Remember this post? I treated myself to some luxurious lace yarn, because I passed the exam. Well I’ve been crocheting a lace shrug from it, which took me about 4 months (!) to complete.

Here it is!

It’s warmer than I thought, because of the silk and alpaca blend.

I didn’t have a pattern so I made up my own. It’s basically a big rectangle with holes for your arms. I joined it as I went, thinking up new motifs for every new row. The only thing I used a pattern for was the middle section (where the armholes begin and end).

I love the way it looks and drapes, but I’m not as happy with it as I thought I would be, considering the time I spent on it. The reason I don’t like it that much, comes simply from the fact that it’s already falling apart!

Yes, I know right?! I didn’t even had a chance to properly wear it, except for the photo’s and I can see motifs coming loose already! The yarn is very sleek. I threaded the ends like I normally would, but some of them are just sliding away, because there is no grip whatsoever. I really don’t know what to do with it at this point…

I do know I don’t want to do join-as-you-go motifs with this kind of yarn anymore! Lesson learned.

On a more happier note; I made another shrug! Yes I did 🙂

I fell in love with this one skein of yarn from easy knits. It’s from the deeply wicked range aptly called ‘purple queen’. Just look at that color!

I didn’t want to make another pair of socks, so I quickly began exploring my options. I searched for shrugs, but most of them called for more yarn than I had, and I didn’t want to do anything stripy with another color.

I saw a pattern which I’ve been drooling over for some time now, so I decided that I would use it to make a custom shrug. It’s the Carlina pattern by Kitman Figueroa. I love how the leafs come together in a heart shape.

I made rectangles for the front and back, and picked up stitches for the sleeves and border.

It’s really short, intended for a little layering, but certainly not for warmth.

As you might notice I’ve gone a little heavy on the corner increases for the border. I’m planning on adding a ribbon to tie the shrug in the front, and gather that excess stitches.

The pattern wasn’t hard at all, but there were times I didn’t pay attention enough and had to tink back a few rows. The stitches are just interesting enough to keep you going and all the purling that was done was not so much I would get sore wrists.

I’m glad I added at least one shrug to my garment repertoire, since I always love to layer. I don’t think one can have enough sweaters, vests, shrugs and bolero’s, don’t you agree?