Sunday 29 April 2012

Catkin


January 2012
BEAUTIFUL yarn and BEAUTIFUL pattern. It doesn’t get much better than this.



Worked several rows of the middle section whilst in labour. Hard as nails, me. :)
Intended to be a nursing shawl, but I had to wait so long for the Lon-dubh colourway to be in stock that baby is now 2 months old! Ho-hum.
Things worth knowing:
  1. The chart for section 3 is divided into 3 parts, each on a separate page, which is a bit inconvenient, once you get a feel for what’s happening in this section you don’t need to refer to them very much;
  2. Pattern calls for provisional cast on, which took me ages to master. There’s a very helpful YouTube clip on that here;
  3. The yarn is carried down the side of the shawl in sections 1 and 3. There’s a full explanation of how to do it, but one or two ravelers have come up with alternative techniques which are worth a look;
  4. The yarn is also carried behind the buds in section 3 for up to 7 stitches. Not a problem, but you really need to make your floats nice and loose;
  5. It’s worth having a long hard look at the schematic before embarking on this project, as it’s really quite a small shawl;
  6. I had 10g of the pale blue and 26g of the dark blue leftover. Possibly enough for a baby hat?

    Pattern: Catkin by Carina Spencer 
    Yarn: Old Maiden Aunt Merino Superwash 4-ply
    Amount: 1 skein of each
    Colourway: Dreich / Lon-dubh
    Needle: 3.50mm
    Size: One size
    On raverly: here