I still haven’t processed all the photos from our trip to El Salvador… but I did finish the Salvadoran knitting. Introducing Yolanda’s Henslowe:

Every time I make one of these I think ‘these shawls go fast!’ and I always forget that bloody picot bind off. This time I got hung up enough on it to calculate – I spent 4.5 hours on the bind off, which is more than a third again of the time it took to make the shawl. However… there were a few things that made this alright this time around… more than alright really, for a start, most of it was done here.

And then there’s the fact that the results are so, so worth it.

The yarn is Tanis Fiber Arts Silver Label Mulberry Silk, 550 yards, and a-one-of-a-kind skein that I picked up at my first ever knitters frolic and have been hoarding since. Nothing could be special enough for this skein.

But then…Tito told me that his mom and I have the same favourite colour. His mom, who I never get to see because she lives in Winnipeg, who treated me with such warmth and kindness on the one occasion I got to meet her. Yes, his mom deserved something lovely from this precious skein.

And of course, Tito’s mom is from El Salvador. Where better to knit her shawl?

I made a few alterations to the pattern (Beth Kling is great by the way, and very helpful). I increased until I had 60 yarn overs, and worked 5 repeats of her Roman Stripe pattern before beginning the bind off. One skein of TFA Silver Label goes a long way and I wanted to use up every last inch if I could. I love the final size, 55″ across and 17″ deep.

I hate it when you cast off a shawl and it’s so tiny, even after blocking, that it sits awkwardly on your shoulders like the funny little wings of newly hatched butterflies…but the pattern increases here resulted in a generously sized shawl.

Many thanks to my effortlessly beautiful model Leslie for helping out with the FO photos :) Ravelry project page here:

Oh, and in between knitting? I took baby steps in surfing ;)