Ruffle My Feathers

I finally got around to photographing this beautiful shawl that I knit when our summer days were just turning into fall.  Ruffle My Feathers by Caryl Pierre is a fun, fast knit.  I just love the squishy garter stitch, the practical shape, and the girly ruffles that adorn the border.  I definitely need to make another one of these.  Although this shawl would make the perfect gift, I know I'd have a hard time giving it away.  I only blocked the shawl lightly, and now that I look at the above photo I think that it might benefit from a slightly harder blocking to make the ruffles cascade a bit more smoothly.  The merino/cashmere/nylon blend of this yarn is so so soft, I think that would show it off a bit more.

I love how the shawl sits squarely on your shoulders.  I wore this all day last Thursday at work, where I ran around setting up and hosting library programs for 7 hours straight.  No need to adjust my shawl at all.  It kept me warm in our cold program room, but not so hot that I needed to strip off layers as I lugged a huge, unwieldly flip chart, podium, and karaoke machine into the room and then back out (don't ask).

Part of my photography delay (I finished the shawl a full month ago) was due to wardrobe issues.  I absolutely love the color of the yarn I chose for this shawl.  Brown and pink is one of my favorite color combos, and this pattern highlights a slightly variegated yarn beautifully.  However, most of my clothes are blue, green, and black.  All of the pink and most of the brown I have is much warmer than the tones in this yarn.  This outfit was a serendipitious find in my closet.  I was searching for a warmish skirt to wear with my new brown boots, and Eureka!  This outfit matches my shawl perfectly too!  I have since located another brown shirt that I can wear with my Ruffle.  What other colors can I wear with this?

Project Specs for Knitters:
Pattern:  Ruffle My Feathers by Caryl Pierre of Caryl Style (karako17 on ravelry)
Yarn:  Lotus Yarns Chakra in colorway Jayne Mansfield
Needles:  US 7

Caryl is having a 15% off sale on all of her patterns purchased through ravelry this month with the coupon code "stockpile."  It's a great time to buy patterns to knit for holiday gifts!