FO: Swallowtail Shawl...

My one piece of Holiday gift knitting.


I'm not too creative with labels.

For Grandma.



Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark (IKF2006)
Yarn: Sirdar Country Style 4-Ply in "sage." Less than one 100g skein.
Needles: US4/3.5mm Clover bamboo circs and KnitPicks Options
Time: 5 days

Notes:

This shawl was easier and faster than I expected. I wonder if part of it might be because the Peacock Feathers Shawl was my first lace shawl? It seems quite a few lace projects would be a piece of cake compared to that one. Only thing is the P5 for the nupps was a little hard to work. I ended up switching from my bamboo needles in favor of the sharper-tipped Options needles. That helped a lot but there were still a couple moments of struggling.

I made this with an acrylic/wool blend (mostly acrylic) since my grandma machine washes everything. She's never had much patience for housework, and it would be difficult for her to learn special washing instructions. It's a combination of age and a slight language barrier--As she gets older she uses a dialect of Cantonese more frequently that I have trouble understanding (I grew up speaking regular Cantonese at home).

I decided to make this a couple weeks ago while staring at the pile of stash yarn I've been working through for the last couple months. It occurred to me that the Swallowtail Shawl would be perfect for my grandma who is a very small woman and gets cold very easily. She won't drown in it, and she can drape it over her shoulders when she's playing mahjong or watching TV.

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Part of the reason for my lack of Christmas knitting this year is I had to reknit a gift I gave my mom last year. The Sirdar pullover was way too big for her because she was between sizes (what else is new?) and I went with the larger size. I finally got around to taking it apart and reknitting it in the next smaller size, which fits her perfectly.



I made the body a little shorter since my mom is petite. I also modified the sleeves by making them narrower and shorter. The flared style of the original was just too flappy.

I'm also in need of sweaters. A couple of my sweaters need replacing but things in stores are either not quite my taste or are too expensive. So I've been trying to remedy this.



Another bottom-up raglan in the round (one of these days I need to learn how to knit top-down) without a pattern. One raglan side will have a button band extending up along the turtle neck. There will be six buttons total. I could only fit four in when drawing the diagram. The turtle neck is meant to be worn unbuttoned for a split neck look. I just happen to be going through a button phase right now so the more buttons the better! =) The sleeves will be worked separately and sewn in so as to avoid really long rows of working back and forth. I also plan on double-knitting the button band for extra strength.


Finally found a project for the Felted Tweed.