I know that all knitters have had this problem a few times in their life. You see a yarn or piece of fiber in a shop and it grabs you. The colour! The texture! The softness and wonderfulness of it pulls you in and you must have it. It is totally unique and you have never seen anything quite like it before. Ever. So you buy this little slice of heaven and bring it home. Then, when you are opening up the stash to make room for it you discover something startling. There in your stash is an almost perfect match for what you are holding in your hand. It turns out that you have bought a yarn that is almost the same shade, the same fiber content. Sigh, oops!
This is what happened to me with this shawl. I bought a braid of Ashland Bay roving on my first trip to Rhinebeck, 4 years ago. Then, on my last trip to England I managed to make it to Knit Nation and bought a gorgeous braid from Old Maiden Aunt. In almost the exact same colour. Both of them are wool/silk blends.
I decided to go with it. I found 50g of Lady Godiva from Fleece Artist that was also a close match and spun it all up. I knit them from lightest to darkest in a giant shawl/scarf thing. The garter stitch! The handspun! It is so delightful and squishy and warm and wonderful. The colours are so close it is hard to tell where I changed from one to the other. The order is Fleece Artist, Ashland Bay, Old Maiden Aunt, then another Fleece Artist in dark brown for the border.
I am so glad I was able to think of something to do with all of the handspun together. I tend to buy 100g amounts of fiber, but it can be so limiting when it comes to actually knitting anything with it. This shawl is 350g of handspun, at about a sport/worsted. Perfect!
I love it completely. It was the easiest of knitting. I just went along until I got close to the end, then bound off. It counts as my first FO of the 12 Outfits project as well, so it is extra lovely. I can’t wait to finish my January sweater and wear it all together.
Now if only I could think of something to do with the 3 slightly different skeins of periwinkle sock yarn I have from 3 different dyers.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
That is beautiful–how nice that they all coordinate so well!
What a lovely way to use your handspun – and such gorgeous colours!
Gorgeous! Is this just a basic crescent shaped shawl?
Yes! I am thinking of all sorts of fun ways to embellish the shape.
Stunning! Isn’t it great when separate purchases come together so perfectly. Congratulations on your first FO of the project.
What a great solution, that shawl is SO pretty. funny how that happens with stash yarn, I gravitate to similar colours a lot, too. Now that I’m trying to make more of an effort to use up my stash, it’s getting really obvious that I have a preference for certain colours/weights.
It’s simply lovely. It couldn’t be nicer if you planned it from the beginning.
Oh Natalie, this is scrumptious!
I had to laugh! I do this with a lot of things besides my knitting. Oh, look! Another teal henley shirt! Just like the three I already have… Oops.
But the shawl is beautiful, and a great solution. Nicely done.