handspun Oregon.

It is dry. And it is good. Thank you for your kind words in the teaser post last week – it really helped me to get excited about this project and now I’m really excited to wear it!

I’m actually a bit surprised at how large this turned out. I usually like shawls that are gigantic and horrendously enormous. While I was knitting this, I kept thinking that it wouldn’t be large enough. The Multnomah shawl is more of a shawlette in my opinion – basically, it’s not large enough for me! Many people on Ravelry have added pattern repeats, which look great. In the notes of many of the finished pieces, makers noted that blocking made all the difference in terms of size and showcasing the feather and fan pattern.

As a result, I aggressively blocked this amazing piece. I let it soak in a warm Eucalan wash and drained the water from it by gravity. Thankfully we have had some very warm weather this past Victoria Long Weekend, so it dried incredibly quickly. The beads add a good amount of weight so it was easy to block to shape.

Good thing, too, because this morning, James (age 2.75) decided that he wanted to play with my blocking mats. He pulled the shawl off and onto the ground, pulling them out at the same time. Thankfully, there were no pins left but still.

Pattern :: Multnomah Shawl by Kate Ray

Yarn :: Hedgehog Fibres 50/50 Merino + Silk, handspun

Needles :: 4.00mm circulars

Beads :: 6.00mm glass beads, gold

Finished Dimensions :: 156” x 25”

There isn’t much else to say about this shawl – it was a complete pleasure to knit. I did not become bogged down on the garter at the beginning like I had predicted on the podcast last month. And the 910 beads weren’t as labour intensive as I thought they would be – it was actually really enjoyable sitting at the table and stringing them each evening. Am I completely crazy for saying is was … erhm … relaxing?!

I was actually torn between using a gorgeous dark silver-blue bead or the bronze-gold beads. I loved the effects of both but in the end, I wanted to emphasize the ochre in this so chose the gold. I’m glad I did but am curious what the metallic blue would have looked like for comparison. No, I don’t have any yarn left to do a test swatch to see. I have 6 yards left. Oh well.

I used the Knit Picks tutorial here to place the beads between each yarn over on the wrong side. I placed 5 per feather and fan repeat on Row 4 of the pattern.

Here’s a close up ::

This shawl reminds me, as I said last week in the teaser post, of the years we’ve spent in Tofino, BC, on the beaches. It also reminds me of Long Beach in Oregon, where we’ve spent much time. And it reminds me of the rocky beaches we have here and in Washington state. Lovely.