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| new shawl is a little big for her |
Two and a bit years ago, as we prepared to move across provinces, I knit my eldest a new shawl. I had promised I would make her something with beads using the remainder of the pink yarn that we had dyed together for my own beaded shawl.
Kiddo's original
there's twins in there
closeup detail of mine
I had intended to size it for an adult later. 2 years later I finally did, but as you can see the final design does not look much like the original. I tried using the original shaping, but it wasn't working for me with yardage I had to work with and on a larger scale.
My motivating, time-limiting incentive was a competition being run by a local LYS (Wolseley Wool) to choose a shawl design for a KAL in August - leading up to the local Fibre Fest. I faced one problem - I did not have any yarns they carry in my stash and I didn't have money to buy more. My solution was to offer to knit a shawl for cost (i.e., the yarn I needed to buy). A friend from afar jumped at the opportunity and I picked up yarn the next day. I decided to play with a solid and a multi yarn for fun. The lace border knit up quickly. I already had it charted and written up from the first shawl. The body is what slowed me. I must have knit that five times. Ultimately, I am very pleased with the result. I even snuck in some Koigu I had purchased at Shall We Knit? just before I moved - thus making this shawl a veritable homage to my migration home.
Presenting Homeward Bound Migration shawl.
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| such squishiness! (pre-blocking, but it was still squishy after because garter is wonderful like that) |
My design was not selected for this KAL so now I can release it. I'm excited to see what design was chosen and I'm hoping to see other submissions. The LYS gift certificate would have been nice... but I already had the joy of knitting and designing a new shawl without cost. (The subsidizer and I actually negotiated I'd knit her a different lighter weight shawl with stash yarn, so this shawl is homeless for now. Extra bonus is I get to knit another shawl from my queue - and I was going to do it eventually - and work through my stash thus making space for more yarn when I get a chance.)
Moving home to Winnipeg was the right choice for me and my family. Our extended family is here - grandparents and aunt, uncles, nieces and nephews. I miss my amazing friends back in Kitchener-Waterloo, but I wanted my children (we had one plus two more on the way) to grow up with family around - which I didn't have as a military brat. It's good to be home (but I'd highly recommend southern Ontario to any fibre folk looking to move).
