Friday 9 July 2010

Maia for Mairi

Within almost minutes of the Wedding Ring Shawl being blocked I stumbled across a pattern that I just had to cast on.  Maia  - a shoulder shawl designed by the very talented Romi.  Romi also makes gorgeous shawl pins -- a few of which you might have seen on this very blog.

The shoulderette (as Romi calls it) is a perfect size for wearing over sun dresses on cool summer evenings, covering the shoulders but not taking over the outfit.

Within seconds of discovering Maia (which I've since found out had only been released 2 days before) I found the perfect yarn - a beautiful moss green Handmaiden Sea Silk I bought a couple of years ago. 



And as soon as I found the yarn, I knew that the shoulderette was destined for my friend Mairi.  It's her style and definitely her colour. 

The project worked up quite quickly, with only two niggles. 
1. There was a teeny weeny voice in the back of my head saying "heh - you do know you have to finish Gen's sweater by next Wednesday right?" and "You aren't even finished the back yet."
2.  I wasn't convinced I had enough yarn.

The teeny weeny voice never really went away, but I'm pretty good at ignoring it.

The yarn situation -- well when I cast off the last stitch I had 3 inches of yarn left. Just enough to weave in.  Here's a pre-blocking picture and you can see the last little bit of yarn in the bottom right hand corner.

If that doesn't prove that this project, with this yarn was meant to be - I don't know what does.

I really like the finished piece.  It drapes beautifully, thanks in part to the gorgeous Sea Silk but also due to the clever design and shape.  It sits on the shoulders nicely and the length is perfect. 

I knit this on 3.75mm needles, with EXACTLY 100gm of Handmaiden Sea Silk.  I gave it to Mairi today and her reaction made it clear she agreed it was the perfect project, with the perfect yarn for her.

Now.....this weekend I better get back to Gen's birthday present or that teeny weeny voice is going to take over!

12 comments:

Helen (Fuss Free Flavours) said...

Super speedy knitting there! it is lovely. I possibly have found a use for my Blue Heron!

Anonymous said...

Ooh that's lovely!

fleegle said...

Interesting...and we always need shawls that don't fall off easily :)

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! What a lovely pattern - yet another one for the queue....

Opal said...

stunning!

what an adventure to only have that much yarn left! your heart must have been racing as you were binding off!

Anonymous said...

fantastic pattern and lovely job of knitting. I would have been on pins and needles with that much yarn left!

Jackie's Stitches said...

Stunning beautiful! I have this in my queue in Ravelry but your photos make this even more appealing. It sounds like you found the project the yarn was destined to be!

Jackie's Stitches said...

Stunning beautiful! I have this in my queue in Ravelry but your photos make this even more appealing. It sounds like you found the project the yarn was destined to be!

LittleBerry said...

lovely shawl and colour they go well together... I can't believe you just whipped it up so quickly especially after the WRS!!!

I have to admit that little niggling voice that says you don't have enough yarn always brings out the challenge in me to prove I have ;o)

Linda said...

I have just caught up with your blog, that shawl is lovely and as for the wedding ring shawl, it made me speechless, it is beautiful.

cici said...

I can get enough of it.. I love your yarn choice and color. great job♥

Paula said...

Quite stunning! I saw your blog post linked on Romi's Ravelry board and popped over to take a peek. I am coming down the home stretch on my Maia.