The pattern calls for yarn from Unique Sheep and some 5000 beads... It was a challenge!
Let me show you my version first and then let you in on some details.
In Dreams Shawl (as knitted by me):
and one more view:
The yarn was The Unique Sheep Peacock set (50/50 Tussah Silk and Merino, total~1300 yards). The yarn comes in 4 skeins that are "almost solid" colors and compliment each other but definitely different. The shawl is knitted top down, so you can see that the fisr skein was in a green hue, followed by green-blue, then was blue-purple, and the final skein was in a purple-violet color wave. Below is a image of this yarn set from The Unique Sheep's website
Working with this yarn was an absolute pleasure, the colors, the quality, the feel - absolutely awesome!
The pattern however was a little scary - you can flip through my blog and see that I knit a LOT of lace - but this pattern was a definite challenge even for me:
For starters, it has 30 (!!!!) pages.
Granted, most of it is a written version of 9 (NINE!!!) charts that make up this pattern.
I am a chart reader, so I printed out only 9 pages.
Secondly, the the pattern calls for 5000 seed beads that are knitted on using a crochet hook method . Basically you have to stop your knitting 5000 times to pick a bead on a hook, pick the stitch off the needle, transfer the bead onto a stitch and then place the stitch back to a knitting needle.
Repeat 5000 time and you swear never to work with beads again!
There is also a very specific way the pattern directs to do a switch between two skeins of yarn....
Let me stop here :).
It is my understanding that this shawl was developed as a mystery KAL over 9 months (knit along project when every month you receive the next "clue") - that explains the 9 charts.
This shawl is spectacular! It has a very dramatic flare - very, very pretty colors,
but it took me over 4 weeks working exclusively and you can probably sense that I am sick of it.
I guess if I had 9 months to work on this project, I might have felt differently.
Anyway, it gave me an opportunity to try the Unique Sheep's lace sets - and I loved it! but I will not knit another IN DREAMS for while... may be only in nightmares...
Happy Knitting!
Natalia