On how to wear shawls

Sometimes I see comments about how nobody ever wears shawls nowadays and how they're not only not useful, but also not decorative, because they look like granny clothes. I think that's because people forgot. They don't know how to wear them anymore. For all the fineness and light weight, shawls can be surprisingly warm, so they're a good substitute for a jacket on cool nights, or for layering when you're going to some place where the air conditioning will be strong. And they're easy to remove and put in a bag when they're not needed anymore, unlike jackets.

This is the most simple way to wear a shawl. Just throw it over your shoulders, and you're good to go. Except after a while it starts to slide off, and you get annoyed and tired of keeping adjusting it all the time. One solution is to just tie it on the front, but I don't really like that. I like tieing it on the back:

I prefer to do it with circular and semi-circular shawls, but triangles work too. I think it looks great with a strapless dress or top, and besides warming up the shoulders and back (and arms, depending on the size), it's a way of showing less skin. For weddings, for example. Chic and modest for the church, easily removable for the party.

Same idea, different setting, great for low-cut tops:

Put the center over one shoulder, cross the points over the other shoulder, and fix it in place with a shawl pin or a brooch.
Or you could just roll it a little and wear it as a scarf.

I really like this option, but it's not equatorial zone friendly.
All pics were taken with the Aeolian shawl I just finished, so the effect might vary with different shapes or sizes, and of course there are lots of other possibilities that I didn't cover, or even thought about.

Double FO

I got two things to show. First, I blocked the Raspberry Rhapsody scarf (ravlink) that I've shown unblocked weeks ago.

The wrong side looks very cool too:

Knit on Knitpicks Palette yarn, 5.5mm needles, violently blocked.
And then I finished an Aeolian shawl that passed by unmentioned. I knit it with Knitpicks Bare Merino Lace, and dyed after the fact with cake dyes. The dye didn't take uniformly (my fail), but I think it doesn't look too bad.

I misread the pattern and knit one extra repeat of the Agave leaves, when I wanted to knit the smallest size. I expected a scarf, but it ended up huge. I think it'd still be large even without the extra repeat. Maybe because I used 3.75mm needles.

And because I'm a merciless blocker.

How my hubris was kicked on the butt

I used to think that, since I learned how to purl, nothing was difficult in knitting. Complex, maybe. Requiring attention, counting stitches, needing brute force to stick the needles in (nupps, I'm looking at you), but as long as I focused it would come out allright. Circular cast-on for a center-out shawl was a little difficult, but I got it after 4 tries. This hat, my first all-over colorwork, kicked my butt in severa different levels, though.

The pattern, End of May (ravlink), requires light worsted weight yarn and sportweight for the lining, but I was set on knitting it and I only had Merino Style from Knitpicks, which is a DK (I used Iris and Cornflower). I went up a needle size, to 3,75mm, and started it without swatching, with NatureSpun fingering for the lining. Almost the whole time I was working I felt like it would come out too small. Everytime I tried it on the stitches stretched so bad you could almost see the floats on the inside. Halfway through the hat I kind of found my gauge, so the first repeat was way tighter than everything else. You could even see it narrower than the top of the hat. Look with attention, you really can.

And the stitches on the lighter colour, which I was holding on my right hand, look all wonky and even twisted. They're not twisted. I checked. They just look weird. Everything puckered at all directions.

Then I had to sew in the lining.

My handsewing is even worse than my gauge, but I'm content enough that it doesn't show on the outside.

I blocked the hat over a balloon and I'm really happy with the way it looks now. The puckering disappeared, and almost all stitches relaxed a little. Plus, it fits a human head.

If I had to do it again, the only thing I'd change was adding maybe half a repeat to the lenght. As it is, it's kind of a bucket hat with the size of a beanie. I think it's a really cute pattern, very easy and straightforward, regardless of my lack of skills. I also think my lack of skills is a little smaller now, that I got a wearable item at the end, and overcame a childhood shortcoming and finally learned how to tie up a balloon in the process.

The hat will be on the mail as soon as I finish a few other items to send along. (Because a very thick 100% wool hat isn't much Equatorial weather friendly. It's a gift. Wish I could keep it.)

Creamy in the morning

Even though it was Smoky last night.

Undyed light gray cashmere/mulberry silk (50/50) from World of Wool.

The colour difference is only due to natural daylight. Silver at night, gray/beige with hints of red now. I like both. I got 802 yards from the 100g of fiber, though there were some matted bits that I discarded. shouldn't be more than a few grams, though, and I don't think it makes much difference.

Smoky

Not washed, not set, at night:

Natural light gray cashmere/mulbery silk blend.

Gentleman's Fancy Handspun

This fiber (sw merino/seacell pencil roving from FiberOptic)

became this yarn (461 yards/4oz/fingering weight)

and now these socks:

I used the Gentleman's Fancy Socks pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks (Ravlink), with a few modifications. First, because I had less yardage than recommended, I knit shorter legs. I didn't read the pattern before starting, so instead of casting on just the needed number of stitches, I cast on as if to knit knee-high socks, and did the calf decreases twice as fast as the pattern said to. I also didn't realize I was doing ktbl till well into the cuffs, so I didn't bother correcting before the leg pattern started.

Other than that, and a few gauge adjustments, I knit the pattern as written, as I plan to do with all patterns from this book. I want to try different kinds of heels and toes and see by experience which ones are my favourites. This pattern uses the French Heel, whose heel flap can be seen on the pic above, with the fake purl seam in the center. The view on the sole is this:

I think the french heel looks weird, with the triangular shaping, but it fits just right on the feet and it was easy and fun to knit, besides having the advantage of looking like a peen in almost all sides.

The Wide Toe is not new to me, and it's pointy, but I knit it anyway. I knit a couple extra plain rounds before starting the decreases, and did one less decrease round than the pattern said to, because of gauge differences. My favourite part is that in one of the socks the yarn changed colour right at the grafting, so it has this one row of darker green at its apex.

I think FiberOptic fiber is bringing me luck, my 2 favourite projects are made with her fiber. These are the best fitting socks I've knit so far, with the best sock yarn I've spun so far, and the glow from the seacell is just an added bonus. I love the way that the yarn seems to shine from within, instead of reflecting the light from outside. Of course that's just crazy talk, but it's pretty anyway.

Unblocked Porn

Right side:

Wrong side:

And the "I want to jump into this and swim":