Finished: Paisley Shawl

Pattern: Paisley Shawl by Kate Gilbert from the book Folk Style
Yarn: Rowanspun 4 ply, 100% pure new wool, 148 m/25 g
Color: Squirrel (very light grey)
Price: about 1.6 € per skein
Amount: 5 skeins
Needles: 3.5 mm
Gauge: perfect, although I have no clue how many stitches are in 10 cm :D
Dimensions:
Modifications: None

It took me a couple of weeks to finish this shawl, because except for the repeats in the rows, there is no real pattern repeat, every row is different. Which means you have to pay attention to the knitting instructions. People are always so afraid of lace, but a lot have nice pattern repeats that you can memorize well and even if it's not nirvanalike blissful mindless knitting, it's still ok. The Flower Basket Shawl or the Shetland Triangle consist of stitch patterns that are quite easy to memorize. After a while you realize that what you knit is related to the previous row, meaning the stitches in your previous row lead and guide you in your current row. This pattern though requires you to pay attention, you can memorize the repeats in the rows, but you can not really rely on the previous rows much to help you forsee the next stitch you have to knit.

Nevertheless, I have to say this is probably one of my favorite knitting projects, not so much for the knitting fun, but I love the end product. While I was knitting I was wishing a bit that I was knitting with alpaca, because the yarn was not as smooth and had some slubs, which slows the knitting down a bit. The grey was also not a true grey, but has a little bit of a yellowish base due to the natural color of the wool shining through. And all the grey was also boring me a bit. My Mystery Stole - light grey (I haven't posted yet, because I need to reblock it properly, my lazy approach with a few pins didn't work very well this time...), my Esther Williams hat - light grey. But after seeing the finished shawl I'm convinced, the yarn is perfect for this pattern and the color is great, I don't notice the yellow undertone anymore - what can I say, I'm blinded by the beauty of my shawl :D. It's perfect, it's flawless, it's simply lovely! :D And can you believe it? I get such a nice warm shawl for about 8 €! I need to stock more of this yarn, I really like it.

At the moment I have another Paisley Shawl on my needles, this time it's alpaca in a lovely dark green, but I think I will have to frog it. Alpaca is a heavy yarn and this is a big shawl that is mostly knit in stockinette stitch. I'm therefore a bit afraid that it will turn out too heavy. A more lacy project might suit this yarn better.