damson

We've been back from our vacation a little over a week ago but sorting out all the photos has been taking longer than I thought (needless to say we took way too many) so I don't have any to show you yet. But what I can show you is my finished traveling project which was perfect for taking on the trip (a lot of garter stitch and stockinette).

Now I'm not much of a shawl person, and had never knit one before. In fact I had already chosen another project to take on the trip when I saw this pattern by Ysolda, and decided to make it instead. It was a last minute decision but I had the perfect yarn on stash so I just grabbed the pattern, yarn and needles (no stitch markers which was a mistake !) and stuffed it on my bag for the flights the next day. We had a 5 hour layover in Helsinki which is where I finally cast on. Didn't get much done in St. Petersburg or Tallinn, but several days later, by the time we were driving into Riga I had a bit of the garter stitch section done.



On the last couple of days while we were in Laheema I nearly finished it but sadly it was clear I was not going to have enough yarn. The pattern calls for 440 yards of sock yarn and the skein I had was 459 yards long, which should've been enough. I think my gauge was probably off on the garter stitch section (I'm one of those that purls looser than I knit) because it seems to be a bit wider than the original pattern. Anyway, I had to wait till I got home and found a similar enough skein on my stash to knit the edging (the last couple of rows, actually)

It turned out lovely, and I'm very pleased with the result. It's perfect for fall and it can be used as sort of a scarf if needed. Next on my knit list from this cute collection is Smith ... I've always been a sucker for hedgehogs :)


Pattern: Damson, by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Zitron Trekking XXL, color 323, 1 skein (and a bit of 324)
Needles: 4mm