FO: Birch, with borders

Fil: Rowan Kidsilk Haze (70% kidmohair, 30% silk) 225 yds / 25 gr.
Modèle: Birch from Rowan 32, with personal borders.
Aiguilles: 4.5 mm circulaires

I have received the yarn with my first subscription to Rowan's international club. 2 balls where not enouch for a full Birch, so Al and I made elaborate calculs to find out how many stitches I could cast-on for a diminutive birch, using as much of the yarn as possible. I knitted the shawl slowly, and left it alone in Alison's beautiful bag for many months, I must confess. I was not convinced by the colour, and something was wrong with the size of the shawl.
It is with great mortification that I must admit now that even if we are both proud of our capacities in mathematics, we where completely wrong. When I finally finished it, my birch was ridicully small, and I had much yarn left.

In July, I was anxiously waiting for my furnitures to start the Mystery Shawl 3. As I was in a crave for lace, I took back my Birch, and decided to do something with it. I thought and thought some more, then I decided to stop thinking too much, and to pick up stitches all around Birch. I found a pretty lace motif for the first part of my border in Folk Shawls, and began knitting it.
I repeated the pattern three times, then I decided I wanted a slightly frilled border to make sure it would not be too tight on the outside, and improvised a border on my own. The MS had awaken my curiosity for beads in knitting, so I found some nice trnsparent iridescent light purple beads, count them (rightly this time) and added them here and there, as my fancy guided me.

To finished it nicely (and again to be sure nothing where to be tight) I used (and learned) the crochet cast-off for lace.



I am simply enchanted by the result.

It is light as a feather, the silk and the beads makes it shines, it drapes graciously, thanks to the beads and the border and my modifications have not made this a buzy pattern. Of course it is not so graphic and simple "less is more" as the original Birch, but I don't think it is "too much" either. The border gives it a slithgly curving shape, that I intensified with the blocking.

There is only one little problem with this shawl:

You won't be surprised to hear that Al does not like it at all (it is an euphemism). He says that the color is "old looking" (I cannot help to feel he may be right here). He hates shawls. Again, "they look old".

Well yes, lacy fluffy shawls are certainly out of fashion. But I still love this one. I wear it a lot at home, the extremities simply knotted on the front. And I wear it outside home, a bit more like a scarf: I cross the knotted end once on itself and pass it above my head. This way I feel more confortable to wear it in public without feeling totally outdated.



And of course my daughter loves it.