I’ve been plotting to make the Transatlantic shawl by Stephen West ever since I saw a photo of it on his website. I bought the pattern during a sale in March 2013, and when I headed to the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival in May, I armed myself with a stack of patterns and specs for shopping.
[picture from Steven West's pattern]
I bought this lusciously soft yarn expressly for this
project because it was marked sport weight and it was in the right tones as
natural wool and has a lovely fuzzy halo quality to it..
It turns out that this yarn is more fingering weight than
sport. Argh! But, it will still be scrumptious and lovely, though might turn
out a bit smaller...not sure I'm cool with that, shawlettes have no purpose for
me, and I'd like to knit it to gauge to match the drape of the original.
Problems, problems.
For gauge my quest started with a US8 (remember now, I knit *tight* so I
usually need to go up two needle sizes) bu...after trying 6s, 5s, then pulling the 7s from my sweater project, 7s are the way to go.
The cast on occurred during the Sochi Olympics opening ceremony, but I realized I wanted to use the 7s, and I had done my difficult cast on with black yarn and a glass of wine. Perhaps not the best way to start. I restarted at home and am about 24 rows in. I think my hope to complete this project for the Ravellenic games is a bit lofty, especially since I keep forgetting to knit when I come home at night!
The cast on occurred during the Sochi Olympics opening ceremony, but I realized I wanted to use the 7s, and I had done my difficult cast on with black yarn and a glass of wine. Perhaps not the best way to start. I restarted at home and am about 24 rows in. I think my hope to complete this project for the Ravellenic games is a bit lofty, especially since I keep forgetting to knit when I come home at night!
A note about the pattern: A lot of knitters have left out the lovely asymmetrical holes! That's what drew me to this project, the quirky gaping ovals, ringed with a pop of color. I plan to use my scraps of Valley Yarns Charlemont in Sunset, though that yarn isn't in a scrap state since it's being used for another Steven West pattern, Daybreak. That shawl will take considerably more time to finish, so I'm going to steal some yardage off the project ball and cross my fingers that I won't miss that yarn later.
1 comment:
The yarn is lovely, so I hope you're able to complete the shawl to your satisfaction. I made some major mistakes on the sock I was knitting during the opening ceremonies, but it'll be hidden in a shoe :)
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