Posh Shawlette - Wings of a Starling

Annoyingly, I wrote this post this morning and saved it ready to put the photos in tonight. However, the post I wrote has completely disappeared. Whenever that happens I always suspect that the first post was much better written than the subsequent, replacement post.

All that aside, here is my Posh project; Wings of a Starling.

The yarn is Posh Yarn Esme in colourway Foibles.

The pattern is Old Man of Storr by Carie Morrison of Knitcrush designs. Here is a Ravelry link to this excellent, and easy to knit, pattern. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/old-man-of-storr-shawlette Generously, this pattern is free and I would recommend it highly. I will probably make another version of this as I think its a very good pattern for varigated yarns and I have a few of those in the stash.

I beaded mine, which is not called for in the pattern but I thought it gave just the right rainy look to a pattern inspired by a Scottish mountain. I felt the yarn, and the chosen beads, reminded me of a starling's plumage, hence the name. The beads are size 6 rocailles in purple rainbow colour and I used almost an entire 34g tube for this shawlette (well over 600 beads I would guess).

Here is a close up of the beaded lace. Not a great shot but the best I could manage before the camera battery gave up.

I placed the beads using a piece of fishing line bent in half, which can be easily threaded onto the stitch, the bead threaded on, the stitch lifted off, and put back on, easily and without danger of dropping the stitch. I found this easier than using a crochet hook and will use this method again for future beaded items since it also has the advantage of not splitting the yarn, which I often found the crochet hook would do.

I used almost the entire skein of the yarn, I would guess I've about three metres or so left over and although I haven't measured the shawl properly, it goes easily around my shoulders or makes a very large neckdrape, as can be seen.

Overall, I am super pleased with this project and the yarn was an absolute dream to knit with. The colour works with quite a bit in my wardrobe, including my posh purple wool coat.