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Friday, August 21, 2015

FO: stripey shawl

I made a thing, but not for me. It was for another socks/shawl swap, and it was a lot of fun. Last year I made someone else socks in exchange for a shawl; this year I am bored of making socks, so I made someone else a shawl to swap for socks.

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Pattern: Itaca by Stephen West

Yarn: Ito Kinu

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Notes:

I didn't add the shells / beads on the bind-off edge, but otherwise followed the pattern as written. The yarn is 100% tussah silk, and I really enjoyed working with it. It has a pleasant nubbly texture and a pretty depth of colour, in an almost tweed-y way.

I'm hesitant to commit to using it again, however; upon blocking, the shawl acquired a really strong musty smell. I'm told this sometimes happens to silk, though this definitely wasn't the 'fishy' smell that also sometimes happens with silk. Anyway, I managed to get the smell out, I think. I tried many things, but what seemed to work in the end was washing in regular laundry detergent (by hand) and rinsing in citric acid. Then hanging it outdoors for a few days. So, although I like the yarn, I have my reservations about it. Hopefully I just got a bad batch.

Next up, I'll show you what I received in return!

Linking up with FO Friday.

7 comments:

  1. It looks fantastic. What a shame about the smell issue, I can see how that would be a little off-putting. Glad you managed to get it out.

    I didn't know that about silk - I've only knitted with pure silk once or twice and I guess I was lucky in that neither time there were any issues with funky smells. Something to bear in mind if I ever plan another silk project!

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  2. Oh wow, I didn't know silk can have a smell. No kidding. Your swap shawl is awesome. That pretty blue really pops against the milk chocolate brown.

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    1. Another camera-fail: it's really gray and rusty red/orange. :) But thank you!

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  3. Your swap partner is very lucky as this shawl is stunning! The color combination is stunning.

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  4. It looks like it would feel lovely to wear, your swap partner should be very pleased with it :)

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  5. Beautiful! Love the colors and the pattern. I've not knit with 100% silk but the odor does not sound pleasant. Glad you were able to remedy it.

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