeing some more to finish the shawl. Thankfully you can't seem to see the difference in dye lots because in hand dyed that can be a real issue.

It's very "Thomas the Tank Engine" blue (well I am surrounded by it all day) and it reminded me of the tropical waters we are heading off to in May so I thought I'd make a light wrap.
But working the two patterns at once evaded me so I gave up and just went with my own version of this pattern.

So here it is after a wash. (This blue can be hard to keep in once dyed so always best to be careful when washing.)
The nice straight edge comes from the blocking wires I've just fed down the side of it.
The first time I've blocked on wires. It was a little fiddly but better than trying to get the thing pinned straight.
It's a 'fisherman's lace' pattern (yo, K2tog) and I put a few rows of garter stitch every 50 of lace. It also has an eyelet pattern running down the side.

I'd hoped to block it a lot wider, but the lace doesn't want to stretch that way, so although the lace has blocked out it will never be really wide.







Finished and dried.
Very summery.

The yarn was a 3ply 100% wool. It dyed nicely and knit very nicely as well.
Quite happy with it.