I got the opportunity to test knit the Amberle Shawl for Shannon of Very Shannon! It was the first test knit I’ve done and I really enjoyed it. I’ve stalked a lot of them on Instagram and Ravelry but this was the first time I’ve been quick enough to actually get on one! It was a super fun experience and I am really jonesin’ to do some more. I’ve always loved Shannon’s patterns and have been reading her blog for years now. I knit Antrorse a couple years ago and it is definitely my most worn pullover.
The pattern recommends a size 7 but I am a pretty tight knitter and generally have to size up, which I did. I ended up using an 8. It’s important to swatch for this, I only had a teeny bit of yarn left after I finished the border, if you’re not knitting at the correct gauge you might need an extra ball. The yard I used was Nurtured by Julie Asselin, which is the recommended yarn. It is worsted weight and it is a really lovely yarn. Julie is a hand dyer out of Quebec and used Green Mt. Spinnery to have Nurtured spun, so it’s like we’re neighbors really. I think it is Targhee, Rambouillet and Merino. It feels really similar to Brooklyn Tweed (which I love). It would be a great substitute for any of their patterns. It’s a little less rustic than BT but kind of spongy and lofty in the same way. I would assume that’s because they both have Targhee? I used 4 skeins of my main color Irma and 2 skeins of Through the Looking Glass. I really loved the yarn and am happy to have had an excuse to knit with it. There will be more Nurtured in my future for sure.
I really loved both the pattern and the yarn. The shawl uses two main stitch patterns–one for the main body of the shawl and one for the border. Both were stitch patterns I’ve never used before and made super interesting groups of wrapped stitches. The shawl is triangular and is pretty standard in its shaping, it’s easy to increase and follow the stitch patterns at the same time.
The whole time I was knitting it my mom was looking at it out of the corner of her eye and dropping hints like “How nice would it be to just wrap up in that new shawl in the mornings when it’s chilly?” and “Since you’ve knit your Farmhouse Shawl, I’ve been really thinking I could use a shawl too.” She is not so subtle. Once the shawl was off the needles and the pictures were taken she wore it home and pretty literally hasn’t taken it off since. It has mysteriously migrated to her bed, too. Good thing I like her.
class 5 knits 