Brassica Shawl from Mosaic Yarn Studio--Done!

Done!

Look at it!  This project is absolutely worth all the time and strife I put into it.  The wingspan is luxuriously long—perfect for someone “not small” like me.  

It was so long I had to borrow a screen door to block it--and even then I had to fold it back on itself.

So yes, it's long. Wonderfully long. I love that there’s more than enough length to lay the lacework section across my chest and loop either “wing” loosely around my neck and shoulders. Lots of time when I do that, the ends feel too short. Not this time!

I love the color--even though it looks different in every photo here. I'm eager to wear it on St. Patrick’s Day—only I don’t think I’ll be able to wait that long. This beauty will make its debut this week (maybe even tomorrow!!)

Thanks, Darlene and Mosaic Yarn Studio, for an adventure of a project!

Next up, DestiKNITions travels to Peoria, IL.

Brassica Shawl from Mosaic Yarn Studio--Day 6

Speedy happiness!

Oh, this is the best part.  

Rows start going faster and faster, and my pulse starts racing at the thought of making it to those final stitches.

A funny thing happened on the way to the finish, too.  I memorized the boarder pattern!  I didn’t set out to, but things were so marvelously simple once the middle section of each row became a simple decreased stockinette, I stopped using the row counter.  Then I realized I had stopped looking at the pattern all together because in both the stockinette decreases (ever 4 rows) and in the Petite Open Points border, I easily knew where I was by looking at the stitches.  Usually I have to work at memorizing a repeat pattern, take time to really see what’s going on in the progression of one row to another.  This one just seemed to settle itself in my brain without my noticing.  It was a rather wonderful surprise.

And the speed—everything goes so much faster when you don’t have to keep stopping to check the pattern or add another row to your stitch counter.  I’m flying through the rows!

It just occurred to me today, by the way, that I’ll have a lovely green shawl to wear on St. Patrick’s Day.  I hadn’t planned that, but what a delightful coincidence!

PS: I'm giving myself a seventh post on this project, because I lost so much time to the middle section rip-out disaster.  See you at the finish line!

Brassica Shawl from Mosaic Yarn Studio--Day 5

Restored!

It only took nine grueling days.  

Over one week of counting yarn-over holes every few rows, lining up stitches, grumbling about my hubris and knitting misfortune.  Everyone around me knew my pain--a sufferer in silence I am not.

But I have emerged from the Valley of the Ripped, and tomorrow dawns a new day.  I will begin the final, blessedly decreasing section of this shawl.  I hope I am more fearless (and less foolish) than before as a result of my trial.  

This shawl may be green, but to me it has the red heart of Superman's cape!

Brassica Shawl from Mosaic Yarn Studio--Day 2

A question of taste?

I admit it, I’m glad the stockinette section of this is over.  Yes, I know there’ll be another one on the far side of the lacework section, but at least there the rows will get shorter and shorter rather than longer and longer.  The journey to 60 stockinette stitches in this portion was long.

Still, You had to pay a dab of attention at the end of every row to know where you were in the border pattern.  That kept it from being tedious.  I thought I’d have memorized the border pattern by now, but even after dozens of repeats, I still have to look at the directions.  Memorization might be a helpful goal before I throw myself into the lacework section.  That way I’ll only be reading one pattern at a time.

Just for fun, I looked up the word “brassica” since Darlene had told me the name comes from a botanical term.  Wikipedia informed me it’s a genus of plants in the mustard family.  Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts—all of which I like—are all part of this family.  

Interestingly enough, that may be genetic: evidently there’s a compound in them which only tastes bitter to some people depending on their physical tastebuds.  I have brassica-friendly tastebuds.  DestiKNITters old enough to remember the Bush administration (W, that is) will recall that a certain Commander in Chief did not.  Do you?

Come to think of it, my yarn is in a very veggie-botanical color.  I love it when I get thematic without even trying.

MOUNT PROSPECT, ILLINOIS

A Mini Adventure Close to Home:  Mount Prospect

Chicago-land’s breadth as a yarn community continues to amaze me.  Once a year I let DestiKNITions explore its home turf.  This enables me to discover great shops local to me (but maybe not to you) and explore neighborhoods I may often drive by but never visit.

Such is true of today’s DestiKNITion.  Mount Prospect was known to me only as the town northwest of shopping mecca (and home of one of my writers’ meetings), Schaumburg.  It’s essentially a straight shot up from where I live on IL Route 83, but like all my favorite DestiKNITions trips, it felt like a pleasant surprise of an adventure.  If you’ve got half a day in Chicago’s northwest suburbs, I can guarantee you a pleasant fiber excursion here!

My favorite days start with coffee and baked goods, so I was in for a treat at:

Central Continental Bakery

101 S. Main Street

Mount Prospect IL  60056

847-870-9500

www.centralcontinentalbakery.com

The big deal here—and a very big deal it is—is the paczki.  Pronounced “pawnch-ky,” (yes, I know, I can’t figure it out either), this round filled confection is THE goodie for the Polish community on Fat Tuesday.  Although based on how large I’m told the line is when that pre-Lent last hurrah comes around, it’s much larger than one ethnic heritage.  

