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Pattern: The Lonely Tree Shawl by Sylvia bo Bilvia, free on Ravelry or in the supplement Best of the Net from Issue 16 of Knit Now magazine
Yarn: 3 x 50g balls of JC Rennie chunky lambswool aran in Bramble colourway, a destash from Christine in part-exchange for a pair of Willowherb socks!
Process: A quick and easy knit! It only took me 14 days from start to finish, and that included lots of coming and going on other projects. It would be a great gift-knit.
The pattern is written in a very conversational way with charts, which might not suit everyone. You definitely need to read the whole thing through before you start. I reckon it would make a good first lace project, as long as you keep your wits about you.
I used stitchmarkers between each repeat. If you do this, you need to remember to move them out of the way when you are knitting-two-together on the stems of the leaves. I thought I had miscounted my stitches until I realised the need to move the marker on these rows.
I have seen some other knitters complain that there are incomplete leaf motifs at the centre back and side edges… but I don’t mind that at all! On an aran-weight shawl I think it’s entirely acceptable.
Verdict:
The yarn is soft and warm. For a large, aran-weight shawl it is surprisingly light.
The stitch pattern is bold, especially in silhouette, and I love the picot-edge finish.
I expect to wear this as if it was a cardigan.
With a shawl-pin (mine was a gift in a swap package many moons ago, from Carpedyem – thank you again!) it looks quite formal and dressed-up.
But it is equally at home skulking around in the hedge-parsley!
