shetland, finished

It's done! And I'm in love. This is the most ambitious knitting I've done to date and I am so very happy I went on the adventure. The pictures simply do not do justice to this amazing piece. It is large and cozy. I can certainly see wrapping up in this on chilly days. 

The yarn I chose, an alpaca/wool/nylon blend, lends the shawl great weight and drape without being bulky. It's also just a little bit "gritty" if that makes sense. It's not a soft silky feel but more of a rough and tweedy hand, and I think that suits it very nicely. I would absolutely use this yarn for a shawl again as I really like the texture. 

The color is difficult to capture on camera. It's a navy with flecks of magenta/purple in it appropriately named 'blueberry'. I can remember when I bought 5 skeins of this lace weight yarn at the shop and being asked "what are you going to make with all of this tiny yarn?!" Well, I don't think the lady believed me when I told her a single Shetland shawl, but I have just under half a skein left! It just ate up yardage. 

It is fun to look at this project and remember the places it's been with me as I worked on it, especially the trip over the pond to Scotland it took. It's even more special to me having seen the cultural birthplace of this type of shawl. Though we did not specifically go to Shetland, I do see echoes of the mainland highlands in the patterns as well and that is a pretty cool connection. 

I very much enjoyed the knitting once I got going, and I'm looking forward to another project from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawl Knitting book soon. 

Pattern: Fir Cone Shawl (my Ravelry page)
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in 'blueberry mix'
Needle: US 7 (4.5 mm)
Size: 6 feet square