FO: Ishbel

 

What is it about February that makes me want to knit shawls? This seems to be a trend for me every year and I don't really know why that is. This project was more of a case of a yarn I really wanted to use and I had ear marked this pattern for it. 2 weeks later, I had a finished shawl, lol, which feels incredibly fast for me.

This is the notorious Ishbel pattern by Ysolda Teague. I've had the pattern for years in the Whimsical Little Knits book but I had never bit the bullet. I've made 2 other Ysolda patterns, but never a shawl, so something about that just felt right when I was hunting a use for this yarn. The yarn was given to me when I friend gave me 2 huge buckets of good yarn, but sadly this one had no button band so I have no idea what it is. A burn test showed that this is sock yarn - it feels like a merino nylon blend to me - but it just had the most beautiful tonal pink color. 

I wanted a nice lacy pattern that would shine in this mostly solid colored yarn and I think this project was just the ticket. I did run into trouble simply because I was mindlessly knitting the top stockinette section and didn't pay enough attention to the yarn overs at the edges. I missed 3 yarn overs, which made my stitch count off by the time I needed to set up for the lace. I had to redo the first 6 lace set up rows seriously like 4 times. This had to sit in time out for a few days I was so frustrated, but I finally realized what I needed to do for it to line up and then it was smooth sailing ... until I reached the last row. I was knitting merrily along and I thought I would have enough yarn, but I ran out about 6 inches from the end and still needed to bind off. I was able to tink back about a foot and use a smaller needle for that last row, which enabled me to just barely squeak out that full row, then I dug in my stash for a complimentary yarn I thought would work for this. I settled on Knit Picks Stroll in Jack Rabbit Heather, which I think actually makes me like the shawl even more. It's a nice frame for the edge and is still neutral enough to go with whatever I want to wear this with. 

So that's my Ishbel Shawl! I had a lot of fun making this, despite the small set backs, and I still really love this yarn. It's too warm to wear this now, but I look forward to having it next time it cools off :)