Garter Stitch Shawl

Well then. Huh, July? Not so much. Salvbard was in China for 3 weeks out of it, and between that and getting ready for his next trip to China, I am afraid I haven't had much time to sit and craft never mind blog about it. I have been thinking about it a fair bit though and have a few post topics lines up to share.

First off the only thing I knit in July:

Ok yes, it isn't super complicated, but it was the perfect mindless project for stressful days. The result is over 1300 yards (1200 meters) of fingering weight in garter stitch, which makes for a fabulous shawl to help cut the chill of over air conditioned buses and businesses.

Pattern: Hera Mountain Ridge Shawl by Thea Eschliman (free pattern)
Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Alpaca Sox & Crazy4Dyeing SlenderSock
Yarn Suppliers: Webs and Crazy4Dyeing
Needles: US 3 / 3.25 mm

This was a great stash buster, and the pattern would work in nearly any weight yarn due to its construction. In the suggested yarn weight and amounts this is a generously sized shawl, though again due to its construction you could easily make it smaller if you preferred.

I hadn't worked with the Alpaca Sox yarn before, but I really hesitated to make it into a pair of socks despite the name. Knowing the lack of memory that alpaca has, it seems like it would make very hot, very slouchy socks. In the shawl it is a bit fuzzier than I might like, but it makes a wonderfully warm, cozy fabric.

Just a brief note about the beautiful location for the pictures here. Salvbard and I took Chiquita out for an adventure in western Massachusetts. Obviously we had to stop into Northampton, but we also took some time to stop and visit the Quabbin. If you are not familiar with its history, it was a really interesting project in terms of the scale of the effort that was required to build it in response to Boston's growing water demands.