I haven’t knit anything for myself in months if not years, well sometimes I snatch up one of my knits made for the shop, but that doesn’t really count. It seems to come with the territory if you sell your knits online… So when I need to take a break from knitting I knit something for myself 🙂
My new V ES P E R T I N E yarn line was begging to be used in one of the pattern by Melanie Berg I was dying to try out. V ES P E R T I N E is an easy care SW Merino | Nylon | Tencel blend that knits smoothly and feels amazingly soft, the perfect match it seems!
It’s a fingering weight and comes in 50 g skeins which runs approximately 192 yds. The needles size recommended is US 0-3, I used US 2.
“On The Spice Market” [you can find this lovely pattern on Ravelry] was sitting in my ‘to do’ folder for quite some time, with a trip to the ocean planned this summer I figured some colorful shawl for those windy cool nights would be perfect. We took a whale watching tour last year and coming from the mountains we thought we would just pack for lots of California sunshine. Little did we know how downright chilly it can get on a boat.
This pattern asks for 6 contrast colors and one main color. I decided on Aqua, Poppy, Peach Blush, Citrus, Pistachio and Sageleaf, and Cream as main color. These are all kettle dyed semisolid colors.
It is a fairly easy pattern that is mainly knit in garter stitch. I am usually not a big fan of the garter stitch but I think it’s very pretty in this case. I also think it adds a little more thickness and therefore warmth to the shawl.
I would say the pattern is between easy and intermediate. There was nothing unfamiliar in the pattern other than German Short rows, which I hadn’t come across before. I always love to learn something new, which doesn’t happen often when you have knit for so many years. If you are not familiar with German Short rows here is a great tutorial: German Short rows.
Here is the finished shawl, it still needs to be blocked, I just couldn’t wait to take a few photos. I like how it turned out, a great summer accessory in bright fresh colors!
The yarn is available in my Etsy shop as a pack.
WILD LILAC MOON 