Birthday Boneyard

I've been doing some secret knitting for a friend's birthday, which is part of the reason it has been a little quiet here.  But now that the big day has come and gone, I can share what I've been working on...

It's the Boneyard shawl from Stephen West (don't you just love his shawls!).  Bonus:  the pattern is a free Ravelry download!



Before I start any given project, I like to look through the finished versions on Ravelry for inspiration.  For this pattern I saw that a bunch of folks had knit their shawl using one skein of Madeline Tosh Pashmina.  I had one particular colour of Pashmina in my stash - Pop Rocks - that I knew my friend, Stacey, would love.  It's a super bright pink, and just up her street.



Looking through the finished projects on Ravelry I also saw that some folks had chosen to work the shawl in stripes of differing colours.  I love stripes, and thought this would add a touch of fun to the finished shawl.  I found some Coral online that would contrast well with the Pop Rocks Pink.  Yes, this combo would be a good, bright, fun one!  Perfect for Stacy.  Ooh and the Madeline Tosh Pashmina is just devine - soo very soft.



The folks that had used one skein of MadelineTosh Pashmina were able to get about 9 repeats of the pattern, which is a good size for a neckerchief sized shawl.  I wanted to make something bigger and cuddlier and worked 12 repeats of the pattern.  The end result is a really good size - enough to truly be called a shawl, without being too big and 'drowning' the wearer.  FYI, the 12 repeat version used 1 whole skein of the main colour - Pop Rocks - and the majority of one skein of the contrast colour - Coral.



Finally, the pattern calls for the Elizabeth Zimmerman sewn bind off.  It's a perfect bind-off for the shawl due to it's strectchiness.  But man, it took me forever to bind off in this manner!  Well worth it though.



The gift is a winner (yay!) -- Stacey loves it.  Which means I am also over the moon:  I do love gift knitting when the finished project is soo graciously received.



Hope you are having a lovely weekend my friends,
Hugs,
Sam
xxx