Completed Viajante!

It's been a long time since I finished a project that wasn't sock related. I took on two big knitting projects and have been somewhat faithful to just knitting on them (except for my ever-present sock projects).

So, I'm glad to announce that I finally, finally finished the behemoth that is the Viajante that I started back in March, and I love this "shawl". Okay, let's be honest here....the Viajante really isn't a shawl but more of a fancy poncho. And I've discovered that I really like ponchos, especially in the frigid climate that is my work office.

As a recap, I used Miss Babs Katahdin, which is 1750 yards / 397 grams of wool. I used nearly all of it. I think I might have 40-50 grams left.

I also discovered that I like to add beads to things, despite it adds a multitude of time to finish a project! Because this was my first time beading a project, I didn't know what size beads to use. Consequently, I ended up using two sizes of beads: 2/0 clear-esque beads for the stockinette portion of the beading and 6/0 for the lace. For the larger 6/0 beads, I found some that perfectly matched the yarn.

The beads & lace look great, and I even bound off with beads.

Despite beading bits of this poncho, the vast majority of this project is a lot of stockinette. This poncho is huge and served as a 'blanket' while I was working on it. The neck opening is about 13" wide and the "tip" of the poncho/shawl is very long.

When worn as a poncho, it reaches down to the floor.

It can also be worn as an actual shawl when you double over the fabric, which makes it warm and toasty

I love this thing. This project definitely fell under the "project knitting" aspect versus the "process knitting". I really wanted the Viajante for use in the office, travel, and I think it's elegant enough to wear for evenings out, etc.

I'm actually contemplating on making another, but out of sport weight yarn just to cut down on the amount of time that it'll take to complete. And the next one will be out of a more solid or kettle dyed yarn.

Beading the Viajante

When I went to Stitches West this year, I saw the Viajante by Martina Behm, and I absolutely knew that I had to knit this shawl, because it's more than just a shawl --- it's a cowl, a shawl, a poncho, or a head covering/hood.  

(Pronounced vi-a-janche in Portuguese)

Other pluses about this project? It's knit in the round; there's a lot of customization you can do by simply increasing or decreasing the stitch count or length; and it's a good "vanilla" knitting whereby I could go to meetings or go to knit group and not worry too much about a mishap.

Like every good knitter, I went through the Ravelry project page for this pattern to read what modifications other knitters made, and came across a few beaded versions. Normally, I'm extremely averse to adding beads, but I love how they look. And since I REALLY WANT THIS SHAWL, I decided that beads were worth it.

I am knitting this out of Miss Babs Katahdin, in the colorway, Morticia.

Consequently, the beads I chose were a "frosty" Swarovski beads that seems to play well with the variegation.

I started using the simple crochet hood per bead, but found this really slowed my progress down immensely and I was concerned about spilling the bead container. I knew that some people used threaded floss (normally used for teeth straightening braces), so I decided to give it a go. 

I took one of the threaders and simply added a string of beads to it, and after watching a YouTube video, gave it a go. Wow, what a difference in using it!

I ended up using a generic brand from CVS which worked just fine and only cost a few dollars.

The knitting-to-beading ratio increased dramatically, and I wasn't afraid of losing beads to a mishap.

Originally, I thought this would be a good travel project to work on as I am planning a trip very soon. However, I decided that I really wanted to wear this ON said trip, so I've been knitting furiously to finish.

I'm not sure if I'll make it, but I'm going to damn well try.