Tie One On!

Tie One On

OK, so I had been stressed about what I would wear to my friends' April wedding for quite a long time. I didn't want to spend too much money for a new outfit, as I'm trying to be respectful of our budget, and there was a hotel room to pay for, a tux to rent, a gift to buy. I wasn't ecstatic about any of the existing choices in my wardrobe, however. I do have quite a nice party dress, but it's solid black, and I have this thing about not wearing all-black to weddings. Yes, it's elegant, and it is certainly acceptable in most quarters these days, but I still prefer to look cheerful. I did have one suitable dress but it was sleeveless and I feared I would be cold, April being April -- after all, we were getting frosts and flurries just last week. A couple months ago, I knit a few rows of the Flowerbasket shawl to wear with the dress in question, and realized there was no way I'd have the time or patience to finish a lace project on schedule -- I'm a slow enough knitter as it is, and I have very limited lace experience... wrong project to try to get done on a deadline. So I took a chance Tabi would be at the most recent Guild meeting a week ago, and I brought the dress with me in hopes she'd have a yarn that would work for some kind of simple, non-lace shawl or wrap. Incredibly luckily for me, she DID have a stunningly beautiful handspun mohair (with a touch of cornsilk!) that was an absolutely perfect match, so I snapped it up. Knitty's Tie One On shawl by NonaKnits was one I had in mind, and it looked like I might just have enough yardage to knit it (although Tabi was kind enough to kick in an extra 38 metres a few days later as insurance, just in case), but I wasn't sure what to use for a contrast yarn. Then I remembered the Bernat Matrix ladder ribbon that had been sitting in my stash, unused, bought with no particular object in mind. I fished it out, and to my delight, it was a great pairing with the mohair! I finished the shawl at the rehearsal party, and wore it with pride to the wedding. This was a fantastic knit, and now I want to make more of them to give away as gifts!