FO: Gray Ribbed Shrug

I made this pattern before (Two-Tone Ribbed Shrug by Stephanie Japel, from the book Fitted Knits), and I've practically worn that shrug to death. Apparantly, I haven't blogged about it before (or at least, I can't find the blog post) but the ravelry project page is here. Actually, here's a pic of the black one to compare :)



(Hmm, I appear to have put on a little weight since the last version, lol! But just a little :) )

So I decided to make another one, since the black version is such a stable in my day-to-day wardrobe. I went for gray, since I had two balls of gray yarn in my stash (Robin DK yarn), and I really like this version too!

I changed it a little this time - I used smaller needles, since with the last one I had used 4.5mm needles with the DK/light worsted yarn and while the gauge was correct, the fabric was a little loose, and I think that's partly why it's worn out so much. So of course, by using 4mm needles with the gray version, my gauge was now different. But since I had the old one to measure against, I didn't have to bother doing any complicated maths to change the size :) I just kept increasing till the diagonal raglan line was the same size as on the black shrug, and the width and length ended up being exactly the same as the black one and completely proportional. Yay for the wonders of maths :) Then I just used the directions for the size that I had the stitch count for. And for the arms I just knit until they were the same length as the black version. The neckline ended up being just a little bigger than the other one, but that's OK.

I didn't count this as part of my IntSweMoDo2010, as it hardly took any time at all really, less than a week. I've got kind of a rule going that shrugs only count if they take a long time. I've got one I'm knitting in fingering weight yarn just now that definitely counts, it's neverending!! But it would feel like cheating to me to count such a quick project :)

Next time I go to the yarn store I'm going to buy some more black yarn and make another black one in the same way as this one. I really like this pattern, and it's something I wear a lot, probably the most out of all my knitted garments. It's a great thing to just slip on as I'm going out the door, or if it's just a little chilly but not cold enough for a whole sweater. Or if I just want covered up a little. I totally love it!