FO: Cladonia Shawl

Pattern: Cladonia by Kirsten Kapur

Yarn: Wellington Fibres 3 Ply (30% Mohair/70% Wool) in Leaf Green and Pearl Blue (these photos were taken in shade as the sun was really glaring and blowing out all the detail in the stitches; the actual yarn colours are somewhat less cold and dark)

Needle Size: US 7 (4.5 mm)

Modifications: Taking a tip from the notes of other Ravelers, for a bigger shawl I continued the stockinette stripes increasing to 35 sts between markers rather than 28sts.

I ran out of MC Blue yarn with 4 rows left of the lace section. If I'd had the energy I should have ripped back, reknit the set up rows in CC and then completed the lace section in MC before switching back again to CC immediately after the 16th row of lace. That might have been a little nicer.

Comments: Cladonia is a very pretty and very easy shawl to knit, although the endless stockinette stripes that make up the main body of the shawl are a bit tedious. The looped picot bind off was painful, but it gives it a light and frilly edge and sets off the lace panel well so it was worth the hours of my time.

There's a second Cladonia shawl on the horizon for me - I've promised one to Linda at work, and I have stash yarn for it. Because Linda is so tiny, I don't think I'll enlarge the striped section. Instead my priority will be getting every row of lace. Because the lace is lovely, isn't it?

This is my first experience knitting with mohair and I've enjoyed it. With 30% mohair content in this yarn there's a bit of a fuzziness evident across the stockinette section but not enough to obscure the pattern or the stripes. The finished shawl is very light and airy, but my goodness is it warm! The yarn had a lot of twist - which maybe helped the stitch definition - but it was at times a bit of a nuisance while knitting. Pretty colours though and what a pleasure to knit locally produced yarn. The angora goats from which the yarn was spun live just a short drive away in Elora.