Guest post: Ashtan's giant Orchid Thief shawl

We love this incredible, wearable hug of a shawl, which Ashtan Albright knit and we enjoyed her account of the process even more. It might be just the motivation you need if you're not sure you can knit lace. Whether you use a beautiful indie dyed yarn like Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Sock or a more affordable basic, like Rauma Petter, and let the focus be your stitches, you can make something amazing. Please note if you're at work or have little ones reading over your shoulder that this post contains some swearing.

You know how sometimes you get these little ideas that pop up in your head? Just a small, wee thing that you think would be lovely to have.

Like maybe you have some worsted weight yarn just lying about the stash that you think would make a nice shawl... and you think "hmmmmm... maybe if I pick a fingering weight pattern, I'll have a nice cozy shawl that I can wrap up in. It won't be THAT big."

Famous last words, Ashtan.

Some of you may recall when I did my shawl-a-month project back in 2017, I kicked things off with Orchid Thief. And you would have thought I learned my lesson after that turned into a yarn eating monster.

That was for the first go.

Yep.

Had five balls in the stash, four were usable, and I had to go out and buy four more. I had to tap in to the 8th ball just for the bind-off, which took THIRTEEN FRIGGIN GRAMS of yarn alone.

And yes, it's a monster. The central spine was 54 inches long while it was blocking.

For context, I'm only 63 inches tall.

Yeah... this thing is a bloody cape.

But you want to know something amazing?

This only cost me $23 in yarn.

The original four balls I got for $2 a piece when Pat Catan's was going out of business.

The other four were $15 total from Michaels because of coupons.

This is just Patons Classic Worsted Wool. Nothing super fancy. But it still looks AMAZING.

I've been thinking of doing a few other shawls with more affordable and accessible yarn options just to show y'all that you don't have to put a bunch of money into a project to make it look good.

And don't give me any crap about how you can't do lace.

You CAN do lace. You just need some confidence and concentration.

As for me, I'm going to curl up in this thing and start my next project.

I'm thinking a nice lace weight, beaded project.

Y'know, just a simple, palette cleanser project.