Fantasm shawl. Something wot I have made.

Fantasm shawl. In mohair. Totally lush.

  

Ah. How satisfying. A finished project and a happy recipient. I'm ever so taken with this Fantasm pattern. This is number 2 of 3, with a smaller, cornflower blue Alpaca DK version now hanging on my coat rack and a hot pink, BC Garn Baby Alpaca number awaiting construction. 

For today's interpretation I went with Prick Your Finger's 4-ply mohair from Yorkshire in a sort of dove-esque hue. There's soooo much meterage wrapped up in a 100g skein, enough indeed to produce this one large shawl with a bit left over.

 

 

Not only is it British wool but this mohair comes in a jolly range of colours. Huzzah! I couldn't resist. I've also got some of the bubble gum pink and am currently knitting up another shawl on 15mm circular needles. That one looks like (to quote my sibling) "an elfin net for catching clouds". Indeed, that's a charmingly evocative summation of what is a wonderfully soft, fluffy, warm and oh-so-desirable yarn once whipped up in to some sort of wearable item.

A word of warning though; mohair is for the brave and patient. The one mega pain in the bum problem with it - which is arguably why it is so delicious to wear -  is the fluff. I love crochet because if you make a mistake it's easy to pull a project apart and then quickly crochet it back. If you drop the hook, hey ho! No worries at all. Stick it in again and you're off.

This is all in stark contrast to knitting. I dread making a mistake. I seem to spend aeons doing battle with dropped stitches, dropped needles, twisted stitches, twisted fingers, magically appearing increases and decreases etc etc etc etc. 

Not so with crochet...unless you're working with mohair. An evening of hubris and pig-headedness meant that instead of pulling apart a single row to undo an earlier mistake, I believed I was cleverer than a mere crochet pattern and could simply fudge it. 

After 4 rows I realised that I had totally b*llsed it up. 

Gah. 

6 days later I had finally unravelled the mohair without having to cut any of the yarn (my eyes are completely shot as a result though) and was back to the site of the original mistake.

Pfff! What a faff! But what a lesson in patience and humility too.

And well worth it in the end. How much do we like the versatility of this shawl ("Is it a shawl?! Is it a scarf?! Is it a blanket?! Who cares?! It's so soft and dreamy in mohair!")? Lots and lots. 

(Images: Zoë F. Willis)