Shawls for Betty
Back in June, 2006, while Peggy and I were in Oroville, WA at Betty's house to pick up Peggy's new wheel, Betty gave us a bag of her hand spun and asked us to make her a couple of shawls with some of it and we could keep the rest. There were 2 hanks of brown wool, one of pale blue wool, 2 of the pale blue wool and a brown wool plied together and one hank of a creamy white lace weight. What a fun challenge! Betty wanted 'a big shawl that would stay up' . Here are the two shawls we ended up with.
Shawl #1
Knitter: Peggy
Yarn: hand spun from Betty Roberts, 5 oz of 100% wool and 4mm (#6) needles. More photos of this shawl can be found in our October 30th post called Spinners Shawls. As usual, Peggy finished her assignment far sooner than I. She's the good twin...
Shawl #2
pre-block
pre-block
Blocking on a double bed
Trying it on at Starbucks
Thanks to Pat B. for modeling.Pattern: from Shawls and Scarves, an XRX publication, the white shawl on page 34 called Faroese-style Lace.
Yarn: Approximately 600 yards* of my hand spun CVM Romeldale from Reflection Farm for most of the shawl; the last repeat of the pattern plus the lace edging is Betty's hand spun ~ the blue/brown 2-ply. Finished weight: 12.8 oz. I knit with a 5mm (#8), started on Feb 3rd and finished on Feb 26th. Finished measurements: top neck to lower point: 32"; top neck to front point: 38.5"; top of shoulder to edge: 27.5".
I must admit that I loved knitting with my own hand spun. This yarn was yummy and warm and the variations intriguing. It was perfect on the 5mm. I must get more of this blend from Reflection Farm and knit a shawl for me!
This was my first Faroese and it started at the top neck, which is perfect for hand spun yarns because when I'm out of yarn I can just cast off. I'm willing to do another with a different lace pattern. I like how it fit and it will be perfect for Betty - it is, after all, 'a big shawl'.
*I tried combining a couple of Betty's yarns but some didn't work together color-wise and those that did had too little yardage for a 'big' shawl. My solution was to use some of my own hand spun (which was appropriate since it was spun on the wheel which Betty made for me) and finish with one of her yarns which blended rather nicely.
5 comments:
Wow! Love, love, love shawl number 2!
Want to add that this shawl is truly stunning--and the pictures, though excellent (and the model, of course is fab), don't do it justice. I got a chance to see it in person (and even try it on with a couple of others) and it is amazing how well it looks on everyone--short, tall, whatever. Will have to try a faroese shawl next...MaryB
wow, they are both lovely!
betty is one lucky lady :-)
I love all the wonderful pictures. Just like when I was a kid picking out books...liked the ones with lots of pictures! The shawls are lovely. I was lucky enough to get to try on the Faroese one. You did a great job on it and I know there was a challenging part. You've got perseverance!
Betty is one lucky lady to be getting two such lovely shawls! What a nice gift!
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