Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Summer Stitched Shawls

I've been a little distracted today and have gotten nothing done that I was supposed to do. Why? Because the Summer issue of Interweave Crochet came and there's a beautiful green summer shawl on the front cover.  Did you see three of my favorite words right in a row: "green", "summer", "shawl." I spent my coffee sipping time to flip through the magazine and match them up with the yarn I had already considered from my stash when I stalked the online version of the magazine.

Love is a Rose Shawl by Kathryn White
The cover project is the "Love is a Rose Shawl" by Kathryn White.  She used 1 skein of a Lorna's Laces, silk/wool yarn.  The yarn I have picked out it is Scrumptous Lace by Fyberspates, a silk/mohair blend. The 1 skein is 1093 yards, the pattern calls for 1250 yrds; I think it'll be fine.

Solar Wrap by Daniela Nii
Now isn't this fancy?  Daniela Nii's pattern calls for approximately 900 yards of "100% Mako cotton mercerized and gassed."  What? I've got mercerized cotton (Paton's Grace is an easy to find option), but "gassed"?  Don't even know what that means.  The yarn I'm thinking is actually an acrylic (well, actually it says "acrilico"), but it has the same feel of mercerized cotton, so I think it will be cool for the summer. Either I picked this up on vacation or a friend gifted it to me, not sure.

Electra Wrap by Vashti Braha
I don't even really wear blue, but I really liked this yarn, although I didn't have a project in mind (this rarely stops me from purchasing).  And here's a lovely shawl, that happens to be in blue.  The pattern suggests about 450 yards.  The yarn I have is Precious, a 100% silk from the Natural Dye Studio; the price tag is in Pounds, so I guess it's souvenir yarn from vacation.

And as much as I like all of these, the one that I was all swooning over is the Ennis Shawl, also by Vashti Braha.  She used bamboo for the triangular shaped Tunisian stitch shawl. Love it.  I know I've got some bamboo around here somewhere.

I love shawls for the summer.  They make you want to have dinner and sip sangria outside on a patio and watch the twinkling fireflies. I'm thinking, if I make more shawls, my hubby will feel compelled to take me out for that pitcher of sangria. See, yarn can be used passively aggressively.

Are you on Ravelry?  Find me there - love2crochet.  Happy stitching!

2 comments:

Nikkis Studio said...

Haha, loved reading your entry on your summer shawls and thanks for including my design (Sun Wrap)! :)

A gassed cotton yarn is a mercerized cotton thread that has been exposed very rapidly to a hot gas flame to remove any fuzz and excess lint on the thread. This gives the thread a brighter, smoother and slightly iridescent appearance.

Patons Grace is a great alternative, also a yarn with a nice sheen.

Happy Crocheting!
Daniela

Mommyx4 said...

Thanks for reading and the explanation of "gassed" cotton. I've started the Sun Wrap already!