Speed Knitting: Arroyo Shawl Bound Off

As usual, I got in a little over my head with knitting last month.

I signed up for a swap a few months ago, and things were moving along swimmingly, until I realized I hadn't knit anything for the required handmade element.

This was about a week and a half ago.

Or, approximately 8 days before the package had to be mailed.

Oops.

So I quickly reviewed all my notes and discovered that my spoilee liked shawls.

And somehow I got it in my head that I should knit her one.

In a week.

Fortunately, I found a pattern that fit the bill.

This is the Arroyo shawl, by Sarah H. Wolf, which is knit in worsted weight yarn, and consists mostly of garter stitch short rows.

I dug some yarn out of my stash that I had actually dyed myself and couldn't decide what to do with. I overdyed some Knit Pick Swish Tonal in Pearlescent, and it's just slightly too variegated for a sweater, but I thought it would work well with the fairly simple lace pattern on the edge of this shawl.

I had quite a lot of fun working on this project--the garter stitch was squishy and enjoyable, with the short rows to keep you on your toes.

I generally still find short rows to be rather magical.

It made it into the mail on time (well, 1 day late, due to the self-service machine at the local post office being non-functional), and I'll find out soon if my spoilee likes it. Fingers crossed!