Firs and Flakes Shawl

Ta-daaa! Finally I finished the shawl I began knitting two years ago - and I love the result. I bought the pattern and yarn during my visit to the Shetland islands. The shawl, which is almost cape-shaped, was not the easiest thing to knit (you begin with casting on 452 sts and then you get to struggle with 4 pages of knitting chart), but once I got the hang of it, I only stopped when the weather prevented me from sitting with such warm wool in my lap.

Jamieson & Smith's 2 Ply Lace Yarn (col. eggplant) and 2 Ply Jumper Yarn (col. chocolate) on needles size 4.5 mm - 410 g in total. The shawl was designed by Anna Zilboorg.

Favorite Fibers

To begin with Lise wasn't sure if she wanted me to buy some lovely Shetland wool on her behalf. I asked her again and she said thanks, but no thanks. But then she changed her mind! ;)

And good for her. I know how much she luuuuuves Shetland wool so it felt like going against nature not bringing something back for her. She had only seen the shades that Jamieson's carry so it was up to me to try and find similar colours down at J&S's. I did my best, and here's what I got....I love those colours!

Well, I don't what to spoil the fun for Lise telling you all about this yarn and the project that lies ahead. Just note how much yarn I took home with me ;)

A proper goodbye

What better way to say goodbye is there than doing so with a small token of appreciation. And God knows I appreciate the past week in the Shetland Islands. So of course I deserved a present! ;) A yarny one.
Thus I went back to Jamieson & Smith in Lerwick. By now I know Lerwick quite well and I'm able to take shortcuts here and there. This time around it took only about 10-15 minutes to walk to the shop. I probably would have gone to Jamieson's too if it had not been for the fact that their mill and shop are a 45 minute drive (and many many sheep) away.
The staff at J&S seemed pleased to see me and we chatted for a while before I desided on a colour of the 2 ply jumper yarn I had come for. I love most of the colours, so making that kind of desition always takes a while. Give me a menu card and I'll order a burger, but give me more than three colours of yarn and I'm in at the deep end.

I ended up going for a dark brown, and once again I have to point out that this is soft Shetland wool, not itchy I-don't-want-it-near-my-skin-if-my-life-depended-on-it type of wool.


This is what I'll use for the Firs & Flakes Shawl :)


As you can see in the photo above I bought 8 balls of 2 ply jumper yarn. Unfortunately, something happened. I don't know how this could happen, but it did. Seven of the balls are fine and exactly what I thought they would be, shade 80, lot 03295. But when I got home and emptied the content of my carrier bag on the bed it jumped up and bid me in the nose! One of the balls where off somehow. I checked the dyelot number - all wrong! I thought the difference was so big that it made me check the colour too. Not good. Oh well, there was nothing I could do about it, but since I expect to need that last and 8th ball I'll write J&S an email and ask them to mail it to me. I don't think it will be that much of a problem.


I'm not sure it's that obvious but the ball in the very front is sort of green! Not something I would want in the middle of my shawl. Give me another 9-10 balls of that shade and I won't complain as much ;)