Ronda's Shawl

Two weeks or so ago, my friend Ronda contacted me about making her a crochet shawl.  She had a dress in mind for a formal occasion as well as wanting something that could be everyday.  She sent me a few pictures and I set to work on a pinterest search for patterns and inspiration.  I found several possibilities and we dialed it in more specifically to a rectangular shape with an "open weave" pattern.  

Next came the yarn selection.  I went down to the local yarn shop and looked through all the off white yarn.  I had hoped to find something big and chunky or thick and thin but nothing seemed suited to the project.  In the end, I picked out a lovely single ply yarn made of wool, alpaca, and silk that was just the right color of creamy white.  It could see the project taking an elegant spin rather than being someone arsty funky.  I liked it so much I put all the skeins that they had on hold.  I bought a few other skeins so Ronda could have a selection to choose from but we decided to commit to this beautiful yarn.

I looked through my crochet pattern book and made 6 swatches of different stitches and we decided on this lovely V stitch.  We discussed various lengths and settled on a 60 by 18 inch (5 by 1.5 feet).  I did a pretty good job estimating the amount of yarn needed (6 skeins) and let's just say, I am getting better at estimating the time it takes me to do a project LOL.  

Then, it was time to get to work!  I ran into one minor problem.  I didn't like the way the foundation row looked and I didn't want the edge of the scarf to look that "raw".  I decided to make it paneled and work that raw edge as a seam in the middle.  I had worked a good foot on either side and I just didn't like the looseness of the seam.  I tried blocking it (wetting it and seeing if it would scrunch down) and that didn't help.  In the end, I wove in a piece of yarn and tightened that foundation stitches up a bit and that worked well.  In fact, you can barely tell where the two panels joined.  

I put in quite a few hours on this project and am thankful that Phil gave me some chunks of quiet time while he took the children up to work with him.  By the time it was the finish length, it was quite substantial (I always forget how heavy crochet works up) but so cozy and warm and it draped beautifully (and crochet can be finicky this way - another reason why I have become a wool enthusiast.)  

I had a few options to finish the piece.  I could add a fringe or tassels and/or edging.  We decided that it was lovely just as it was.  The thickness doesn't allow for it to be tied in front (if it was to be worn more like a scarf) so thought a button cuff to cinch it up would work well.  

Here it is:








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