Tuesday 22 January 2008

How Come Nobody Told Me?




While I was knitting up this pattern I had a moment where I thought – “this is such a lovely pattern – how come nobody ever told me about this pattern?” It is so pleasing to knit, easy enough to do while watching Sense & Sensibility on DVD (the recent BBC version, which seemed to borrow quite a bit from the excellent film with Emma and Kate a few years ago) (so, while it wasn’t bad, it did make me think I should have just watched the film) – anyway, it is easy enough to knit while watching a bit of TV but produces a charming bit of lace.

Really, you’d think someone would have mentioned it to me.

And then a little voice in the back of my head said – “Well, LittleBerry certainly tried to tell you. You’ve watched her make 3 gorgeous versions of it.” “Sure”, I relented, “LittleBerry tried, but others were keeping it quiet.” And then slowly I remembered the many gorgeous version I’d seen over the past year – MissAliceFaye’s, Fleegle’s, LaceFreak’s, ArsUna’s , the Yarn Harlot's...…

Ok – so pretty much everyone tried to tell me. But I think this just proves that you ‘find’ a pattern when you are ready to. Sometimes everyone can be raving about a pattern which is lovely but you don’t really get it, and other times you hear a whisper about a pattern and immediately cast on.


Swallowtail Shawl – Fall 2006 Interweave Knits
Handmaiden SeaSilk on 3.5mm needles
Size - Not very big. It is much more a scarf than a shawl – which is perfect for me. Others have made it larger by adding additional repeats to the body of the shawl (LittleBerry has done some impressive maths!).

I will absolutely be making another one (or two).

Thanks for the messages of support following last week’s attempted break in. I am feeling much better now. The neighbours and I have made a few security enhancements and with any luck the charming criminals won’t be back any time soon.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's beautiful. I really need to make another one...

florencemary said...

It really is gorgeous, isn't it!

I've been feeling very much like you, but with regard to Luna Moth recently. I think I might now switch to Swallowtail for some variation...

Gale Bulkley said...

It's beautiful. How much sea silk did it take?

Nevisknitter said...

That is beutiful, love the sheen in the seasilk too.

Kristina B said...

Absolutely stunning. And I love sea silk as well (I won't tell you where I live otherwise you might come and raid my stash! LOL. Ditto query above - how many skeins did it call for!

Viknits said...

Totally know what you mean about not getting into patterns that everyone's raving about.. then suddenly later it just comes to you that you should do it.

Very beautiful swallowtail anyway Soo, the yarn really shows it off :)

fleegle said...

It's a classic, isn't it? Any yarn, any weight, and it's just gorgeous! and never boring, either.

Kristina B said...

Wow!!! You're amazingly talented. I just noticed your Kaffe Fassett coat in the sidebar. Tremendous.

Another query for you (please feel free to Email me at BespokeByBrouhaha@gmail.com!): do you think 350 metres of a sock weight yarn (it's either Handmaiden or fleece artist cashmere plus something else) would be enough for the Swallowtail? It would be a tad heavier weight than the sea silk.

Cheers,

kristina

Agnes said...

Lovely! The sheen of the silk is so beautiful!

Vivian said...

your shawl is beautiful!

Beverly said...

Oooooo pretty! That one is on my list to make too.

Linda said...

Swallowtail was the first lace I ever knitted and I love it too! Yours is gorgeous.

LittleBerry said...

Beautiful ;o) as Fleegle commented it's a 'classic' pattern to work and shawl to look at .... it's one of those that I don't think you could ever get bored doing it and is very good for using up oddments of lace yarn.,,,

zoe said...

Soo, I cam eover from Gale's spot, and have been completely entranced by your shawls AND your Chinese coat. It is breathtaking!

cinnamongirl93 said...

What a stunning pattern! It looks so angelic draped across the chair. Just lovely.
Bravo! Regards, Barbara

Anonymous said...

That's lovely, especially in a nice classic colour.

You make me want to knit lace. Lots of it.

The Caked Crusader said...

I can vouch for what a beautiful shawl this is - the silk is so soft I couldn't stop squeezing it.
Having squeezed a lot of yarn lately I can state that this is the softest (I should explain that I am not some strange person standing in yarn shops feeling up the wool, rather I work with Soo and get first dibs on squeezing all the lovely yarn she has delivered to the office!)

Batty said...

It's beautiful!

It has also been on my to knit list since it came out, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Not to worry, though. It's gotten through to you, so I figure it'll eventually get through to me too.

ArsUna - Elena said...

It's absolutely amazing work!

Lacefreak said...

Yippee for you! Your first Swallowtail :-) I've made two and still don't own one. Both went to others. Now I see yours i've a yen to do it again :-) Great job!

Holly said...

That's so lovely. I like the concept of finding a pattern when you are ready to - that's somehow comforting!