Lacy Rainbow

My goodness, have we ever had tons and tons of rain over the past month and a half. It seems like I need to grab the umbrella every time I leave the house, even if the sun is out. And, you’d think with all the changeable weather–brilliant sun one minute and a heavy downpour the next–that I would have seen at least one rainbow.

I haven’t. 🙁

Edlothia Shawl, designed by Jasmin Räsänen

So, I’m making one for myself! I’m using a newer yarn from Scheepjes called Whirl. Each ball is made up of several different colours, most named for sweet threats, that gently shade into each other. The yarn reminds me a lot of Wolle’s Color Changing Yarn, but the Whirl is a bit thicker and more tightly plied together.

I’m crocheting myself an Edlothia shawl using the colourway Popping Candy. While it isn’t a true rainbow (you’ll want Cotton Candy Man or Jumpin Jelly for that), it is close enough for me.

Edlothia Shawl, designed by Jasmin Räsänen — close-up of parts 1 and 2

The yarn is a 60% cotton/40% acrylic blend with thread-like plies twisted together. Because this this, the yarn is very splity, but it crochets up very nicely with just a little bit of care and attention.

The pattern, Edlothia, was designed by Jasmin Räsänen and is available for free on Ravelry. Be sure you click through and see how beautiful it is. The pattern has both written and charted directions. I’m trying to improve my skill in reading crochet charts, so I’m doing my best to work from the chart and only using the written directions when I get stuck or confused (which is a fair bit…).

Edlothia Shawl and project bag from Bling Your String

I absolutely want to have this shawl all done by October (we are going on another cruise! Yay!), but I’m not going to rush it. Figuring out how to read charts well is my main goal, but having a beautiful shawl when I am done is a great bonus. 😉

So, knitters and crocheters, do you work from charts, written directions, or both? When I knit I tend to prefer charts, if they are available, but I can work from both. Crochet charts still confuse me, especially circular ones. Leave a comment and let me know!