FO: Playin' My Song Shawl

Every so often I find myself drawn into the allure of a Mystery Knit Along. Sometimes it's a favorite designer, sometimes it's an object I wanted to knit anyway, and sometimes it's neither of those things and I just learned about it at just the right moment and split second decide to join in. This was the case of feeling like knitting a shawl and then watching Sweet Georgia on YouTube back in July and learning there would be a shawl mystery knit along (mkal) in August. They had a discount on the pattern if you preordered it, and that was that. Decision made.

I decided to combine this mkal with trying out some new yarn (which means I did not go by the gauge in the pattern). I grabbed 3 skeins of this Lotus Yarns Swan Lake from Temu over the summer on a whim. Actually the creamy colored yarn was one of their "price drop just for you" offers and I got it for like $1.79, so how could I pass that up? Then I liked it so well I decided to get a few other colors. Swan Lake is a lace weight yarn that is 50% cashmere, 40% wool, and 10% angora which all equals SO SOFT. For real. The pattern calls for fingering weight in a size 6 needle, so I just went down to a size 5 needle and called it good. It's certainly a bit more airy than the others I see, but I like that for being in a warmer climate.

The shawl construction was pretty cool and one I've never done before. The cream colored triangular section was the first clue, which felt very normal and shawl-like compared to others I've made. Then you leave stitches live around the edges of the triangle but only work one side at a time for each of the next clues, and while the two sides are the same size and use the same textured stitches, the order of each type of stitch is moved around to look asymmetrical. If you look above you can see that the cream colored stripes are in different spots on each side. It's something I don't think you'd particularly notice when someone wears it unless you really look. 

I do really like the different textures and I dig the color combo I chose for this. I bought all of these yarns knowing they would combine well, but not knowing the design beforehand did have me stressing a bit. All good though :) While I do like the textures of the stitches, some of them were pretty similar and right next to each other, which was an interesting choice.

In the end, my shawl measures 80" x 15" is slightly longer but slightly shorter than the pattern says, as expected by using a smaller yarn and needle, but it's still surprisingly close. The miracles of blocking, folks. I could easily block it the exact size the pattern states, but I liked how this looked so it's fine as is. The elongated shape does mean this wears differently than any of the other shawls I've made, which were a triangular or half circle shaped. Typically, I wear my shawls bandana style where I drape the middle in front of my neck, wrap the ends around to the front, and tie them together under the front flap. This is not an option for this shawl - I tried. I can wrap it around from the front, but securing it is a totally different hassle. It definitely works better to just wear it as a traditional shawl (like in my top photo), but we will see how I figure out styling it when it gets cooler outside and I can wear it.

So that's my Playin' My Song shawl :) I was a little behind the clues - 3 weeks just isn't realistic for my to finish a project this size, but I did manage t finish in 5 weeks which it nothing to sneeze at.  I enjoyed knitting this and the yarn is really lovely. I definitely recommend grabbing some if you feel so inclined. Now I have a cashmere/bunny soft wrap to snuggle up in when the weather cools down.

Summary:

Yarn: Swan Lake by Lotus Yarns in colors 2 (cream), 11 (purple), and 16 (teal) on Temu = $10.79

Pattern: Playin' My Song MKAL by Tabetha Hedrick for Sweet Georgia Yarns - $6.50

Time: 5 weeks

Total Cost: $ 17.29