This is a behind the piece adventure that I had in May of 2019 with the Farmhouse Shawl by Cabinfour. I was making this while traveling through Asia. It was a fun and unique experience traveling to the other side of the world while knitting such a big project.
I first wanted to start the farmhouse was when I saw Vassnessaknits working on hers last year; here’s the post. If you know me then you know that I have few patterns that I purchase because I love create things myself. But something about the chunky drappiness just spoke to me. I knew I had to have it.
This pattern called for:
- Worsted yarn, 100% Wool
- Needle size US 9 – 5.5 mm
I Used:
This was the first time I ever did a shawl with a garter tab. It was also the first time that I got to travel to the other side of the world! Yes, you read that right, ‘The other side of the world.’ Right after I started this shawl I hopped on a plane and flew to India.
New Jersey
Well we had a layover in Jersey or what was suppose to be a layover in Jersey. We ended up spending the night because our first plane was delayed 6 hours. In that span of time I learned how to cast on the garter tab. Here is a list of youtube videos: GTCO. Below you can see how much progress I made while we were in Jersey.
India
When we arrived in India all I could think about is how hot is was. Please don’t go to India in the summer unless you are use to dry heat. Being from Florida I’ve only experienced humidity but I found out pretty quickly that I preferred dry heat. I don’t know how to explain it but it was refreshing for me to be hot and not sweat.
We had a connecting flight from one part on India to another so that meant waiting, waiting and more waiting. If your a fiber artist you know that waiting means knitting! So I made lots of progress on my shawl. But with all the hustling around I made a mistake many rows back and had to rip it out. Everyone I was with was shocked. They found it hard to understand why I couldn’t keep going even when I made a mistake. IT’S BECAUSE I WILL ALWAYS BE ABLE TO SEE IT and I would have so much regret not fixing it when I could, lol.
We only stayed in India a day and a half because of the delay we lost a whole day! I can easily say that the people were kind and the food was amazing!
Vietnam
We Finally got to Vietnam. We left India on Monday afternoon and didn’t touch down until Tuesday morning and that was after 2 layovers. I’m beat so I went straight to sleep. As a matter of fact I fell asleep in public. We were at a Coffee Shop, Master’s Cup, and I put my head down for a bit to rest my eye and the next thing I know was being shaken awake by one of my group members. Imagine that, I haven’t fallen asleep in public since high school and that was only once. I’m not one who could easily fall asleep in public so you know that I was dead tired.
Ho Minh City or Saigon is a metropolis made up of several districts. The district we were staying in was populated mostly by foreigners who reside in Vietnam. The city is rich with culture and adopted quite a few of other cultures as well.
One thing that blew my mind was that there was an underground grocery store in of the the malls. Like what you can go to H&M then take the elevator all the way down to the grocery market. Basically, your one stop shop.
Home and Done
All in all this pattern was very mindless to work on once you get the rhythm down. But it’s not so mindless that you become bored of it. The only reason it took me so long to complete was because I used a lighter weight yarn and the fact that we took 9 planes within 10 days. Also I transported the yarn in a small backpack. It wasn’t the most travel friend project by I really enjoyed it! Thanks Deneise!
Be sure to block your work to get a nice clean finish. Plus it won’t roll up at the edges like it does in the picture above.
Read More:
The Elm Tree Slouch | Maker Resources | Crafting Essentials | Behind The Piece | Asia
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