The Skull Shawl

A few weeks ago I took a trip to the Kraft Kabin in Pontypridd.  They have a wondrous selection of yarn, I think I could live there forever and never get bored!

Like most crafters, I bought things I didn’t need, didn’t have plans for and couldn’t really afford!  I couldn’t help it when I stumbled across the most beautiful yarn I think I’ve ever seen:

The one on the left is King Cole Riot and the one on the right is Red Heart Boutique.  They were £4.95 each (100g balls).

Whilst I was completing the The Virus Shawl, I saw Woolpedia had also done videos for an amazing skull shawl.    I thought the King Cole riot would be absolutely perfect for this pattern and started work on it the moment I finished the virus shawl!  Following videos on YouTube is actually really good! I’m so used to written patterns, I thought following a video would be irritating, but the lady that’s narrating the video has a lovely accent which makes listening to her really lovely!

Now, I’ve only really ever crocheted with DK or chunky yarn, this yarn was really quite different.  It’s very lightweight and not at all soft.  It varies from inch to inch in thickness which makes for uneven looking stitches.  I quite liked that though!

I absolutely loved watching this grow from row to row and adored the way the yarn changed colour.

This has been one of my favourite projects so far.  The way the skulls form and the colours change has been so much fun, i think I will definitely be making another one.

It grows really quickly, and much like the Virus Shawl, it’s a repeat of several rows, so you don’t get bored with doing the same thing over and over again.  The original pattern by  Kungen has the skulls all over the shawl, but Woolpedia’s video changes the pattern slightly to have the skulls just on the border, with clusters of 4 dc in chain spaces in the center.  I actually prefer this as I think it makes the skulls stand out more.

Unfortunately, it seemed I was going to run out of yarn before finishing the full piece, so cheeky little order from Wool Warehouse  was required to finish it off.  I really can’t recommend Wool Warehouse highly enough, the service is amazing, the delivery is so quick and as I’ve mentioned before, the lovely organza bag the yarn is delivered in, really puts the icing on the cake.  This is where I ran out:

Once the shawl was complete, I decided to block it, which is something I have never done before, so I was a bit nervous.  I immersed the whole thing in water, squeed the excess out and flattened it on a towel.  I can definitely see there has been a big difference, though not sure the pics do it justice:

I will definitely be making another one of these skull shawls.  I think they look best in variegated yarn, so I’ll probably do the next one in the Red Heart Boutique pictured above.  Although a lot of people have been posting pictures of some beautiful Ice Yarns recently, so I think I may get twitchy fingers on the website soon……..