And one thing leads to another ...

Late one night last week I was happily clicking away through the beloved Ravelry patterns section, I noticed the Aestlight shawl was one of the most popular patterns (for a short time).

I liked it, so I joined the 'Shetland Trader' group.

I bought the pattern.

I have always wanted a fingering weight triangular shawl, but have never knitted one.

I also have been wondering how long a skein of fiftyfifty really is.

So one thing lead to another, and here we are, a finished Aestlight.



Project Details (all ravelry links)

Aestlight Shawl (why do I keep typing Aestlake?) by Gudrun Johnson of The Shetland Trader

I made the smaller size, as the pattern says the larger one needs more than 400m of yarn.

Yarn: knitabulous fifty fifty (50/50 wool/silk, 100g, 400m), 1 skein with about 15g left over.
Colour: Your place or mine
Needle Size: 3.75mm addis

Modifications: The pattern calls for a kfb at both ends and in the centre to increase. I used a yo instead, and incorporated the birds-eye lace into the work as I went along. At first I thought the kfb in the sample pictures looked a little clunky, but on completion of my own version I'm not sure it is really an improvement. However, there is a noticeable difference, so I thought I'd mention it.

Comments: I very much enjoyed knitting this shawl. At no stage does the number of stitches get overwhelming (a big advantage of the fingering weight yarn), the variation in technique makes it interesting and quick to knit. I didn't mind the Bird's Eye lace part although I know Bells didn't enjoy it, I found it was over soon enough. I'm not normally a massive fan of garter based lace, but it is the fundamental element of this shawl and it works really well. It's very squishy!

As for the yarn - it actually exceeded my expectations, if I don't say so myself. The combination of the dry soft silk and the springy wool (which is more than likely Australian merino - I'll explain that another time) is great for easy knitting. Sometimes silk alone is a little harsh on your fingers, due to the absence of any elasticity, but that isn't an issue with the fiftyfifty.

It's so springy in fact, that I am going to try it on a pair of socks soon, a rarity for my knitting. Now to choose a pattern - catch you all on ravelry ...