Nora Shawl

This is the second shawl I’ve knitted from Knitting wraps in the Round, part of my attempt to hone my skills in steeking. For both I’ve used natural alpaca, from Adagio Mills, now located just outside Sydney. I love the yarn. While the earlier shawl was a fair isle, two colours per row, this one has been a mosaic knit, knitting with one colour per row, but carrying a second colour from previous rows by slipping stitches. It is an appealing technique, which I’ve used before. Here, with two very strong contrasting colours, it is used to produce a striking pattern.

The geometry is intriguing, and all credit to the designer who came up with it.

As with the previous shawl, it began with 3 stitches. I worked about 3" back and forth, increasing at each end of every row until I had enough stitches to join into the round., inserting a 9 stitch steek in the process.

It seems unlikely that the pattern will emerge when you are knitting with only one colour in each row - but it does. The mosaic technique not only pulls up a second colour in each row, it also creates curves.

It took quite a while to knit, with each row increasing by 2 stitches, until there were 462 stitches.

Along the top is a single colour feather and fan border, about 10cm deep. I chose to work it in the black, rather than the brown. By the time I got to it, I was pleased to move into a single colour, and a lace pattern.

The cast-off, using an i-cord, took a few hours. 4 actions went into casting off each stitch. It is strong, and loose enough to accentuate the curve. I was concerned, however, that it might continuously curl, even after blocking, especially as it is the edge that sits around the neck and front of the user.

The back has its own charm, no floats, almost tweedy (left).

Although I machined two rows  either side of the centre of the steek before I cut, I ended up unpicking most of the machine thread as I stitched the edges down, because it removed elasticity.

Blocking presented a problem. I had intended to use my hap stretcher, but the shape that emerged once the steek was cut did not lend itself to its right angles. The shawl was over 2 metres from tip to tip. A friend suggested using the spare bed. I was a bit concerned about the dampness transferring to the bedding, but with a towel under it and the window open, it was manageable.

Fortunately, the bed is a king single, so it just fitted. With the window open it dried in about 20 hours. 

I was truly delighted with the result. My worry that the edge would continuously curl was unfounded. It folded neatly around the neck and fell beautifully.  I was also sceptical about the usefulness of the shape, but it is well long enough to drape comfortably.       

It is better than I anticipated. This one is a gift for a daughter. I'm wondering if there's enough alpaca left (yes, I did end up over-ordering!) to make another one.  

Now there's an idea!