Shawls!

Edited and photos added Wed., 2/19/2020

    I don't usually buy knitting patterns.  Ravelry.com has so many free ones that I've never been able to justify spending that much to buy a pattern.  Besides, since I usually change patterns as I use them...adapting them to my way of thinking, and if you've ever looked at Ravelry and saw how expensive knitting patterns can be, you'll understand why I stay away from paying for them.  But, this year I've been lucky enough to find 3 patterns that were for sale and not too expensive.  Two designers were British and one was Dutch. The patterns were all less than $4 each and the designers just asked that their names be mentioned if the shawl was offered for sale (something I do anyway), so I splurged and bought them!  Between the snow and cold weather I managed to stay home for a week and run out of books to read, so I finally finished a shawl...at last!       
   I'm putting the metal clasp on my "When in Scotland" shawl today.  For some reason that shawl has caused me problems.  It's just garter stitch (knit on both sides for you non-knitters out there.)  The first one came out HUGE!  So, of course, I ripped it out...but not before I measured it every which way!!  The directions said 'gauge is not critical'  HA!  The length along the center back was suppose to be 20".  Mine was 29".  The wing-span...45", mine near 50".  Time to play with the gauge my knitting sense told me, so I started it again with a smaller needle....  The directions called for a US10 so I tried it with a US9 but there wasn't a noticeable change so I made like a frog again and rip-p-p and tried it with a US8.  Success!  I got the shawl knit to 218 sts (as it called for) with the length and width as it called for so I finished it.  Rather small, don't you think?  May be

'When in Scotland' shawl

perfect for a very petite woman or one in a wheelchair.  So-o-o I started again, back on the US10's, trying to keep my stitches a lot tighter and ended up with a slightly larger shawl.  I don't know why the size isn't working out right.  The pattern calls for worsted, I'm using worsted.  The designer, Rilana Riley Munson, used Wool Ease but I couldn't get the color she used so I used Red Heart acrylic.  It looks OK to me...I like it.  I like them both!  I feel I've spent enough time on this shawl...I don't want to rip it out again!!  And I'm not!  Oh, the shawl is based on one the character Claire wore in a recent episode of 'Outlander'.  (I won't go into detail about how much the 2 clasps, listed at $2.99 each, ended up costing with shipping. Or that it took almost a week for them to get here!!)
   This is the 2nd shawl I got to work on this week called 'Frida' by designer Nerissa Muijs and I'm doing it with some of the beautiful Alpaca chunky yarn I got in my last Yarn Pal package from New Zealand.  It worked up so fast on

US10's!  The shawl is more of a scarf worn with the triangle point in front...and some easy embroidery in that corner.  It was suppose to be done with 2 strands of yarn on US15's but my hands don't like a needle that large (I have trouble holding on to it),  and besides, I don't have a circular US15 so I decided to try it with a single stand and to see how it worked. (I told you I change/adapt directions to my way of thinking!)  It calls for a kilt buckle but of course, Walmart doesn't carry any.  That means another order to JoAnn's (or a trip to New Hartford) both will end up with me spending more than I want to spend for a $1.95 buckle.  (Yes, that's what it's listed as on JoAnn's website.  Postage is about $7!!)  The alpaca is so soft!!  I just made it a little larger...more stitches...just to have the triangle bigger and be able to tie the ends.  I bought cotton embroidery floss and the fabric stabilizer Friday and last night I opened the pattern (it's a download) and enlarged the embroidery template to a 1" grid and just traced the design onto a sheet of paper off of my PC's screen.  When I'm ready to actually do it, I can just put the sheet if stabilizer over what I traced from the PC and trace it again.  I think that may be easier than going to the library and trying to get the template to the proper size and printed.  
  The third shawl is called 'Guernsey in Pink' designed by Anne B Hansen.  Of course I'm not doing it in pink (did you think I would?), I'm going to use some Merino superwash wool from KnitCrate's Knitologie in Cadet on a US3's.  The picture with the pattern is pretty but I think a Guernsey will look just as good in a dusty blue...a bit more traditional, maybe??  It will probably be my only 'lace' shawl.  I'm running out of time...it's almost the end of February!!  Good thing the shop is opening in the middle of April this year.  Gives me a couple of weeks more to knit.  I spent too much time on that easy 'When in Scotland' shawl....