Lake Garda Shawl

Hi everyone, hope you’ve had a good week, mine’s been pretty packed and a little stressful so I’m glad to have made it to the weekend again!

I said in my last post that I’d show you the shawl I started knitting on holiday and finished a couple of weeks ago when we got back – so here it is.

The pattern is the UK Alpaca Pearly Queen shawl that I used for my cream version earlier in the year, but I chose a different yarn this time. It’s Artesano’s Lace Handpainted Alpaca Silk and the colourway is called Mermaid.

I actually started knitting this the weekend before we went away, but as I spent some very relaxing afternoons sitting by the huge picture window in our apartment overlooking Lake Garda working on it I’m going to name the shawl in honour of the lake – and the colours of the yarn remind me of the shades of the water and surrounding mountains.

There really isn’t much to say about the pattern, I still love the stepped edge, and the lovely simple stitch pattern used throughout. The only thing different about this one from the first shawl is that the yarn is much finer, so although it’s worked up and blocked out to roughly the same size because of the stretchiness created by the open mesh stitch, it’s not as bulky and so not quite as warm, but it’ll be fine for the next few weeks while it’s chilly in the mornings but not cold enough for a proper scarf.

I obviously made a fairly drastic over-calculation when I bought the yarn though as I’ve got a skein and a half leftover – so I may well end up making another one for someone as a gift, or finding another pattern for something a bit different, I spotted a beautiful lace cowl in last month’s issue of The Knitter.

I’ve made a good start on my next cardigan, and gone from extreme to the other - lace-weight shawl to chunky knit cardi! I’ll keep you posted with progress, and let you know if I manage to fit in any more sewing, but I’m a bit pressed for time over the next couple of weekends with extra choir rehearsals and a big performance coming up.

Only three weeks to go until The Knitting & Stitching Show which I’m really looking forward to. I know it’s the Handmade Fair at Hampton Court Palace this weekend so if you’re going I hope you have a great time, and I really must try and get tickets next year! Have a lovely weekend everyone.