Flower Petal Shawl FO

Last fall, I ordered 6 balls of black Andean Silk from Knit Picks with the purpose of making the Woven Trellis Scarf (Ravelry link) for a friend for Christmas. I'm not sure why, but the project just didn't grab me. The construction is intriguing, but after getting into it, I realized I wasn't enjoying the knitting at all. I ripped and made the friend something else for a gift.

So, what to do with this yarn that was now part of my stash? I did a little pattern searching through Ravelry and came up with a project that I have seen many times on the Elann website, but never thought much of - the Flower Petal Shawl.



I would have to order a few more balls of yarn, but the Andean Silk seemed like a perfect pairing with the pattern. I wanted to make a shawl, but because the yarn is black, I knew a lacy pattern was out of the question; any patterning would be lost in the black. The Flower Petal shawl is perfect: mostly stockinette with enough yarn overs to create the shape of the shawl, but not so many that they became obscured by the yarn.


once i had it pinned out, i had shane come into the living room to see my "bat wings".

I started the thing months ago. I didn't have a deadline on it, so I could take my time. I was reminded halfway through it what I don't like about triangular shawls - they just get bigger and bigger and bigger. I didn't count how many stitches were in the last row, but I'm sure it was in the 300s.

Once the main part of the shawl is finished, 15 points are worked as the edging. I wasn't sure I'd have enough yarn, but I made it with about one foot of yarn left. Oy.



The thing that's really cool about this design is the way that the stitches flow diagonally from one panel to the next.



It gives a depth to the finished piece that it wouldn't have if the stockinette was set in horizontal rows. The above picture is of the shawl pinned out on the floor - it's flat but it doesn't look flat. It looks folded like a fan.


i know i'm pale, but i swear i don't normally glow like that. damn sunshine.

The final blocked size ended up being a bit smaller than in the pattern because I used a size 8 needle, and I'm a tight knitter. I didn't measure it, but I would guess it is between 65" and 70".



Let me tell ya how much I was sweating modeling these pictures. It was about 90 degrees outside and 150% humidity. The wool in the yarn was actually starting to make my arms itch because it was so hot outside. Thanks to Shane for taking the pictures.

Here are the details:
Pattern: Flower Petal Shawl from Elann.com
Yarn: Knit Picks Andean Silk, 9 balls, in Pitch
Needles: 36" size 8 Inox silver
Started: 2/15/08
Finished: 7/11/08
Mods: None. I worked the pattern as written. It's very easy to memorize, so I didn't have to refer to the pattern at all until I started the edging.
Notes: I really liked this pattern. It seemed to take forever because of the endless stockinette, but I really like the way it turned out. Especially after blocking. Blocking is amazing.