FO: Lonely Tree Shawl

with fall quickly approaching here in north carolina and the endless rows of stockinette sweater knitting i have been doing, i had an itch to knit something very lacy. i started looking at ravelry for something that would knit up quick but that would satisfy my lace craving. i found the lonely tree shawl and it meant all my expectations for a fall shawl that i could wrap around my neck.

the pattern in free on ravelry. the shawl is made up of an overall lace leaf motif that is representative of the leaves falling off of the trees in the fall. if you have done a little lace knitting, you could definitely knit this up. however, it is charted out not written. if you haven't knit from a chart before, that's fine because the designer does a great job of explaining how to read the charts, but you do need some experience with knitting simple lace stitches. i am already looking at another pattern by the same designer because i fell in love with her design techniques, elements, and many of her patterns are free! to me, this felt like a paid pattern because there was so much information that normally wouldn't have be included in a free pattern.

the shawl is knit in worsted weight yarn from a big box store. i was very particular about the yarn. i knew i didn't have anything in my stash that would work and i couldn't spend much money on the yarn for the project. i found naturally caron country which has a merino wool content making it warm wearing. this yarn was tweedy and gray...perfect for the shawl. and it was only a couple of dollars per skein of 185 yards.

i do have to say that i was a little lazy with the blocking. there is a picot edging for the bind off and i did not feel like pinning out every picot. when i have to wash and block this shawl again, i will be a little more aggressive and try to stretch out the beautiful leaf motif and the edging some more.

i see myself wearing this shawl all the time. it will be perfect with a sweater just for a little extra warmth but also layered in the winter with other wooly items.