Swallowtail

15 days and many, many nupps later, here it is:

This is my Swallowtail Shawl, beautifully designed by Evelyn Clark.

Now, those of you who read this blog are probably wondering why on earth I made this, given my (mild) dislike for lace and shawls. Yes, this is both lace and a shawl. Allow me to clarify: for some inexplicable reason I felt drawn to this particular shawl; it may have had something to do with seeing Natalie's shimmering version in the window of Stash a couple of months ago. The strange thing about lace is that although I don't always love the finished product, I do really love knitting lace.

Anyway, I knit it in Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk in a lovely dark grey. It's really good to work with and just slips off the needles. I only wish there was a slightly higher sheen to it.

Did you notice that it's cunningly hanging from a tree branch? I had wanted to photograph the shawl amongst the red and gold foliage of my favourite season, and all week had had one particular russet-hued Beech tree in mind. However, I walked around the neighbourhood all day yesterday in van searching for a branch I could actually reach. In the end I had to settle for a tree with leaves that were still tinged with the previous season's green, but you get the idea.

This pattern was a breeze. Saying that, in the beginning I frogged it a grand total of five times while I tried to work out the Budding Lace repeats. It took showing it to someone at Knit Night (thanks Mel) for me to realise that there were three words below the chart which I had completely managed to miss: "Six-Stitch Repeat". Noticing that at the very beginning would have saved me a lot of frustration!

After that it went very quickly. The fun part was the nupps - lots and lots of them every row once you get to the Lily of the Valley edging.

I plan on wearing it to work to keep my necky toasty and prevent my usual winter cold, while remaining smart enough for an office environment.

As soon as this was OTN and blocking I got started on something else. Can you guess what this yarn is? There's no prize, I'm just testing you!

I also have some work to do on the camel cardigan, plus DH' s aunt has asked me to make something too, so I should probably get back to it...