Did you buy too much of this fantastic wool? Me too, love every bit of it and thoroughly enjoyed this design so I thought I’d talk about it a bit today. First of all, I adore the wide range of colors in which Cascade offers this Ecowool yarn. The second bonus is the enormous hanks mean there are fewer ends to weave in. Sound good to you too? If you don’t have any, here’s a link for you to have a look at all the colors and choose your own adventure for a knitting journey to create a big comfort. It’s a keeper of a project and budget friendly, three skeins makes the entire garment for under $100. Of course shop your local yarn store first but if you cannot find it there, there’s always Amazon…

https://amzn.to/3th9ifd

So let’s get down to business. How did this pattern come to be? I saw a person struggling to wear her exceptionally oversized shawl. It was beautiful and a lovely idea, but just far too big and looked like she had grabbed a king size blanket to wear like Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind making a “dress” out of the drapes, interesting idea, very poor execution. As we know, I don’t mind asking people questions so I asked her what it was, who the designer was, the usual questions then asked her one she really wanted to discuss – what would be the one thing she’d change about it if she had ten minutes to spend with the designer. She didn’t hesitate, her answer “sleeves, I hate tripping over this thing but I spent so much on the yarn I feel guilty not wearing it”. Made sense to both of us so we talked a bit longer on the slope of the hill beneath the autumnal cover of a maple tree in full foliage transition at the fiber festival about how she could steek it and add sleeves.

That got me to thinking, how could this problem be avoided in the future since most people are averse to seeking. The answer, inserting waste yarn into the project then going back to finish the sleeve later just like inserting a thumb into a Norwegian mitten or heel into a sock.

A few swatches later, we know I do love a good swatch, the Sweater Shawl was born. Knit flat and in the round with waste yarn inserted where the sleeves will eventually live provides the perfect canvas upon which to work your knitting magic with or without cables, one or more colors, let your stash be your guide as you create your own piece of wearable art and don’t forget to tag me in your social media posts so I can see your creative genius!