Silk/Cashmere Shawl

        A month or so ago I was commissioned to knit a sample for my LYS. Now, this isn't anything out of the ordinary, but I'm posting about it here because of what the sample was. It wasn't just a hand-me-the-yarn-and-I'll-figure-out-what-to-make deal, they gave me a pre-made kit with yarn and a pattern, all in a nice little box. That's not even the best part. Guess what kind of yarn it was? Raw silk (beaded) and cashmere. For my readers who are uneducated on the subject of fiber costs, that stuff is pricy. Very pricy. I mean, look at that - it even sounds expensive! There is probably over $80 worth of yarn in this lovely shawl.

         I must admit, it is a beautiful pattern, and equally pretty yarn. The thing I like about doing samples is that I get to play with scrumptious yarn that I would otherwise never be able to afford, I get to further my knitting skills by trying new patterns, and I get to pick out some free yarn when I'm done! There are no downsides to this, I'm tellin' you. This particular sample took my longer to finish than usual for a couple of reasons. One, the pattern wasn't written very well and I spent many long hours in the yarn shop with the ladies trying to decode it, and two, I've just been very busy. Since the pattern was so complicated, I wasn't able to do it while watching baseball with my family (which I make a point of doing regularly), so I had to come up with other space in my days. It feels so nice to have it finished - it was so fun to knit but now that it's off the needles and I see just how pretty it is I want to look at it all day long!

         It has 30 rows of the lace pattern worked in a beige/gray beaded silk, 4 rows in delicate pink cashmere, 2 rows in the beige/gray again, 6 rows in cream/sand beaded silk, 2 rows in cashmere, and 4 rows in cream/sand. Then, for the edging, there are 8 rows in cashmere and then 2 rows (including the bind-off) in cream/sand silk. Loveliness itself.

         There are two cable panels - you can kind of see them in the other pictures - but here they are.

        What do you think of this shawl? I'm enjoying looking at it for another day before I take it to the yarn store. ;)

Blessings,

Reyna