Homesickness: A Knitting Project

No, this project isn't as depressing as the title sounds.  Still, though, it is a project that reminds me of home.  The yarn colorway is Virginia Beach, my hometown.  I honestly never though of VB as a 'brown town', especially after living in the Mojave and in Central TX.  Maybe the tweedy brown is supposed to be the Virginia Beach sands?  The pattern name is the area of Virginia Beach where my high school was (is) located.  And I guess it is good for homesickness too, those days when you just want to wrap yourself up in a blanket and pretend you're somewhere you aren't (usually via book or movie, for me).

My project is raveled here.

 

The yarn I used was Lion Brand Hometown USA.  Big, bulky, acrylic.  Not much more to be said, really.  It comes in some gorgeous colors, though, and it's honestly not the scratchiest acrylic I've used.  I'd use it again if I find the right project.  And, being Lion Brand, it was easily available, even in my tiny town.  Hobby Lobby didn't carry the yarn, but Wal-Mart did, so between the two in our area, I was able to get enough for the project.  I did have to compromise and ended up with 3 different dye lots of the colorway - I know, I know, cardinal knitting sin.  I was anxious to get started on the project, though, and didn't want to wait for a restock!  It worked out pretty well, anyway.  The yarn is mottled enough, and the pattern busy enough, that you really can't tell.  Had it been a solid color, I probably wouldn't have gotten away with it, but it worked out just fine with this combination.

The pattern is the Pembroke Wrap by Andrea Rangel.  It was first published in the Fall 2011 Interweave Knits, and is now available in the online Interweave store. 

It's a very straightforward pattern in most respects.  The only part that hung me up was at the end of the Arrowhead lace, where she talks about following the chart until there are 3 repeats.  I was reading that as 3 repeats of the whole chart vertically, not 3 repeats of the pattern horizontally.  I think it was all my issue, but in case anyone else makes the same mistake, don't try to just continue on in the lace for another repeat or two of the chart.  Your stitches won't match up and you'll be pulling your hair out! 

 

I liked the pattern and I liked my results, but I don't think I'd make this again, unless I was using a lighter yarn.  It's very bulky (bulky yarn, duh) and I just like something a little lighter weight around my neck, especially here in TX.  Too hot to get too much use from it, worn around the neck like that!  In a lighter yarn, though, this could work.  I'll stick with the sock-weight shawls for the most part.

I did make a few modifications to the original pattern. 

• I wanted it bigger than the original pattern, to be something nice and snugly to wrap myself in when I needed a warm hug.  In other words, I wasn't making a bandana sort of neck shawl like in all the pattern pictures.  I wanted a bigger, wrap-all-around-my-shoulders sort of shawl.  A blanket with shaping and a button, really.  So, I needed another repeat.  A Ravelry user had already figured out how to add another lace repeat before the lace edging, so I followed her directions.  You need the separate directions because the end of the lace and the beginning of the lace (if you're repeating the chart) don't match up in stitch count.  This user had worked out how to start the next chart repeat and adjust your stitch count to make it all work out.  Another bonus?  As she pointed out, this also means that you can use a lighter weight yarn for the shawl as well.  Thank you, thecalicolover! 
• The other modification I made was inspired by another Ravelry user, Lana-Luna.  I really liked how she added the button to keep her wrap in place on her shoulders.  So, I found some nice dark wood buttons that looked nice with my yarn, and added some myself!

Two last pictures.  The picture below of the left shows the pattern better.  The one of the right is closer to the true color.