Finished Object: Onerva

You know, when I asked for all your advice on which of these 10 great, free lace shawl patterns I should knit, I didn't expect that the result would end up being one of my favourite finished objects, ever. The main reason it took so long for me to blog about it is that it went straight into rotation as my "cold day" winter scarf and there have been a lot of cold days here this winter! I usually wear it like you see below, wrapped around my neck with the ends tucked in the front of my coat, and the triangle hanging down the front over my coat zipper. I've been told it looks a little bit western (like a cowboy, not a european... although that is inevitable since I'm whiter than white) when worn this way, probably because the geometric lines are similar to a bandana. A giant, cozy wool bandana.


Pattern & Modifications
Onerva by Särmä

The first thing everyone says to me when they see the pattern is "oh my god, you translated it from Finnish!" But the thing is, the pattern itself is a straightforward, charted lace, and it uses typical symbols for yarn-overs, k2togs etc. A little bit of google translate to clarify the chart details and with a little help from some other knitters' ravelry notes it was actually very easy to figure out, and once I got into the second repeat it was easily memorized. The whole thing is made up of only 3 successive stitch patterns, stacked, they form this beautiful sequential lace.


Yarn & Needles
Mmmm, Malabrigo Laceweight, 100% soft, brushed merino in sapphire green. To get the heavier weight fabric, this yarn is knit doubled on 3.25mm (US 3) needles. The results are lusciously soft and drapey but substantial enough to keep you warm even when the temperature heads deep into the minus territories. I used 4 skeins for this shawl, and I basically knit until I ran out of yarn, which was conveniently enough a rather nice size.

Timeline
Begun in September and completed some time in October, this project got a lot of wedding-jitters knitting from me and then was promptly put aside for the actual wedding preparations in late October! Since I've been back from the honeymoon it has been getting almost daily wear though, which is part of why it took so long to photograph.