stripe study shawl by veera valimaki

i got spoiled by my mom and dad this past xmas when they surprised me with some gorgeous madelinetosh tosh merino lite to make the stripe study shawl by veera valimaki (one of my fave knitwear designers).  i cast that baby on so fast and i swear i loved every minute of it.  even the ones that i moaned and groaned through.  those were the last few days of straight garter.  now don't get me wrong - i love garter, but after the excitement and fun of this shawl design just knitting straight garter stitch for a few inches felt a bit too humdrum.  but then i found my rhythm and my happy place and boom - my stripe study was done.


what's taken me almost as long as knitting it has been getting pics of it.  you see sometimes i have to beg (and i mean beg) the hubs to photograph things for me.  hard part is i always have some sort of creative visual in my head of the whole photoshoot. I know what I want.  he can't see in my brain. i can't seem to tell him in man lingo and we both end up frustrated.  either way we try to make it work.  so after a somewhat relaxing visit to the beach the other day (or as relaxing as it can be with 2 kids frolicking in the wet sand (one who keeps going just a bit too far out into the ocean), a hubs who keeps attempting to play with mad strange dogs, noisy people standing on the beach having a very loud 10min conversation in part german about real estate, and a child who all of a sudden realizes they have to pee and can't hold it) we attempted to get a few quick shots before driving like a madwoman to the nearest washroom so my crying child could pee.


needless to say they aren't perfect which is why there are a few more of my daughter modeling them above.  she tried to help me out.  i added them in and edited this to add that even though i wrote that i was making peace with my hubs pics i still tried again and prolly will a few more times until i get the shot that i'm happy with..lol. overall though i just wanted you to see it.  so i'm letting it go for now.  making peace with the photos of my stripe study.  it's beautiful.  i love it.  i hope you'll take my word for it and go make one of your own one day.  it's the perfect indulgence and actually a quite easy and relaxing knit that's perfect for purse knitting.  if you love short rows you'll love the race and anticipation of stripe study.  be warned though that blocking this lovely takes patience & a good tv show or movie (it took me an hour or two). i highly recommend using blocking wires (i got mine from knitpicks) and being very picky about it.  mine blocked nicely and i'm  happy with the turnout.


||  PATTERN  ||
- Stripe Study Shawl by Veera Valimaki

||  YARN USED  ||
- Torchere in Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Lite
- Steamer Trunk in Madlinetosh Tosh Merino Lite

||  NOTES  ||
- I did not do the full amount of stripe repeats. I simply did what others had done and knit till I ran out of my red color. You can't really tell and I love it anyways :) I also carried my yarn on the color changes up the sides for the 2 rows. No weaving in ends for me :)

i love the lines and the design of this shawl and have been wearing it tons! it's such a fun pattern to make and it was a joy to knit.  two thumbs up in my book.  my mom also made one and i love that we can both sport our stripe study's together! thanks mom & dad!

what about you? have you made one? do you like short rows as well?  what's your fave shawl to knit?  let's chat knitty goodness m'dears!  coffees on!

p.s  Laura C from Littleandlots was the winner of the Botanical Knits Book Giveaway!!! I'll be in touch today! Thanks for all of your entries!