Revisiting Abalone

The first post of 2017 declared it the Year of the Shawl, at least for me. In that post there were three different attempts at creating an Abalone shawl by Carle Dehning. Here is a look at the designer´s vision of it.

Photo credit - Nurturing Fibres

The earth-tone colors and open loops are two components of this shawl that drew me to it. I was determined to make one in 2017. So I started the year making three samples. Just as a refresher here are photos of the three attempts made to find a proper combination of yarns to make my own Abalone.

In the end none of these were used. First the contrasts between the colors weren´t working. More importantly in all the selections the yarns were too small, lace weight instead of sock or DK weight. All three were frogged and the yarn will live on until it finds another use.

In the stash was a stunning white, gray and black yarn, DK weight yarn. Since I made this shawl a while ago the band has been lost, but it seems to me it was an acrylic wool blend. (I should never take breaks because I lose the bands right after something is finished. Months later it means the yarn will be impossible for me to identify, sorry.) This version was a cinch to make and the results IMHO are stunning. The best part is the yarn did all the work. Note all the eyelet segments ended up being black, without any manipulation on my part. It was like this yarn knew what it wanted to become.

Mike, the cat, insisted he and a toy mouse had to be in the picture playing as the shawl is being pinned.

An attempt at a selfie to show how ample this shawl turned out to be

My version of Abalone now lives with my friend, Nancy, because the colors suit her timeless styled wardrobe. Nancy, you can chime in here if you wish. Otherwise I hope this shawl/scarf gets plenty of use during winter 2018-19.

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