I had a skein of yarn in my stash that I thought would be great to use for this gift. It was Anne by Schaefer Yarn Company. It's 60% Merino wool, 25% Mohair, and 15% nylon. According to Ravelry, this yarn is now discontinued, which is a shame because I thought it was really nice to work with. The pastel colorway of the skein I had was called "The Brontes."
Through Ravelry I was able to find a free pattern to use called Multnomah by Kate Ray. It's a relatively simple pattern with the edging being a little more complicated, but still fairly easy. I made this shawl larger than what the pattern called for, partly because I thought it looked too small when I got to the point where I should start the border, and partly because I just wanted to use all of the yarn that I had from this skein.
I knit the body of the shawl until I had 331 stitches and 53 yo’s. I then knit the border until I didn't think I had enough yarn left for another repeat. I didn't note how many repeats I ended up doing, but I think it might have been 8.
I'm really very pleased with how the shawl turned out. Even better, Cathy was thrilled with it! I was able to get a couple quick pictures of her wearing it during a visit back to the area. Unfortunately, because they were quick pictures, I think I caught Cathy with her eyes half closed.
I hope she feels like this is a long-distance hug any time she wears it!
