Hitchhiker Shawlette

As mentioned in a previous post ... I am working on two shawls.  

This first shawl is an asymmetrical  shawlette.  

The yarn used was a Socks that Rock medium weight.  The dyer has a tendency to create yarns with bold large shifts in color.  The dying technique can cause pooling of colors (large areas where a single color can collect together resulting in uneven or badly placed blotches.)  Finding the right pattern for these Socks that Rock yarns is important if you want to avoid unintentional pooling.  

Also interesting to note is that when the yarn is in the skein it looks different from when wound into a ball.  The two yarns above looked exactly the same before I put one into a ball.  They look so different to my eye.

The pattern I used is called Hithhiker.  The designer's picture is a smaller version.  This shawlette can be made bigger just by continuing to knit until you decide to stop.  My version is generally bigger.  

This pattern has the advantage that you can work on it without paying much attention.  You knit every row (known by knitters as garter stitch) and the instructions for the points are very simple.    Generally I like to have a project that requires little or no attention while I knit so I can watch TV or carry on a conversation with friends and not worry about making mistakes that require major ripping out to fix.

Once completed this seldom needs blocking.  The garter stitch lies beautifully flat and needs no massaging through blocking to look "finished."  Most knitted garments need gentle blocking and some shawls required excessive blocking to bring out the pattern and provide a finished look.  Not so with this pattern.

I think this is my 4th Hitchhiker.

Next up - a traditional shawl.