More birthday knitting revelations (and a happy birthday to Cairi for yesterday)!

Pattern: Peacock Feathers Shawl by Dorothy Siemens for Fiddlesticks Knitting
Yarn: Colourmart Cashmere/Silk 3/45NM Laceweight, about 80g in “Kingfisher”
Needles: 3mm Addi lace - whizzy!

I think I mentioned before that Mr B gave me this and another Fiddlestick pattern for Christmas a couple of years ago. As with a lot of people, I regularly see a pattern and think “Must. Have. Now.” so I’ve amassed far more patterns than I can ever reasonably knit - I probably have the pattern version of SABLE - but at least I know I have them safely tucked away, just in case…

When the yarn arrived from Colourmart, I knew that I had to use it for this pattern. And that I had to give it to a person who is more obsessed with teal than you’d think was humanly possible.

It was a very enjoyable knit. The entire pattern is charted with no written directions other than the pattern notes, so probably not for you if charts make you cower. Plus you have to mentally reverse the chart for the second half of the shawl as they’re mirror images, rather than symmetrical. However, as every row is different, the amount of paper needed to type out all 200+ rows in full would possibly mean the loss of several forests. Not to mention the scope for errors. And there wasn’t a single one!

I also learnt another new skill with this pattern - the crochet cast off loopy edging thingumy. It took a LONG time to do, because it was a new skill, after all, and I was using a 3mm crochet hook which seemed tiny. I like the way it looks now, but it was a real pain to block!

The yarn was divine to knit with. I was alternating between this and the Mystery Shawl which is knitted in Baruffa Cashwool and honestly, the Cashwool actually felt rough in comparison. That’s how soft this yarn is. Plus it just goes on forever, so I reckon I have enough left for another shawl in the same size.