WIP Wednesday - Seaweed Squiggle Shawl

I received some really awesome yarn for Christmas this year, and I've already put some of it to use! When I saw the pattern on MagKnits, I knew I wanted to make one of my own, it looked so pretty, and easy; and it's knitting up very quickly. I'm only using 2 yarns for my shawl, the original pattern calls for a main color, and 2 contrast yarns. But, I love both of them, and didn't want another in the mix, competing for my attention!

The yarns I'm using are Knit Picks Suri Dream in ocean, and Araucania's Quellón in their #3 colorway, gold topaz & mint. The Suri Dream is an alpaca wool blend with some nylon; and the Quellón is a viscose cotton blend chenille. When my Mom mentioned that some of my Christmas yarn hadn't shown up on time, and that it was chenille, I got very nervous… See, I'm a tight knitter, or rather, I was a tight knitter. With my new knitting needles, I've really evened my tension problems out. I've also tried to crochet with chenille, and couldn't even find the loops of my foundation chain to make a small flower!

Anyway, when it finally did show up, I knew immediately it had to become a squiggle shawl. The colors remind me of seaweed, and the texture…. is soooooo soft! I wish I could let you feel it, it's incredibly, velvety soft! My Mom got 3 skeins for me, and I'm alternating with 2 of them for the squiggle shawl; so I'm hoping to have enough left over for another fun project. My husband and I have a Hawaiian cruise booked for the fall, so I'm totally excited and dreaming of all the wonderful handmade items I'll get to take along, (knit and sewn!)

Word of caution though, about the chenille yarn… It does break very, very easily. Originally I used it for my cast on edge, and then broke it trying to stretch the edge out, just a bit! I went back and used the Suri Dream, and a simplified cast on, for my second start. Looking back, I probably could have used the chenille with the different cast on, but I'm not going back & redoing all of it now!