This is my wobbly attempt at the Mara Shawl by Madelinetosh. It's a free pattern on Ravelry. Very simple, very easy ... knit and yarn over ... but I have struggled! Keeping the open strip actually centered without moving it over one stitch has kept me busy - pulling rows out, that is! Not once or twice, but three times I have pulled rows out - rows as in 6-10 rows each time! {SIGH}
The yarn is Pacific Color Wave by Cascade Yarns and is my first-ever purchase from our local real, true, stand-alone yarn shop. I would never have picked it out except there was a child's sweater knitted as a sample in the shop, and the subtle color changes were just too pretty to resist!
This yarn is 40% Superwash Merino Wool / 60% Acrylic, rated worsted, but a thin worsted. It's nice to have the pros at a yarn shop help you select the correct weight of yarn. Worsted is a fairly broad category, and their shop is arranged by thinner worsted, medium worsted, and thicker worsted, which is great, but why there is so much variation is very weird and annoying to me! This seems to run through the yarn industry - brands sold at JoAnn's and Michael's also do this. I like Cascade Yarns because they are reasonable in price. Here is a nice selection of worsted Cascade Yarns that might work for the Mara shawl if you'd like to make one!
The picture below is a more accurate rendering of the colors in my yarn. It's grayish and purplish, but not bluish. I could have taken the first picture again, but I figure this shows what this pretty pattern looks like in a different colorway.
I usually have at least one yarn project going at any given time and usually several concurrently. It keeps my hands busy and helps my mind not to wander when I'm watching a DVD class or listening to books on CD with the kids {we homeschool}. This is one of several projects I have going on in addition to several scarves, a crocheted rainbow pillow, a giant crocheted round rainbow bag, and a lap-sized afghan. The area around my rocking chair looks like my grandma's did! {Thanks, Grandma, for the inspiration!}
Craftsy has a My First Lace Shawl class, which I should have watched before I began my shawl. It would have saved me a lot of headache. This class includes casting-on tips, how to read charts {I go cross-eyed looking at them!}, and how to fix mistakes without having to rip out your whole shawl! Ka-Ching - exactly what I need!! I purchased this class today {it's on sale!}, and I will be watching it before knitting anymore on my Mara shawl. Who knows, maybe I will even begin again like Finnigan!
Craftsy also has a WaterSpout Shawl Kit available for this class. I chose the coordinating kit in Avondale. Isn't it beautiful!?
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