Woodland Shawl

The Woodland Shawl is done! I started knitting this at the end of November and finished about a week ago. I'm happy with how it turned out - warm and cozy despite being a lace scarf. Here I am modeling it on our front porch:

Pattern: Woodland Shawl
Yarn: Knitpicks Gloss Lace in Sterling, 1.5 skeins
Needles: US6 circulars

It's a free pattern on Ravelry, written by Nikol Lohr (find it here). I'd definitely recommend working with the chart, as the written instructions get tedious after a while. The great thing about the leaf motif is that it's easy to memorize so you can work on it anywhere. Occasionally I'd forget to do some YOs, but it's easy to drop down and fix if you mess it up. I was a little worried that the shawl wouldn't be long enough until I blocked it. Gatsby supervises:

If you've never knitted lace before, this is actually a good one to start with - you can easily use any weight yarn, needles, and adjust the width of the shawl to your liking. I think this would look really nice in a heavier yarn.

We got a ton of snow over the weekend and the roads are finally starting to clear up. Today we took Gatsby to the vet, and we're off to see a movie soon - Up in the Air. Tomorrow is the Lunar New Year, so happy new year to everyone!

Swallowtail Shawl

Pretty!! Another finished project: the Swallowtail Shawl from Interweave Knits, done on US5 needles and using up about 400-500 yards of lace weight. I picked up the purple yarn in Columbus, but now seem to have lost the label so I don't know the brand, although it is definitely merino wool. I loved this pattern and the lily-of-the-valley lace sections! So dainty. The P5tog was a little tricky to do, but after a row I got the hang of it. I gifted this to a friend for her birthday, and will make another one for myself at some point.