Any other day of the year it can be called a Bismarck, but this year on February 9 (Fat Tuesday) the lines will go clear around the block for these paczkis. Paczki Day is serious business here.  I counted over 40 available flavors, including favorites like cream cheese, strawberry, Key West Key lime, Lady Godiva, and sea salt caramel.  You owe it to yourself to try this famous confection!

Caffeine and sugar gloriously infusing your bloodstream, head just a handful of blocks away to our fiber find:

Mosaic Yarn Studio, Ltd.

109 W. Prospect Avenue

Mount Prospect, IL  60056

847-390-1013

mosaicyarnstudio.com

A store that’s been in operation for 18 years is a gem indeed.  Owner Darlene Joyce has the perfect skill set to lead this enterprise, given her background in fashion, home economics, and teaching.  It’s no surprise she values the store’s class offerings as a high priority.  “I like to help people to be creative.  There aren’t enough creative outlets in the world today.”  Agreed!

Mosaic Yarn Studio is out to change that lack.  I counted over 30 different class offerings in one newsletter!  With “Lunch Bunch” on Wednesdays, Knit/Crochet Night on Thursdays, and a showstopper of a knitting retreat every year in Michigan, every knitter can find something to up his or her game.  Some customers have been gobbling up yarn and classes for 15 years—that’s a full spectrum of fiber education!  Darlene sets out to create “a safe place to learn and connect,” and the store’s atmosphere nourishes from your first welcome.

a huge sample collection to inspire!

Intergenerational connections happen all over the store.  Darlene ensures the stock is “deep enough that any size woman can make anything she wants.”  Here’s a store where you can dream boldly and get the support to make it happen.  Her joy in sharing new projects or techniques, as well as connecting knitters to the rich history of their craft, comes through when you talk to Darlene.

Looking for a project?  Here are a few ideas from Darlene:

Charlotte’s Web Shawl

If you’d like to explore color interplay, grab five skeins of Koigu’s Painter's Palette Premium Merino (KPPPM)in an array of colors and cast on this triangular fringed beauty from the book Wrapped in Color: 30 Shawls to Knit.  Every shawl will be a one-of-a-kind work of art, and the possibilities are endless.

Biscotti T

A basic tee with some clever design elements including a longer back hem and short-row shaping, this garment will get lots of use.  Done up in Noema cotton-acrylic-poly blend from Louisa Harding yarn, you can pick from a variety of color combinations that range from bold to subtle.

Bavarian Knitting Hat

Want to stitch up some history?  Grab some Juniper Moon Tehzing and learn some of the historical patterns Mosaic Studio offers up.  Impressive stitch clarity and intricate design work make this piece no ordinary head-warmer.  Perfect, because Chicago winters require a full wardrobe of warm and beautiful hats.

Knit A Long:  Brassica Shawl

Darlene’s exclusive design stitches up 3-4 skeins of Berroco’s Cosma alpaca-wool-silk blend into this lovely crescent shawl.  I find the picot-eyelet border particularly stunning, and I’m truly happy to be casting on a shawl that isn’t top-down!  Sure, it’s a bit complicated to be working the body and border simultaneously, but I’ll happily accept that challenge in order to knit this from side to side.  I’m hungry for a project with such an accelerated, rows-get-shorter-instead-of-longer finish as this one will provide.

Oh, and they gave me a coffee mug, too.  Color me happy! If you’re in the market for an adorable gadget, look no further than Hiya Hiya’s charming sheep needle gage.  Too cute!

Once you’ve filled you knitting bag, it’s time to sample some of the other charming independent businesses that create this block.  

For example, have you got a geek in your life?  I sure do.  And geeks—and lots of other people—love gaming.  Even if you’ve never heard of Magic cards or Dungeons and Dragons, stop in just to experience a geeky peek at:

Games Plus

101 W. Prospect Ave. 

Mt. Prospect, IL 60056 

847-577-9656

www.games-plus.com

It may look small on the outside, but this 30+ year establishment boasts a national reputation.  You need a reservation to sit down and play at one of these gaming tables!  There’s a whole world in there you may have never known existed, believe me.

Ready for lunch?  No need to leave the block for this, either. Pop a few doors down to:

Dave’s Specialty Foods, Inc.

105 West Prospect Avenue

Mount Prospect, IL   60056

847-259-9510

davesspecialtyfoods.com

They don’t come much friendlier than chef/owner David Esau.  The portabella mushroom sandwich and cream of asparagus soup I had there warmed the cold and blustery day with good food and great conversation.  I’m a huge fan of basic food exquisitely done, and this place does just that.

Keefer’s Pharmacy

5 West Prospect Ave

Mt. Prospect, IL 60056

847-255-3220

www.keeferspharmacy.com

If you’d like to be reminded what life was like before big box drug stores, drop in here.  We used to have a place like this back in my neighborhood, and I sorely miss the local touch a family pharmacy can provide.  A compounding pharmacy, meaning one that will mix up custom medications just for you (and your pet, by the way), is a hard thing to find nowadays.  And delivery service! Oh, how I miss a pharmacy that delivers.

See?  Sometimes to have a great adventure, you only need to drive 30 minutes up Route 83.  Next time you’re in the northwest Chicago area with half a day to spare, you know just where to head.

Up next I dive into the gleefully non-top-down Brassica shawl.