roguecrafter

First off, let me say that I’m not going to go into the how’s and why’s of the actual pattern of Wingspan (as it’s now gone paid for). However, I am going to discuss my project notes (which could be freely posted on Ravelry) in case anyone else wants to knit a Wingspan project for someone who gets cold really easily — like me — and wants more than just their upper shoulders covered.

I followed the directions for casting on # of stitches &tc for the fingering weight project; however I used handspun thick-and-thin yarn (made and hand-dyed by me) that was ~mostly~ worsted weight. I also used US # 10.5 needles so that it would have some drape (and so it would go quickly, I admit). I also only did five triangles instead of eight. I’m not sure exactly how many yards of yarn I used, but it was probably around 80 yards per triangle plus a tad more for the border. However, I just used whatever was extra and grabbed it from my project bag to create a random striping effect. The gauge was approximately 3 sts/in (12 sts/4 in), but that is very approximate as I said because it was thick-and-thin yarn. In places it was 3.5 sts in, but that was rare.

I, er, still have to weave in the ends and block it, but I am really happy with how this turned out.

Wingspan shawl in shades of beige, pink, and purple. Measures approximately 60 inches wide by 18 inches long at the widest point. (roughly 152 cm wide by 46 cm for metric folks). Made from Blue-faced Leicester and Alpaca; ends still need weaving in.

A close up of the striping on the border using random yarns from the rest of the shawl.

For one triangle I was running short of yarn, so I added some stripes. I really like the effect this had, so I ended up duplicating it elsewhere even though I had enough yarn.

Here’s another triangle where I added extra striping at the end.

Curious what I dyed the yarns with? It was a mix of things. From left to right on the top photo:

Beige/yellow: daylilies
Bright pink: after the avocado fail, food coloring
Purple: frozen mixed berries
Pale pink: red cabbage with vinegar and cream of tartar
Strawberry: kool aid (a mix of pink lemonade and black cherry)

Here’s a previous wingspan I knit (with Malabrigo Worsted) for size comparison, casting on half the number of stitches:

Similar in length (though not *quite* as long) with 8 triangles, but about half as wide, this wingspan does not cover one’s arms fully when wearing it. It’s more of a shawlette.

So now that I’ve written a ridiculously long post – that’s the story!