New Uses for Large Shawls

Back during the summer of 2011, Andrea Jurgrau of BadCat Designs had a summer knit along called Back to the Garden.

Before the knit along officially started I had already knit one version, one of the best parts of being a test knitter is you get to see things first!

It is a beautiful, creamy yellow, semi-circle shawl and I have worn it a lot.  But, when the knit along started I fell down the path of "what if" and "why not" and cast it on again, with the group, but this time as a full circle in the fully inappropriate yarn choice of a ColourMart 2/15 Cashmere/Merino blend and used extra large (for me!) US size 7 needles.






Needless to say the shawl rapidly turned into a bedspread for a King Sized Bed, when unfortunately I have a Queen size and cats that like to put there claws in things, and sleeping on my bed both when I am in and not in it!  So into the closet she went.

Until today.

I blame TOB for the craziness that follows.

But first, a little more background.

A little while after I dragged the kids across the country and moved into a house in Central Ohio I bought them a fancy swing set.  They were young and it got a lot of use.  Having come from the West Coast, fireflies were new to them, and many an evening was spent with me sitting on a swing while they ran around the garden catching fireflies.  Many an afternoon was spent with them on the swings with me gardening.  But, time marched on and computers and video games started taking more of their attention than playing out in the yard. 

The poor lonely swingset turned into something that was in the way when mowing the lawn, but useful for draping hand knits on to dry.  The chains on the swings rusted, the tarp cover over the playhouse area ripped, then blew away in a windstorm, and even at the magnificent price of "free to a good home" nobody wanted it.

So I decided to repurpose it.  We can hang baskets growing flowers from the monkey bars, or bird feeders, or both. Plant a climbing vine near the ladder and have it become something new.  But the problem of the missing tarp cover remained.

Having heard me say that my ColourMart Spring Contest Entry Shawl was too big and needed some changes before becoming a pattern, TOB suggested that I use it in place of a tarp.

 


 But even at big it wasn't big enough, especially as it is a triangle shawl. But, on a dare, I went ahead and dug in my closet for the even bigger Back to the Garden Full Circle and gave it a whirl.

She's not quite big enough, but, she is also not really well blocked as I didn't have any space big enough to really stretch her out when I last blocked her (ummm...five years ago!)  Now it seems I have a space big enough!

The view when you look up from inside the play tower is nothing short of amazing!

I might just claim it as my knitting loft and leave the shawl there.  :)

How did you spend your Saturday?

~M