15/3 - Swatched. Used 2.5cm needles but gauge was too small. Switched to 2.75cm. Perfect gauge when blocked. Yarn is lovely and soft. Colours are gorgeous. Can’t wait to get started.

21/4 - A bit of a false start after I knitted the rib and a few rows of the striped section on 2.75cm needles when I realised that my gauge was too big and I was going to run out of yarn. I must have knitted it tighter on the sample. Doh! Anyway the striped section is now all complete and looking good. The colours really complement one another well. I am happy to be starting the lace section to make a change from rows of stocking stitch.

1/5 - Complete except for crochet edging and blocking. I need to buy a crochet hook to do this. Luckily it’s simple enough for my very limited crochet skills.

29/4/17 NOTES ON FINISHED SHAWL

After sitting languishing for a long while, nearly 3 years I decided to finish the shawl. I decided not to do the crochet edging as I think that the shawl looks fine without it. I redid the bind off using the suspended bind off which is slightly stretchier than a basic bind off. Over the last 3 years I have found out all about different cast ons and bind offs and when to use them.

After blocking finished gauge on 2.5mm needles is 30 stitches and 45 rows which is quite a bit smaller than the pattern gauge calls for of 26 stitches and 42 rows. If I’d had enough yarn in the kit and been able to knit it on 2.75mm needles the gauge would have been correct as per my original tension swatch.

As it is there is less than 2g of Purple Passion yarn left and 3g of Ciel. There was 10g of Pewter and Dill so there is no way I could have knit it on larger needles.

Obviously this has made the shawl smaller than the size that it should have come out at. It is 135cm wide as opposed to 156cm and 54.5cm long rather than 62cm and this is the one criticism that I have. I still love the pattern, yarn and colours but am not sure how much wear that it will get due to the size. It is the only reason I have given it 3 stars.

Notes = Project Book 1