Pearly Queen Shawl

Hi everyone! How are you? Are you enjoying the long Bank Holiday weekend? I know I am even though I've been really busy, but it's been a fun busy with a shopping day at Bluewater, a wonderful lunch in London, and a trip to Penshurst Craft Fair so far.

I'm still working my way through all the fabric and yarn I bought at the Knitting & Stitching Show in March and today I've got a knitted project to show you.

This is the Pearly Queen Shawl from UK Alpaca - I bought the pattern and yarn as a set. It's the first shawl I've knitted and the construction is different from most other shawls which I think made it a bit easier.

It's knitted from side to side, so you start with just a few stitches and then work stepped increases up to the middle before decreasing down the other side. The open mesh-like pattern is created with a 'yo p2tog' repeated the whole way through - no knit stitches here!

It actually came together quite quickly once I got into the rhythm of the pattern, and I used some bamboo needles as the yarn was quite slippery and I didn't want it all to drop off if I wasn't concentrating!

The yarn is a 4ply baby alpaca and merino blend and is so soft and light, but really lovely and warm to wear. It's been pretty chilly here this week so I've been glad to wrap this round my neck to walk to work in the mornings!

I wasn't going to tell you, but the shawl isn't completely finished - I ran out of yarn about 35 rows from the end to the second side doesn't have the last 'step' which is really annoying! I guess that's the risk you take buying a pre-packed kit, the yardage obviously wasn't quite as much in the second skein because I'd got to exactly the middle with the first.

Never mind, I'll just wrap that side underneath and nobody will ever know!

It's definitely a pattern I'll make again, I think it would look really pretty in a variegated yarn. I'll have to keep an eye out for suitable things on my next shopping trips!