F.O. The Elder Tree Shawl

I mentioned to you a few posts ago that I had purchased a skein of Clara Parkes yarn called CVM/Romeldale 2.0 in the Aborio colourway, and that I was on a hunt to find the perfect pattern that would showcase and utilize each inch of this beautiful skein. The pattern I settled on was The Elder Tree Shawl by softsweater, a Vancouver based designer who has many beautiful patterns on Ravelry. 

After swatching on several different sized needles I decided to go with 4.0 mm. The pattern itself was a joy to knit. It can be adapted for any weight  and amount of yarn you want to use.  The pattern was simple to knit but not boring at all.  Any knitting mistakes I made were quickly evident and easy to correct.

The yarn itself was so lovely to knit with that I took my time knitting this pattern, wishing that I had another skein, to make a larger shawl.  First of all the yarn smelled delightfully sheepy.  It was quite lofty, hardly weighing anything, and it seemed to be quite hardy, as it didn't seem bothered whenever I had to rip out a few rows and reknit.

My favourite part of knitting a lacy shawl is blocking it.  The shawl was quite tiny (40.5 x 15")  prior to blocking and thankfully grew (54 x23") to a perfect sized shawlette.  Here are the before and after shots.  

L-Pre blocking   R-After Blocking

Pre-blocking

I am so happy with how the lace opened up and the yarn itself softened up considerably.  This is the second yarn I have tried by Clara Parkes.(See my blog entry reviewing the first one I knit with).  Each yarn she creates is so different and I can hardly wait to see what she comes out with next. 

After Blocking

When I was on my holiday last week, driving back to Vancouver from Seattle, I did a quick stop at 88 Stitches in Langley.  On display, to my delight, were a collection of softsweater's knitted shawls.  Her designs Waiting for Rain and   The Rain Outside are very popular right now, but these earlier shawls are worth checking out too.  When viewed in person these shawls are just stunning.  I asked if I could take a couple pictures to remind myself of what I needed to add to my queue.  I have linked the shawls to Ravelry.

L to R :  Grateful Moments, Fossil & Bone, Authenticity

L to R:  Salt Water, Solarium, Grateful Moments

L to R:  Lanterns,  A Certain Darkness, Lonely Tree Shawl

Lanterns

I don't know if my pictures do them justice, but trust me when I say, if you are looking for a shawl pattern to knit you might want to try one of these.  You won't be sorry.  I, myself, love the look of Lanterns and Fossil & Bone....hmm let's not forget about Authenticity.   Actually I could knit any of these and be extremely happy.

So thank you Clara Parkes and softsweater...you made my knitting experience very enjoyable.

The Elder Tree Shawl & Cinecittà

Every now and then I get a skein of yarn that feels more special than the rest. Then, I challenge myself to pick the perfect pattern to showcase that yarn.  The skein I am referring to today is a skein of yarn produced by the one and only Clara Parkes. (Remember the first skein I ever knit of hers?)  It is called CVM/Romeldale 2.0, a two-ply fingering weight yarn in the colourway Aborio.  It hardly weighs anything, but it will be quite warm because it's so wooly.  I only have one skein of this lovely yarn measuring 370m.  

Clara Yarn:  CVM/Romeldale 2.0

After much searching the pattern I ended up finally choosing was The Elder Tree Shawl by Sylvia Bo Bilvia (also known as softsweater), a Canadian from Vancouver.  This designer is quite hot right now on Ravelry.  She is the designer behind such beautiful patterns as Waiting for Rain, The Lonely Tree Shawl and her newest pattern The Rain Outside, just to name a few.  The Elder Tree Shawl is a simple lace pattern, which is easy to follow and I am very happy with the result so far.  Hopefully, with blocking one skein will be enough to make a small sized shawl.  Oh, how I wish I bought two skeins because this pattern is written so that you can keep knitting for as long as you have yarn.  It would have been great to knit this to be a bigger shawl.  This yarn is so different than anything I have ever had the opportunity to knit with.  It is a woolen spun yarn and according to Clara Parkes CVM is the most critically rare sheep breed in the United States.  Here is what I have knit so far:

The Elder Tree Shawl by Sylvia Bo Bilvia

If you are interested in being alerted whenever Clara Parkes comes out with a new yarn you can sign up for  her newsletter.  But you have to be fast...it sells out very quickly.

As for finished objects I participated in the Very Shannon Tops, Tanks and Tees Knit a Long  through April and May and ended up knitting a La Maison Rililie pattern called Cinecittà.  It is knit top down, and right from the start you work the lace pattern that will be on the sleeve.  Although the pattern is well written my mind was not as focused as I should have been when starting this pattern and I ended up ripping out the beginning a few times.  Once I was focused though, I knit it in eleven days which I think is a record for me. 

 I knit the first sleeve as directed in the pattern which in place of the ribbing on the sleeves had a lovely cable sweater.  I knit the first sleeve as directed, but once trying it on decided to rip out the cables and reknit it as plain ribbing.  I was much happier with the result. 

First attempt

Second Attempt with ribbing

 The yarn I used was the luxurious Madelinetosh Pashmina in the Baroque Violet colourway.  It was deep in my stash and it feels very good to finally use it.

Madelinetosh Pashmina:  Baroque Violet

Now I am looking forward to picking a few patterns to knit this summer.  I am on vacation in a week and I have so many patterns in my queue that I want to knit next.  I am so excited...stay tuned to my Instagram account as I will try and post some of my trip photos and knitting progress.  Happy summer everyone!  I hope you are all taking some time for yourself.