In my previous post (Perfect For Fall: A Kite-Shaped Shawl – pt.1) I talked about the characteristics of the kite-shaped shawl. I also showed you two of my kite-shaped shawl patterns: Halcyon Shawl and From Summer To Fall. I’ve been knitting a second version of my From Summer To Fall shawl and you saw glimpses of it in that previous post. In this post I’m going to talk more about my new From Summer To Fall shawl and show you how I finished and blocked it.
Yarn Selection
For this new version of From Summer To Fall, I chose two Malabrigo Sock colours: Ivy and Myths. For the third colour I chose Emilia & Philomena Adelina in Brooklyn. Just like the first version, I chose two solid colours plus a complementary speckled colour. I love the combination of two solids plus a speckle. The speckled yarn ties the two solid colours together so beautifully. This is what I chose to do but of course any three colours could be used.
To Carry or Cut?
When using more than one colour in a knitting project there are some decisions to make. Should you carry the colours along the side of the knitting or cut and weave in all those ends when it’s finished? I usually do a bit of both. I don’t always like the look of contrasting colours being carried along the ends. So some of them get cut and some of them get carried. It makes for more work in the end though because all of those ends need to be sewn in.
Washing and Blocking a Kite-Shaped Shawl
I am a big proponent of washing and blocking all knitting projects. Washing evens out the stitches, makes the yarn to bloom, and just makes the item look so much more beautiful and complete. Washing and blocking is especially important for shawls and for lace. It’s particularly important for shawl patterns where a larger than recommended needle size is used for sock or fingering weight wool yarns.
As you can see here, stretching and pinning the wet shawl is crucial for getting it to its final size and shape. Wool responds especially well to wet blocking. It holds its shape beautifully once dry.
An oversized kite-shaped shawl is a hard one to block though due to its large size. You’ll need a large floor space or maybe an unused bed. And you’ll need lots of blocking boards. I used 21 here. Don’t feel that your blocking set-up needs to be pretty or follow certain rules. You could also use towels, styrofoam, or any waterproof material that can hold pins. I’ve been know to block a big shawl on plastic garbage bags pinned directly into carpet on the floor! However, I don’t recommend that method if you like your carpet.
The pattern calls for finished measurements of 105 inches across the top edge, 72 inches along the long diagonal edge, and a depth of 35 inches (measured from the middle of top edge to the bottom corner). I pinned this new one to 102 inches across the top edge, 73 inches along the long diagonal edge, and 34 inches deep. Once it was dried and unpinned it did shrink back a couple of inches which is totally normal.
Wearing a Kite-Shaped Shawl
The kite-shaped shawl is such a versatile shape to wear. It can be wrapped around the neck, around the shoulders, draped over a shoulder, tied, or loose. Because of its big size there’s a lot of shawl to work with. This makes it easy to find your own favourite way to wear it. And as the fall days get cooler, the large size provides just enough warmth. At the same time, the light-weight yarn keeps it from getting too overwhelmingly toasty.
Be sure to share photos of your From Summer To Fall shawl online with these hashtags: #fromsummertofallshawl or #leahmichelledesigns or #leahmdesigns. Happy knitting!