On Friday I finished my latest sideways shawl. Meet Bernadette:
Bernadette is knit from Kauni Effektgarn 8/2, on a U.S. size 3 needle. I used approximately 120 grams of yarn, around 525 yards. It measures 52″ along the top edge and is 11″ deep at the center.
I did a very gentle steam-block, carefully steaming out the ruffles and just barely steaming the body to even out any bumps. The garter-stitch body is very stretchy, and I wanted to keep that stretch rather than blocking it out.
The center of this piece features short rows:
This gives the top edge a gentle curve, which helps keep the piece on the shoulders.
I separated the body from the ruffle with a simple line of fagoting.
I really like how this worked out — it gives a nice line of separation between edging and body of the shawl.
So that’s Bernadette. The pattern will be available — but not yet.
I decided to knit it again using a different yarn: Wollmeise. I went into the stash room to select a nicely variegated skein from the Wollmeise Wall of Shame. Here’s what I chose:
This is the 100% superwash merino in the “Pfauenauge” colorway (in English, that means “peacock”). The skein is marked 150g, which is 574 yards. I took the label off and weighed my skein:
(Yes, that’s a bottle of Jameson behind the scale.) My experience with Wollmeise: every skein I have ever weighed is slightly over the stated weight on the label.
I laid out the skein:
Another think I love about Wollmeise? I’ve never encountered a tangled skein. The skein is tied in one place, but that seems to be sufficient to keep it in line. I wound it up into a ball.
And it was ready to go!
I’m using the same U.S. 3 needle for the Wollmeise version of Bernadette. The Wollmeise feels a little thinner than the Kauni, but I know it plumps up after blocking. The Pfauenage colorway is looking good in the design so far.
Lucy sez:
“This is not bad . . . “