Weekend Interruptions

There are times when you can see inspiring posts and let them go.  There are other times when you just can't.  This was one of those times.  A time where I had to interrupt my regular making schedule to slot in something else.

I'd been hit by a double whammy.  First, the gorgeous Olivia's Shawl by Annette of Rose My Valley which I've loved watching her make on her IG feed (@myrosevalley).  Then came these darling roses by Maaike of Crejjtion, on her IG feed (@Crejjtion).

Then take into account I'd been sent this lovely Luma yarn by The Fibre Co and that rolling stone is starting to gather rather a lot of speed isn't it?  Rather then try and stop it rolling, I decided to go with the flow and indulge in a quickie little weekend project.

I didn't have enough yarn in any one colour to make Annette's pretty shawl, and I wanted to keep things simple, so I just selected a stitch pattern and used that to whip up a smaller, slim-line, crescent shaped little number.

I started with the 'Pearl River' colour first, as that was my favourite and hooked away, making the pattern wider, until I'd used up one ball, then I started the next ball and working my way back down to a point again.  It did mean using a different colour for the border which, to be honest, I'm not wild about but I was worried about it being to short, so it was a case of needs must.

Now let's pause here in the shawl story for a moment to talk about this yarn.  There's a lovely mixture of natural fibres in there... wool, cotton, linen and silk too.  It's got a nice slight halo to it, is so very soft to the touch and has a lovely sort of worn and comfortable look and feel about it, like a pair comfy jeans.  I was quite taken with it I have to say, but I did hesitate for a moment as I started working with it.

Running it through my fingers, there was an unmistakable (if slight) rustic feel about it too.  I think it's the wool.  Soft and squishy as it is to the touch, I could feel a little bit of bite from that wool.  It's not really surprising, 50% of this yarn is made up of it but I hadn't even noticed that from my pre-crochet fondling.

 Now, I am super sensitive to wooly wool and it's potential itchiness and so unless you are a delicate little flower like me I'm not sure you'd bat so much as an eye lid at this tiny texture.  It is still one of the softest and squishy-ish wools I have ever touched, but I admit, it did make my itchy senses tingle a bit upon feeling that little something else in there.  Especially given I was making a shawl...

But let us get back to the tale in hand.  I had a shawl, and I wanted a flower.  Now, Maaike hasn't got a pattern out for her rose yet.  I believe she'll be adding it to her Apple Picking Shawl when it's ready, but until then patience was required.  Patience I didn't have of course, so I set about making up my own.  Not my best plan as it turns out, as mine isn't nearly as pretty or as shapely as her's are.  I will definitely be getting her pattern when it's ready, but until then my 'attempt' shall have to suffice.  

I decided to block my newly minted shawl, it was just a little to short to wrap nicely around the neck when coming off the hook and I was very much hoping that a nice warm bath would do wonders to soothe way that little remnant of wooly feel that I was getting.

Luckily I was right and it worked like a charm, on both counts.  The size is just perfect now and I have happily worn this right next to my skin too.  Seriously.  Wool.  On my skin!  I'm actually amazed, I didn't think that was possible.

So all in all it should have been a very successful weekend's work.  It did satisfy that creative urge.  It did satisfy that need for a quick project.  There's only one catch....

... I'm not sure I like it.  I mean it looks ok and all.  Really not too bad at all on the hanger, but when I put it on, I'm not sure it really works.  I think, on this occasion, maybe the crescent shape, as much as I love it, wasn't the way to go.  I think it needed more to make the pinned on flower thing work.  It looks a bit odd on this.

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After thoughts...

You know, reading through this post again now, it occurs to me that I also thought of making Maaike's Zomersjaal pattern when I was pondering this idea.  But again, I didn't have enough yarn for that as that's a triangle shape too, which is a real shame as it would have worked so much better.  

On top of that, looking at Maaike's pattern again now, so that I could link to it for you, I can see it actually uses a very similar (if not the same) stitch pattern that I've used here!  Arghhhh.... Obviously that had sat in my subconscious, directing my creative eye as I looked through potential stitch patterns. (Sorry Maaike, it wasn't deliberate, promise!)

So much for my weekend quickie, I really should have waited.
Got more yarn maybe, waited for the proper flower pattern to be ready.  (Sigh)
Her border is much better too...

S x

♥

#CherryHeart