Shawl 1

Pam and Barb from my SnB knitting group both made this shawl, Traffic Furniture – a really strange name for a pattern that I cannot quite figure out.  Basically, you start with a square and work out from that for awhile, then add extra increases at the corners to turn it into an octagon.  They had both used Malabrigo sock yarn, and I thought it the perfect opportunity to use up some of that lingering in my stash.  I loved the colors of Malabrigo when it first came out, and bought many different shades.  Then I knit a couple of pairs of socks with it, and they had holes in them within a very short period of time.  One was a favorite pair with spiders on it, they were beyond repair, so I reluctantly threw them away. Those I need to make again.  In the meantime, I had all of these beautiful colors, and I knew that I would not put the effort into making socks with them again.  I had thought of selling the yarn on Ravelry, but I would never get what I paid for it, plus all of the hassles.  So, this pattern encouraged me to use up that yarn.

Of course, I was winding the yarn and getting the pattern ready the morning that we were scheduled to go to California for a week.  This was the perfect pattern, as it was lots of mindless stockinette and garter stitch.  I chose these colors to take with me along with a beautiful variegated that I did not have a photo of:

The shawl proved to be the perfect item to work on while traveling, it was all on a circular needle, and easy to memorize.  You first knit the center square section, then pick up around that.  I used the magic loop technique, would have been tedious to try anything else, and double points would really not have worked.  It did remind me why I do not like working with the magic loop, I still do not understand why some people prefer that one over DPN’s for socks, but at least everyone has a choice, and the end product is basically the same.

I cose to end with an accent color of the purple

It didn’t look like much prior to blocking

But proved to be an interesting shape, this photo is a bit distorted, it is actually totally symmetrical

It was sent off to my daughter-in-law and I don’t have any photos of anyone wearing it.