As I said a little while ago I've finished and blocked my Rivoli Shawl. My husband just got round to taking photos as we're having quite a clear sky day here. It's lost some of it's shape as it was blocked a few weeks ago but it's still beautiful and I couldn't be any happier with it. It will definitely need blocking before I go away again but I don't mind that too much.
You may have noticed that it's not as deep as the pattern example and the main reason for that is that I didn't swatch! I never swatch for shawls as I'm happy to rip out if the fabric isn't what I want and am generally not bothered if it comes out a little smaller or bigger than the pattern example, as long as it's still wearable. I only used 496 metres of yarn and the pattern recommends having 700 metres available to use.
If I were to knit this pattern again I would use a different blend. The fiber is Lotus Yarns Forest Dew, which is a blend of 36% angora, 30% merino, 26% tencel and 8% cashmere. While I love the finished shawl it does give it a different look to the merino/silk blend that the designer used. It's more soft, fluffy and not as polished looking. When I do get to wear this in December I am sure that I will greatly appreciate the fluffiness of it!
The beads are great as they weigh the shawl down a bit and I'm hoping they will help to hold it in place when I do wear it. Using the Fleegle Beader made the beading a huge amount easier than using floss to transfer the beads and I'm extremely happy I had it. In the future I'm sure I will make some more beaded projects although, I have no plans to at the moment.
What have you finished recently that you can't wait to wear!?
It looks lovely. I love the contrast between the warm fuzz of the yarn and the gleam of the beads.
ReplyDeleteThank you! The contrast is lovely but the beads so difficult to capture to really show them off!
DeleteIt looks beautiful! And there are actually people that swatch for a shawl? I'm much too lazy for that. I've never work with beaded knitting, maybe I should give it a try this year.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there must be people who swatch for shawls...somewhere! I haven't met any of them having said that! It's a really fun skill to learn and a lot easier than it may seem. For me it was the pattern that spurred me on rather than the desire to knit with beads but I really enjoyed it.
DeleteAbsolutely beautiful!! I have never mixed beans and yarn. Which is rather odd, considering I did beadwork for years before I learned how to knit. This is lovely!!
ReplyDeleteShe Knits in Pearls
Thank you! That is a little odd! It's great fun and looks so pretty. You should give it a try! :-)
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