My great aunt, who taught me how to knit when I was 10, passed away in 2016. I was lucky enough to visit her a few times in the months before her passing and during one visit, she gave me my pick of all of her knitting supplies. I took almost all the needles and a good amount of yarn. To this day I haven’t made much with the yarn unfortunately, yet I still find myself getting sentimental and wishing I had taken every last strand.
In January, before the Coronavirus cases started escalating, before quarantine, before 2020 really took its toll, I told myself I had to use only the yarn I had and couldn’t buy anymore until I made at least three things from the yarn my aunt had given me.
I started with a shawl, using feathered yarn, but when it was done it was way too small. So, I picked a second type of yarn (which was very different) to add in. I took the tiny shawl apart, switched patterns, and started over. Then I did that again and again. I kept having to switch patterns because none were working with the feathery yarn I had.
That feathered yarn you see people make scarves with and have rarely seen used any other way? I now understand why. To me the scarves that use it always look kind of bland, but it turns out that using it for more complex patterns doesn’t make much sense. The feathery sections cover any lacing/advanced stitching.
I ended up finding “The Playground Shawl” pattern on Ravelry which was: “meant to be simple and fun, with a maximum of two sections that could be easily memorized - a perfect playground shawl.”
To me it was a bit more complicated than that once you got into the lace stripes, but that also happened to be when I discovered my intricate yarn wasn’t great for that kind of pattern. What was supposed to be a lace like, open stitched stripe looked messy as the thicker sections of the yarn clumped and pulled on one another.
The complexity of the pattern also caused the yarn to be used up quickly and I was looking at another small project. I undid it for the fifth or sixth time and started over.
This time, I stuck with “The Playground Shawl” pattern, but instead of switching between the garter stitch and the lace pattern, I used the garter stitch the whole way. I let the yarn speak for itself.
The variation between the feathery yarn and the more standard, solid yarn I was using for the dark stripes added texture and intrigue. In the end it turned out better than expected. It’s full color, especially when the light catches on the jewel tones of the feathered yarn and they shine.
Quick details:
Pearl hours: 6 hours
Start to Finish: MONTHS #QuarantineVibes
Difficulty: Easy (once I established the pattern)
Project thoughts:
This project got to me. I restarted who knows how many times, I tried pattern after pattern. In the end, I struggled to even look at it. However, I made it for my grandmother. My great aunt who gave me the yarn was her sister and they were incredibly close. I know it will mean a lot to wrap the shawl, made with yarn her sister picked out, around her shoulders for warmth. It redeemed itself because of that fact.
Pearl Tips:
- I learned to carry yarn up the side of the work when working with multiple colors, which is way more efficient than cutting it after every row. Here’s the video I watched to learn.
- Knitting frustration is a thing and is okay. Just come back when you’re ready.
Lessons learned:
- Sometimes letting the yarn speak for itself is better that forcing it to bend to your will… it probably wont.
- If you always see yarn used in a specific way, there’s most likely a reason.
- When a pattern says it needs a certain amount of yarn, it means it. You can’t multiply your yarn and you can’t stretch it that much no matter how hard you try.
How I'd do it differently next time:
- This is a hard one considering I did it differently about five times before I figured it out. As much as I struggled with this one, I learned a lot that I’ll take with me for future projects.
- Also, I didn’t block it, but I plan to block my next project after seeing pictures people post about how much of a difference it can make. So maybe that?