Monday 12 January 2015

Aestlight Shawls

Before going away for a holiday in October I was looking for a knitting project I could take with me that would be transportable, and wouldn't need a large amount of yarn. I chose Gudrun Johnston's Aestlight shawl, and I am glad I did, I only knitted for a short while each day but it knitted up very quick and the pattern was very easy to follow and there were no difficult techniques.

 
 As I didn't leave myself much time to plan this project before I went away I grabbed a purple heather coloured yarn from my stash (Shetland jumper weight but as it is old I don't you where it came from or what colour it is.)  
 
 
 
I also didn't have 4.0 mm needles so took 3.75 needles. I was very happy with the result, it made a very warm and cosy scarf.
 
 
I made a second one just before Christmas, as a gift again in Shetland jumper yarn from my stash but in a darker shade of blue.  Since I had left it to the last minute I wasn't sure if I would finish it on time, but it is a quick knit, I managed to cast it off a couple of days before Christmas. Because of the construction there is minimal finishing (that always takes me a bit of time and the bit I like the least). The central part is knitted first in garter stitch, with a YO at the beginning of each row creating a triangle that seems to appear before your eyes.


  
The loops at each edge of the triangle are picked up and the birds eye lace section, which is a traditional Shetland lace pattern, is made in one piece.  Then the edging is knitted and joined to the live stitches of the shawl as it is made.  In the case of the blue shawl, by the time I got to the edging I realised that I wasn't going to have enough yarn.  Because I had used the recommended needle size this time (4.0mm) the shawl used more yarn and turned out a bit larger (I forgot to measure it before I gave it away). I decided to do a picot cast off, and I am very pleased with this result.
 
 
 
 
This is definitely a pattern you should try if you would like to make a triangular scarf especially if you haven't done it before.  I think I might make myself another soon!
 



 
The projects can be seen on Ravelry here (purple one) and here (blue one).

1 comment:

  1. Thats a very lovely scarf. It seems to drape beautifully.

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