River Walk shawl

Since the last shawl I made was too small to wrap around comfortably without feeling like it needed a fastener to stay in place, I made another one extra big.

This is from the Summer 2011 Interweave Crochet issue – River Walk Wrap. I used a sportweight acrylic (I Love this Yarn from Hobby Lobby) in red which is much heavier than the lacy silk thread recommended so I reduced the number of repeats in the pattern. I just kept repeating rows until I thought it was long enough and would easily wrap around my shoulders. That yarn is so nice, stretchy, and easy to work with and the pattern had an easy repeat that I could memorize.

I liked it so much I immediately started on a second one in grey Bernat Softee Baby yarn. This yarn wasn’t as nice as the other – split a lot and had some fuzzy irregularities – but the color has a nice glow to it. I didn’t want it to be exactly the same so I switched to a smaller hook to make it denser and reduced the pattern repeat even more. It is about the same length though, just narrower.

My next project is an embroidery stichalong with Feeling Stitchy. I have picked my fabric and will just freestyle stitch around the flowers on the fabric. I am going to make a new day-to-day bag for myself when it is done. A messenger bag. So the embroidery will be on the front flap. The fabric is questionable. Really, I got it on ebay and have no idea what it is made of. It seems to be an indoor/outdoor fabric, very stiff and kinda rubbery, but it ironed well and has a nice open weave so it should be nice to stitch on. I only have a small piece so it will probably just be enough for the flap, bottom and sides. I will find coordinating fabrics for the rest of the construction. Grey would be nice. I like grey.