One of the projects on my “someday” list has been a worsted weight shawl. I’ve always wanted to have a a touch of Kirsten Larson and Laura Ingalls in my life… even if the weather isn’t always quite right and I’m not about to be tossing one over my shoulders before I head out to milk some sassy milk cows in the dead of winter. At least not any time soon. Sylvia Bo Bilvia’s Lonely Tree Shawl has been in my Ravelry queue forever, just waiting for the perfect yarn to cast on with.

This shawl has all the characteristics that I look for in a lace shawl: an easy to remember pattern, top down construction and a nice simple border. The great thing about this one is that it’s knit with the worsted weight wool so it’s a super quick project (at least compared to other fingering or lace weight shawls I’ve been working on). I grabbed four balls of the new Wool of the Andes Superwash in Fjord Heather and my size 8 needles and got to work in the car on the way down to the Redwood National Park for 4th of July weekend.

It took three days of pretty steady knitting (knitting in the car, at the rest stop, around the campfire, in the tent and back in the car again) to finish it! One quick soak to wash the smokey campfire smell and it’s ready to wear (I LOVE that smell, but not when it’s tinged with the scent of cooking veggie dogs too!).

Now I have a shawl that reminds me of all those afternoons I spent dreaming of cabin life growing up and my vacation to one of the prettiest forests on this coast. The new Wool of the Andes Superwash feels just like regular Wool of the Andes (I was actually joking around the office that if they lost their ball bands I’d never be able to tell them apart) so now I can have my traditional wooly, rugged knits but I can toss them in the washing machine!