Eagle Wrap

Like many crafters, some yarn in my stash has been hidden away patiently waiting for ‘just the right project’, but after trying to squeeze last years Tour de Fleece yarn into storage, I decided it was high time to use some of it. The yarn I used for this project was a ‘merlin singles 4ply’ in the colourway peat from a company called Knit me Sane who closed down several years ago, so the project had to take at maximum two skeins. The pattern is the small version of the Eagle Wrap from Alice Starmore’s Glamourie book which has some gorgeous designs that I’ll definitely be exploring with some of my handspun in the future.

The yarn is a linen/merino blend, meaning it’s incredibly soft, has a gentle sheen and is drapey, which I thought would be perfect for an eagle. My initial swatch was too small, but determined to make it work, I decided to hold the yarn doubled and thankfully that did the trick. Knitting was fairly straightforward, however I did make a couple of amendments to the order of construction. The wrap is knitted in two halves which are meant to be blocked before grafting and then the (also blocked) cable band sewn on, however due to the drapey nature of my yarn I wasn’t sure how it would behave with the stiches suspended on a cable during washing, so decided to graft first. It was my first time grafting anything bigger than a sock and when laying out my pieces, my knitting needle fell on the floor leaving me holding onto my stitches for dear life – miraculously I didn’t lose any!

It was also my first time properly blocking anything as I’ve been reluctant to purchase blocking squares made of foam (if anyone has recommendations for blocking sets made from natural materials let me know), however a friend kindly let me borrow their set so I was able to get the shawl finished in time to wear to EAYF and the following photoshoot with the talented @leanagibsonphotography!

The shawl should be secured with a shawl pin, but the one I have is too big, so I’ve opted for a vintage brooch at the moment. I just need to decide what to put in the centre of it.

Overall, I’m happy with how the shawl came out and very pleased to have found just the right project for the yarn. I’m hoping to do some stash-busting over the coming months, so hopefully I will gradually start to fill in the gaps on the (newly revamped!) flock page.

Happy Crafting!