NOT THE SOCK...

Well, what I have been knitting the past few days is not the sock.  There's a new project.  It's always so much fun to start a new project!

My friend Mary brought this shawl, which she had bought at a flea market, to me and asked me to extract a knitting pattern from it.  Fortunately, it's a very simple shawl:

It doesn't look like much, just spread out like this.  You get a better idea when you see how it's worn:

I took this picture with the help of the mirror on the closet door.  My left hand is held out just to show you how long the shawl is when worn.  It's very cosy.

It was easy to chart this simple shawl.  Here's the run down:  

SIMPLE SHAWL:

Cast On 70 sts. (or as many as needed to create a width of 20").

Knit 12 rows in garter stitch.

Section A:

Row 1: Knit 6 stitches, purl to the last 6, knit the last 6 sts.

Row 2: Knit all stitches.

Alternate these two rows for 18 rows.

Section B:

Knit four rows garter stitch.

Alternate Section A and Section B until you have 11 sections.

Repeat Section A one more time.

Knit 12 rows garter stitch.

NOTE: In the second section A, row 8, knit 8 stitches, cast off 5 stitches.  In row 9, when you come to the cast off stitches, cast on 5 stitches, finish the row as per usual.

Mary's shawl was knit in a fairly heavy cotton yarn, 14 stitches to 4 inches.

My first try with the lovely acrylic yarn that I bought at Walmart was short 2 inches in width, so I pulled it out and recast with 77 stitches.  That version had a big problem: there was a knot in the ball of yarn causing an abrupt colour change from grey to cream, totally unacceptable.  I pulled that one out and recast with 80 stitches with my second ball of yarn.  That's the version you see here:

This is the version that was begun Saturday morning.  We had company from Saturday afternoon to Monday morning, during which time there was some progress made.  Since it's such a simple pattern it's possible to knit while visiting or watching t.v.

This yarn is from Lion Brand and it's called "Scarfie".  I really like how soft and smooshy it is.  It will be comfy to throw around my shoulders when I'm sitting reading or just need a bit of warmth when watching t.v.  And a scarf is a nice change from one pair of socks after another.