Just-finished shawl & other items

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I just finished the above shawl. The yarn is alpaca, yak fiber and silk and has a nice dry touch. Also: 


Recent item (closeup) knit in the "Porcupine" stitch, which actually looks more flower-like to me. It is reversible. And the items below are a recently completed baby blanket and hat knit for charity. The blanket is crocheted and the hat is knit in the "St. John's Wort" pattern.






 

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Porcupine Stitch from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Stitches

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The Thistle Leaf pattern in the prior post was from the Second Treasury of Knitting Stitches by Barbara Walker. This scarf, in Porcupine Stitch, is knit in another pattern from the book, the Porcupine Stitch. The yarn is from the Saxon Merino farm, also the subject of a prior post. This pattern - 9 rows, is easy enough to memorize, though it has patterning on every row. Since it has an odd number of rows, it is reversible (the pattern reverses every 9 rows). I think the top and bottom edges will have similar appearance too, so that the last few rows can remain in pattern. I started with 4 rows of garter stitch, in purl, and will finish with the same before binding off. The six-stitch side borders are also knit in purl stitch. I'm using a row counter, because otherwise, it would be confusing to keep track of the rows. I have used one skein of the yarn so far,  and have knitted about 6 inches from the second one. Here's another view:
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Thistle leaf lace pattern

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This Thistle Leaf pattern is from the Barbara Walker Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. It's very botanical and I think it's beautiful. I finished a cream-colored silk scarf using the pattern (Purl Soho Cattail Silk, 1 skein), pictured here, after doing a swatch (dark green) which I turned into a doily-type item with several rows of crochet added around the edge. Now I am working on a bigger rectangular shawl using the same lace pattern, out of Purl Soho's Sweetgrass (undyed organic cotton and alpaca) in a light beige-tinged gray. I love the pattern but at 28 rows (14 right-side pattern rows), I'm finding it to be too complicated to memorize. So I have to work with the pattern right in front of me. 
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Silk Yarn from Purl Soho, Ostrich Plume pattern

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