FO: Amalia Shawl

I fell for this one – hook, line and sinker, just as soon as I ever laid eyes on it. It even seduced me to the point that I sent away for specially selected yarn, rather than dipping into the stash and making do. Amalia is a flamboyent piece and definitely needed a bold splash of colour.

The designer said this on Ravelry:

A wider edging with the lace worked on both sides combines with garter stitch short rows in a shoulder shawl designed to unleash the inner fadista* in any adventurous intermediate knitter.

* a female singer of fado, the musical genre from Portugal. Amalia is named after the woman known as the “Queen of Fado”, Amália Rodrigues.

It struck a chord with me. I had not heard of Fado until a friend of mine blogged about the  music but somehow it has stuck with me and I thought of her as I read about the pattern.

• Cast on Date: 10 July, 2010
• Cast on: standard cast on for edging
• Pattern: Amalia Shawl
• Pattern Price: $7.95
• Yarn: ColourMart Cotton/Silk 2/9NM Fingering weight
• • Length: 700 yards
  • Amount: 150 gms
    
  • Cost:£10.98
  • Colour: Azulina
• Needles: 3.25mm, 4.0mm
• Size: Large
• Blocked: Yes
• Finished Size: 12″ deep at centre, approx 80″ along top
• Cast Off: Lace
• Cast Off Date:14 July, 2010
• Ravelry Project: Azulia

Amalia was huge fun to knit – the border is knitted first (and represents just over half of the work) and then stitches are picked up along it in order to knit short garter rows to fill in the centre.

The shawl comes in two sizes. I made the large one, so there were 389 stitches to pick up. It was far easier than it sounds, and I got it right first time.

The yarn is gorgeous – lovely to knit with and nice to handle. There is just enough silk to make it feel slightly slick, and sufficient cotton to give it weight.

I love it.

But I intend to part with it.

Knitted as part of the Colourmart Lovers Competition