Lualu Shawl by Sari Nordlund
Pattern: Laulu Shawl
Yarn: Hedgehog Fibers, Tweedy, Colorway Barley
This was the perfect project to keep my mind occupied when work was especially stressful and the perfect cable project. It’s been a year since I completed a really simple cable knit hat. The cables were really fun but no other cable projects caught my eye, until I discovered Sari Nordlund’s patterns. This pattern was really well designed and I found the perfect yarn, a natural base with flecks of color.
Lately, I have frogged all my projects multiple times at the start. This project was no expectation, but I am honestly grateful for the practice. Now I feel even more satisfied with the finished work.
The first time I frogged was about 10 rows into the chart. For the last year, I have only read colorwork charts for projects in the round. My brain is trained to read right to left always. Even though I knew to read right to left and then left to right, I still read all rows as right to left. There was no fixing that mistake so I ripped it out.
The second time I frogged was about 24 rows in. All of my M1Ls were done incorrectly, creating an extra hole at the increase. At least I’ll never struggle with my M1Ls again.
Other than those initial mistakes, it went really smoothly. There were many different types stitches required but they were all simple and somewhat repetitive. For me, this required the perfect amount of concentration. I could listen to podcasts and rewatch Monk with no issues.
This project also gave me the opportunity to practice the right hand method. For cables, I left the unworked stitches on the cable needle. I then knit from the cable needle onto the right needle with the right hand method. I kept my left needle firmly back in the palm of my left hand with the cable needle held between my pointer finger and thumb.
My only modification was to use a size US7 needle instead of US6. I only did this because my US6 needles are occupied with another project. To avoid this issue in the future I plan to purchase the Lykke Cypra interchangeable needle set for my birthday!
Final thoughts: I would definitely knit another shawl, it was fun and quick. I would like to find a light pink alpaca wool blend for the next one. I am also looking forward to making the matching sweater this fall.