I decided to knit something special for myself as a pick-me-up, because the process of moving house is pretty darn stressful for me. Moving is not my favourite thing...
... but rainbows just might be! Right up there with ducklings, anyway. ;)
The concept for my new shawl is a rainbow appearing on a rainy grey day. A timely reminder that there's a bright side to all this upheaval - a shiny new life in a new place.
This is my first shawl design. I've knit several shawls, some lacy and some not, and have found them a fun and rewarding thing to knit: you can get something really spectacular out of just one skein of yarn, and the transformation after blocking a shawl is simply magic. I gained confidence with the shaping of different kinds of shawls at a class I attended recently ('It's a Wrap', taught by Morag of Vintage Purls).
I came up with the raindrop-lace stitch myself, after lots of test-swatching. Because this stitch only looks like falling raindrops when knitted from the bottom up, I made the shawl a bottom-up design: you begin with the rainbow edge, and the rows get shorter as you go.
I wear my shawls wound around my neck, scarf-style, so I went for a long, crescent shape which is easy to drape in different ways. Both sides of the shawl look good, which is important for wearability. Actually, I'm still not sure which side I prefer! Right now I'm leaning towards the purl side.
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| The raindrop lace on the 'knit' side |
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| The raindrop lace on the 'purl' side |
This was my first time using the lovely local Knitsch Sock yarn, dyed by Tash of Holland Road Yarn Company. I've been hoarding this for a special project! Five mini skeins were included with the main variegated-grey skein, in this limited-run set called 'Rainy Day Rainbow'. Knitsch Sock is a high-twist merino yarn that comes in a range of amazing colours. It's smooth and soft, but also hard-wearing. Just as well - I predict I'll be wearing my rainbow shawl to death...
The pattern for this design will be available soon. Stay tuned. :)