So I made a shawl. I am much like Heather when it comes to shawls and butching it up with the yarn weight. Feminine shawls knit with laceweight (especially if it is cobweb like yarn, bleh) is, decidedly, not my thing. I much prefer my shawls be knit with fingering weight yarn or dk. But this shawl was not knit for myself, so I wanted to appeal to the personal preference of the giftee as much as possible.
So my boss is retiring at the end of the year. I have worked with her for almost 5 years, she has been at our fine institution for 25 years (to me, that sounds crazy, but it's true). One thing that I have noticed about my boss, let's call her "L," is that she likes to wear shawls. As a knitter, you will understand that this is something that I can appreciate in a person. She knows a little about knitting too. She knit back in the day, but never got into it so the passion didn't develop, I don't get it either, but let's just let that go. In any case, when she announced her retirement, I knew I was going to knit her a shawl. The Mrs. Lazypants in me was going to wait to start the shawl; but, then I realized, that life with a toddler and a newborn as well as healing from a surgical delivery, around the time of the winter holidays no less, probably would not lend itself to success in my deadline knitting (the best kind, in my opinion), so I figured starting sooner rather than later was the way to go.
I knew I would need to knit her something feminine and very lacy, she seems to like that sort of thing. But I also wanted to knit something for her that would be interesting for me to knit (you know, something that hasn't been knit by 5,345 people according to ravelry, etc.). It also had to be knit in a versatile color suitable for a woman who does not consider bright colors appropriate for everyday (and ever occasion wear).
So I started searching for a pattern and just happened to come across Piecework Magazine this summer. There was a preview of Nancy Bush's new Knitted Lace of Estonia book coming out next month (yes family, this would be an appropriate gift for me around holiday gift-giving time, should you be so inclined). I took a look at the preview online, I think there are a lot of really great shawl patterns in the book, and the Estonian Summer Triangular Shawl to Knit was a nice sneak peek (even if the name is long and unwieldy; but, there you are). The pattern seemed to meet all my criteria, and it seemed doable, there were a lot of nupps, but how bad could it be?
Nupps aren't so bad to knit, once you get into the rythym of doing them. I ended up switching to a smaller needle to do the 7-stitch nupps; but, I suppose one could easily just knit the nupps looser. When I knit the swallowtail shawl, I was still fairly new to knitting and didn't really know what I was doing, so I thought the nupp was sort of evil and unnecessary; but, my views, they have changed. There is a time and place for nupps, and really, they aren't so bad and can be good for breaking up the knitting monotony. I counted the number of nupps in this shawl, but now I can not remember the number, let's just say that there are a lot. I think a good portion of the shawls in the new book will feature lots of nuppage, I am not sure if it's Nancy or the Estonians, but someone really likes nupps.
I knit the shawl in an off-white shade, because that seemed versatile and appropriate...though I thought is would look pretty fantastic in orange or yellow too (just me? probably) ...
My one misgiving about this shawl is its size. It is pretty tiny. When blocked, it was tinier than the finished size reported in the pattern (which is tiny), but not my much. It is a small shawl. Luckily for me, my boss is a tiny woman. I am not trying to be rude or anything here, she is a small-framed woman. She is, however, taller than my mom (but that is not saying much since my mom is 4' 11" and there are many ten year olds that are taller).
I am not a woman that one would ever describe as tiny (even when I am not in the zaftig state of pregnancy which I currently find myself in). So me modeling this shawl would have looked kind of ridiculous. So I asked my tiny friend M to do some modeling for me (seriously, the things people will do for a free lunch and the promise of cookies). M and L are roughly the same in height and build, so I think the shawl will work out fine. But then I started thinking about how the tiny women of the world are sort of fortunate, especially if they are knitters...that means they need less yarn to do projects--seriously, this yarn for this shawl didn't even make a dent in the 1,400 yards of yarn in the original skein. But I digress... Details for the shawl are in the gallery and on ravelry.
Evil evil nupps! This is so pretty! I'm totally sure your boss will LOVE it especially since she knows how to knit!
