Silk Shawlette Number One

There has been a bit of a lull in blog posting in the SewYLD household.  The reason is a recent bad cold, which has gone but left me rather tired and with a persistently annoying cough that precludes long chats on the phone about sewing.  Which considering my chief sewing pal is knee deep in the planning stages for a new and exciting sewing project, is somewhat unfortunate timing. 

However, the cold didn't stop me from knitting and I do have multiple projects on the go which will start to filter onto the blog in due course (except the super secret one which is for a christmas gift).  I also have many plans for sewn items which should get underway once this cold has departed and left me with a brain that is able to think things out properly. 

Anyhoo, here be the latest project off the needles.  Calais Shawl by Judy Marples.  Its a really simple pattern with easy to memorise repeats.  I've made one before for myself and was wearing it at WoolFest, and it was this pattern that caused my BFF to request that I make her three lace weight items.  This is one of those requested items.   The yarn in question is a pure silk laceweight, a yarn I've never had the chance to work with before.  Ladies and gents, I commend to you, a good handcream, whatever works best for your hands, BEFORE you touch silk yarn.  Any tiny little bit of roughness will rub up this yarn very badly.  However, the end  result is a project of superb sheen and softness, and it blocks like a dream.  It almost lay down and blocked itself, growing far more than I had expected it to and thus producing a rather larger item than  anticipated.  The yarn is by Knitwitches and the colourway is Gumdrops I think, its a fabulous mix of blues and purples which my camera hasn't really done full justice to in the photos above.  In theory, I should have about 50 grams left of this for the second shawlette.  I have 75 grammes left.  And the shawlette in question measures a very respectable 1 metre 40 cm along its top edge and you can  see it will drape down quite a nice distance when worn as Twiggy wears it (and as my BFF intends to wear it).  It is possible that I might manage to get three shawls from this single skein which would be pretty fabulous.  It would also be rather nice if my own version of this pattern would deign to turn up from wherever its gone to hide.  I've mislaid it and considering its one of those colours that magically goes with almost anything you wear it with, I'm a bit peeved about is disappearance. 

The next shawl pattern for this yarn has been chosen and approved but I may not cast that on for a week or two.  It is going to be Annis by SusannahIC, which I have knit before.  However, the pattern has nupps, which I truly detest knitting, so these are to be replaced by beads... not only will this mean I don't have to do the nupps, but it will also provide a little weight to the shawlette at the edges to allow it to drape nicely.