For Mary’s Wedding at the end of August.

<small>Original Yarn Choice: Habu Textiles NS-18J Silk Organzine 21/10x2 Degummed Twisted. The plain skein was custom dyed by Temple of Lola Doodles on Etsy -- her Silver Linings colorway. (1400 yards, 28 grams.) Planning to knit this on 2.5 mm needles at a much smaller gauge because of the cobweb weight yarn. Will cast on more sts in increments of 10. The original pattern has 17 repeats of the lace motif. I will do at least 33. LOTS of sts to cast on! The yarn is very much like wirey thread and really isn’t suitable for knitting. I gave it a good try but finally raised the white flag and went searching for an alternative yarn.<small>

Apple Tree Knits SilkLin yarn is a light, fluffy fingering weight yarn, 65% silk, 35% linen. The yarn is not in the Rav database. It is put up in shawl sized quantities -- over 750 yards. The garter stitch fabric I’m getting is almost downy and quite light weight. I think it will have some drape but not the flowing drape of a smooth silk. The silk content is probably raw silk like I’ve used with hankies. The linen content gives it a bit of heft.

I cast on 398 stitches, enough for 40 repeats of the lace motif (What was I thinking?? HA!), and a larger shawl, even with the finer gauge. All the garter stitch is a bit of a slog, but once into the lace it should keep my interest more easily. Used German Double Stitches for the short rows.

Row 30 had 961 stitches!! And there will be more before I’m ready to bind off.

I ran out of yarn with 4 rows to go. Ordered more and it arrived in the nick of time. These last rows have been epic indeed, with a whopping 1601 stitches to bind off.

Used Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off (Purl St Only)

Blocking this shawl was easier than I first thought. It curled into a nice spiral for the first step in wet blocking; no pins or wires needed. The very outer edge, however, needed some additional attention. I didn’t want sharp points so once dry I steam blocked it in small sections on my needle board. The needle board is rather like wirey “velcro” that is actually for pressing seams in velvet. Very handy for silk lace blocking too…

I do adore this yarn. It’s perfect for a summer shawl. I don’t know if I would use it for an actual garment because I don’t know how well the 65% silk content would hold up against friction from normal wear. 35% linen is probably not enough to make this suitable for a garment. (Smooth spun silk would be a different matter than this silk seems to be.) A shawl or scarf, however, is simply wonderful in this base.