Two weeks ago, the lovely ladies from my knitting group and I, took a little road trip to Mont-Tricot in Sutton, QC. A beautiful yarn shop with a warm and inviting owner that I had met at the beginning of summer.
Money is tight, so I wasn’t going to buy anything, but there was a yarn there that caught my eye and I just couldn’t leave it behind. It was a 50/50 Merino wool and silk lace, hand dyed in Canada, sold by sweetgeorgia yarns. It is the “Autumn Flame” colourway which is not only perfect for the season but some of my favourite colours in deep oranges and burgundies. Not only that, but it was also the perfect length and weight for a project that I had been wanting to start. So I bought it and didn’t even have a hint of buyer’s remorse.
The pattern that I had found was a crocheted butterfly stitch “prayer shawl” on Ravelry. It is a free pattern that is worked top-down and with rows and rows of butterflies. Not only is it my first shawl, but it is also my first lace project, and it was a perfect pattern to start with.
For the border I decided right from the start that I was going to use brown. Before buying the yarn I had just ordered some brown Merino to spin and I knew that they would look great together. I think I was was right. Here is the brown that I spun up. 60g/300y of lace weight merino. It is not as soft as the merino/silk mix, but it is plenty soft and the border gives a great weight to the shawl letting it drape beautifully.
Handspun Brown Merino wool
As for the border… it took me a long time to figure out what to do and a lot of searching. I finally found this pattern on Ravelry and was able to adapt it to the original shawl with a few changes. I love the way that it turned out!
This may be my first shawl, but it will not be my last. I love the look and I love the warmth that is bring especially with the season changing and becoming colder. I was also working on this shawl at my grandmother’s house as I visited and helped my mom. So I will always see her in this piece when I wear it.
Isn’t it beautiful!
