Friday, July 6, 2012

Mulled Raspberry Shawl

I recently had the opportunity to test-knit this beautiful shawl.

Sorry for the lighting in the pictures- I took them in 2 different locations with different lighting.  This first picture is a pretty good representation of the actual color.

 Stephanie Etting (verybusymonkey on Ravelry) is the designer of this lovely shawl.  Designers of knitting patterns and of quilting patterns generally ask a few people to test the patterns.  I was honored to have the opportunity to test knit this shawl.  It's fun to test knit.  It's like proof reading.... looking for errors and working through the pattern to see if all of the instructions are clear.  (The pattern is now available for purchase, by the way.)

 This can be worn as a little shawlette or as a scarf.  I'll probably wear it as a scarf.  It's a fun one for me because I think the squares look like quilt blocks.

This close up shows the design better than the other photos.

I used Barking Dog Yarns Achilles fingering weight yarn in the colorway Old Stone Wall.  I love Barking Dog Yarns.  Suzan O'Brien is an independent dyer who hand dyes each skein individually.  It feels like such a luxury to use her yarns!

I thought you might like to see what a knitted piece like this looks like before it's blocked.  It's a pile of mess!  I wish I had taken a photo while it was being blocked.  I'll have to try to remember to do that next time.  There are a few ways to block a project.  I use wet blocking.  You take the piece and soak it in water (I add a good wool wash).  Then gently squeeze the water out (no wringing or hard squeezing).... and then roll it in a towel.  Then.... on a blocking board or something you can put pins in (some people just put it on a bed or on the floor).... you shape it.  In this case, I put a pin in each one of the little points in the picot edge.  This can take a while to pin it into the perfect shape.  Then don't mess with it until it's completely dry.  POOF!  You take the pins out and it retains the shape!

Thanks to Stephanie's pattern and Suzan's yarn for giving me the tools to create this pretty shawl/scarf!

5 comments:

Debbie said...

Wow, beautifully knit, Sue!

Elizabeth said...

Oh, I like that shawlette! I've only knit one so far but I might try and tackle that one.

Judy S. said...

Nice work, Sue! Do you know if you have to reblock a shawl if you wash it? This looks like a nice pattern.

Maya Moonie said...

Gorgeous! Mine (well, one of the two) is blocking right now. Pictures tomorrow :)

Kerstin said...

Beautiful! Nice work, Sue!