Bermuda Shawl FO

Pattern: Gingko Shoulder Shawlette by Fragrant Heart

Yarn: Viola Superwash Merino Fingering

Colour: Graphite

Needles: 4mm circular

Start: May Finish: July 10, 2011

Modifications: Added 2 repeats of lace chart per side of shawl

This is my first honest to goodness triangular kind of lacy shawl and I can now certainly see why many knitters so enjoy knitting them!

Unlike the epic pieces I see on other knit blogs, this one is pretty straightforward and so a good place to start (at least for me!)  Its mostly stockinette with a 34 row lace edging. Easy even for me with my chronic wandering brain ever missing this yarn over and that skpsso!

Although I did put effort into blocking it, I can see how the end result can be so closely tied to the amount of care put into that step of the process. My edge is kind of woggily so despite using every T-pin and all the long blocking wires I own and even spritzing it with water after it was all pinned out I guess I could have/should have done better.

This tutorial by Eunny Jang (in a blog post from December '06!) covers the basics I guress I should have gone beyond the "basics".(As an aside, does anyone else ever wonder what Eunny might have done or direction she might have gone had she not become editor of Interweave Knits and instead maybe did a Ysolda-type or Brooklyn Tweedy thing?) 

Anyway I plan to get a lot of wear out of this piece next autumn and winter so I'll be laundering it before too long and so be able to try to do a better job next time.

Really though, this project is about the yarn - the colour of the yarn! From a distance its a cool, ashy brown with a bit of grey...

But look closer and you see the Robin's Egg Blue...

Look at those shots of rusty red that warm everything up so much, add depth and keep the overall impression from becoming just a cold shade of brown... 

 And check out that shot of brilliant turquoise!

How does the woman behind "Viola" yarns get all these colours and that single little turquoise shot into a hank of brown yarn? Its so unexpected and it works with no small measure of sophistication;. (I'm also kind of thrilled it made it into that cast off edge right at the tip of the triangle!)

Yet at its base its a handsome, no nonsense Brown and I love the way that takes the edge off the fussiness of the lace. I just know its going to go with a ton of things in my autumn and winter wardrobe. Its already gone very very well with my coffee this morning!

I'm so glad I took the time to rip back, add repeats to better use up all the yarn and then knit it correctly.

I'm also glad you dropped by to see it! Thanks so much for coming over!