Posted by: yaiAnn | October 06, 2008 at 12:34 PM
yep, it's great to be short/small when a knitter! I remind myself of that whenever I can't reach something in the kitchen cabinet. or have to get all my pants shortened.
Posted by: Jessie | October 06, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Ah! It's wonderful to see pictures of M. Say hi for me! BEAUTIFUL work, Nova. You never cease to amaze me.
Posted by: christine | October 06, 2008 at 12:49 PM
That is so pretty! I don't think I will ever get the urge to knit with the spiderweb like yarn. I like a shawl to have a little weight to it. I am sure she will love it.
Posted by: Stephanie B | October 06, 2008 at 01:32 PM
And think of the tiny sweaters these tiny women can knit for themselves, out of 600-700 yards of yarn. Lucky. But I digress - the shawl is exactly the size and kind I'd wear... and I imagine your boss L will be absolutely thrilled.
Posted by: grumperina | October 06, 2008 at 01:36 PM
I love how the lace pattern flows and the nupps give it texture. A really gorgeous piece of knitting!
Posted by: brooke | October 06, 2008 at 04:46 PM
It sounds like you knit that shawl to the recipient's tastes, not your own. This is really hard to do (I think), but it's really worth it when they receive the gift! Great job :)
Posted by: Kristy | October 06, 2008 at 09:33 PM
I think L will really be happy with the shawl. You knit it with her completely in mind and put your own preferences aside, a true gift of love. Congratulations on a job well done!
Posted by: Debbie | October 07, 2008 at 07:18 AM
Nupps! That shawl grabbed me (not literally) when I saw the Piecework issue. You are awesome to knit for your boss. I hope she likes it!!
Posted by: Mandy | October 07, 2008 at 08:35 AM
It's a beautiful shawl! I am about to do my first nupps as I continue work on my Swallowtail shawl (yes, along with the 5,000 other people on Ravelry!)...looking forward to the adventure!
Posted by: Rachel | October 08, 2008 at 01:19 AM
The shawl looks so very pretty! I'm sure your boss will love it.
I am one of those tiny women, and I do appreciate very much the fact that I don't have to buy a ton of yarn to make a sweater. Now, if I could just find "grown up" clothes that actually fit me, instead of having to shop in the teen stores, I would be a totally happy camper!
Posted by: whitney | October 08, 2008 at 07:15 AM
I think it turned out very nice, your supervisor will love it and what a great looking model you found :)
Posted by: ap | October 08, 2008 at 06:25 PM
-"Nupps aren't so bad to knit, once you get into the rythym of doing them."
There is no rhythm to nupps, crazy woman! Beautiful knitting; I'd say if your boss doesn't like it, send it to me. But, being rather zaftig myself (with no pregnancy excuse), it would end up looking like a nice hankerchief... sigh...
Posted by: kathy | October 08, 2008 at 06:47 PM
Beautiful shawl, Nova - I like smaller shawls! and now I know I want the book!
Posted by: Pat | October 09, 2008 at 11:43 AM
It looks great; I am loving the nupps. (They drive me crazy if I try them on regular Addis, but on some pointy/lace tips, they are quite fun.)
Posted by: Christy / Not Hip | October 11, 2008 at 12:57 PM
It's gorgeous! She'll love it!
Posted by: Nell | October 19, 2008 at 11:57 PM
That is a really awesome shawl.
Congrats on such beautiful work!
Posted by: fiona | October 20, 2008 at 01:46 AM
That is a beautiful shawl for your boss! What a wonderful gift that's going to be.
Posted by: tiennie | October 20, 2008 at 05:45 PM
a very wonderful and elegant gift for your boss.
Posted by: handknit168 | October 20, 2008 at 10:30 PM
What a beautiful piece! Your boss will love it (and the thought and care that went into it), I'm certain!
Posted by: mel | October 29, 2008 at 01:07 PM
I love nupps. LOVE. I wish there were 100 of them in every pattern and I would sit and love my nuppy lace and stroke it and call it my precious. Fortunately for you, I am not a knitwear designer. I am, however, quite enamored with Addi Lace needles and swear upon them for nupps.
Posted by: Shaina | November 01, 2008 at 01:13 AM