Cambria, knitted

I finished this just before Thanksgiving, while hanging out on the couch at my parents' place in Chicago. The following is a photographic ode to what I think is a stunning shawl that I enjoyed working on enough to make another one some day. 

I haven't blocked it yet (shock and surprise) but already the wingspan is gargantuan. It ate up just about all of the two skeins of 400+ yards that I had and a good chunk of my leftover La Jolla for those little contrasting stripes. I ran out of the variegated color most of the way through the third stripe so that one is two rows shorter and I simply used the brown for the rest of the way. It's no big deal, I like the way the whole thing turned out and I won't notice two fewer rows in one of the sections. I will note that although it doesn't look like it, this is total potato chip knitting. Not only do the stripes keep you knitting, but the rhythm of the short row pattern also makes the rows fly by. Very addicting!

I had a lot of fun photographing this one. The visual texture of the pattern and the way it plays with the variations in yarn color even with the solid is really pleasing to the eye. Plus, obviously my stitch markers had to come along to play. The little bumble bees are nestled in a pretty glass dish I got in Half Moon Bay with my mom on one of her visits. I love me some purple, and it happens to go perfectly with the purple tones in this yarn.

Although I haven't blocked it yet, I can see that it is going to drape very nicely. Using a larger needle with a lighter weight yarn gives this fabric a light and floaty texture. I am imagining being wrapped up in this on a breezy day at the beach or an evening gazing into a campfire. An outdoorsy kind of piece, that's for sure. 

Also, a unicorn. Because, why not? More information can be found on my Ravelry project page and I'll post something after blocking, but here are the basic bits for now because we all know the blocking could be a while:

Pattern: Litchfield Shawl (by Laura Aylor)

Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Alegria in 'malvin', Anzula Squishy in 'sexy', and Baah La Jolla in 'maldives', about 950 yards total

Needles: size 6 to cast on and size 8 to knit the body

This was my first bottom-up shawl and I must say, I think I prefer it. The cast off at the top tab is much less cumbersome, and the bottom edge is a neater cast on row. Neater for me, anyway -- my cast offs are never as nice. Another plus in my mind is that the longest rows are out of the way while I'm still really excited about the newly started project. By the time I'm in the middle and wanting to cast on something new, the rows go by so fast it really motivates the finishing. So, bottom's up!