Fiber Monday 236: Shrug

I've finished the Shrug i was working on as a side project

So when I'm working on something, I've usually got a few side projects going. It's one of the reasons things can take... ages. I've had the lovely Yvonne yarn from a local yarn maker for years, but I only recently started working on a project with it in earnest. The rich purple merino-silk blend makes this shrug one of the softest things I've ever made, while the pattern is one that is so simple I'll probably be using it for many other items - including, perhaps, the pumpkin set I'm planning to make next...

The pattern is based off of a pattern called "Fika" by CJ Brady designs, so if you're looking for instructions, I'd strongly suggest going to Ravelry and checking it out there. I really liked the way the stitching was kind of a shell but also kind of not, so it looked really cool!

As you can see, I made a long rectangle. here it is shown folded in half.
It's about 15" high by 30" wide (or 38cm x 76cm) with 5" (13cm) sewn in on either side for sleeves.

I loved this pattern. I don't wear cowls or infinity scarves, but boy if I did, this would be how I made it. It's so airy, but it's also so warm! This is perfect for a short-sleeved dress in early spring, or a cold-shoulder dress when it's a bit too cold for one. I would have needed a third ball of Yvonne to finish this as a long-sleeved shrug, or to add a proper edging around the inside, but sadly, Yvonne is out of manufacture, so I will have to content myself to its current state.

Which isn't hard. It's fantastic.

I stitched the sleeves shut inside out with a simple single-crochet row binding the edges together.
Then I turned the garment right-side-out to edge the sleeves!

Measuring the other sleeve before committing to the single-crochet.

The actual speed of making this whole shrug was shocking. Seriously, if I'd just worked on it every day, I probably could have made this within a week, which is incredible for a snail like me.

Finished before edging.
I had to do the finishing in the hall upstairs, since there was no room at the table
and I work better sitting in front of the project than with it up near my face.

I finished the edging on my bed.
The edging was a repetition of the Fika pattern proper, which is simple and fun!

The hardest part, however, was trying to get this thing on camera. I'm not much of a photographer to begin with, so I had to balance on tiptoe and try to snap this in the mirror awkwardly...

Well, you can see it. Mission accomplished?

It really is awkward, trying to photograph oneself without exposing one's face...

I did get a good detail on the sleeve, though!

In the end, I've settled on laying the finished shrug on the stairs to give you some idea of its wear.

Which, unfortunately, the flash completely botched - lol!

If you were wondering what a shrug was this whole time (and the photos aren't clear enough, for which I apologize), it's basically a tiny sweater that consists of a tube that's only sewn along the bottoms of the sleeves, left open in the middle, and worn to keep the upper arms toasty. Or fashionable.

I hope my experiments with this shrug have intrigued you enough to check out CJ's pattern on Ravelry so you can make your own garments based off of it!

Go Enjoy Something!
FC

Fiber Monday 235: Free At Last

It only took 16 weeks...

This morning, I woke up to birdsong and cold feet. That's a very pleasant change from the usual steaming discomfort of a coastal August, so I'll 100% accept it. Cool dry air had me scrambling for my previous shawl (the green one I made on here before this madness), and I set to work with my morning coffee.

With guest star: leftover apple crisp.

It only took a couple of extra hours, but I eventually had that beautiful feeling of a job finally done. I slip stitched my last stitch, snipped and wove my tails, and...

It was finally, finally over.

I am hereby freed from the tyranny of the Lost Souls Shawl!

This is a lovely pattern, to be sure, and I might remake it someday. With a thicker fiber. And a much bigger hook.

Because 16 weeks (which, let's be honest, was really more along the lines of 40 hours total working time or so...) is insane for any project smaller than a California King sized bedspread. This should have been a 3 week project.

But I'm inconsistent in my crochet hours, distractable, and just generally undisciplined, so it took as long as it took.

It's a lovely light and airy shawl, but there's one tiny issue I have with it...

Literally tiny...

It's... it's maybe a little small? Especially for all of the time and material?

My green shawl for scale. The wings of the larger shawl can be tied behind my back to
make the shawl into a shrug. I absolutely cannot do that with the LS Shawl.

Make no mistake, this is still a shawl, it's just... small. If I wore it with a sufficiently spoopy pin, it'd make a great addition to a witch costume, so that's how I'll treat it. It's a fashionable accessory rather than a purely functional one (like the green shawl, which is great for cold nights).

I'm going to keep working on the purple project I previewed on here before, and hopefully that'll be done sooner rather than later, lol!

My final note is this:

I'm probably going to revisit another part of the pattern, specifically the shells, to make a new shawl in the future. I'd just make it more like a "viral" shawl, which is called that because of how quickly it grows. I also wouldn't be using a lace-weight linen. That was very stupid of me.

Lessons learned, shawl complete, that's one less thing to worry about this week!

That's all from me today, folks!

Go Enjoy Something!
FC