WIP - Enchantment Shawl by Hélène Rush

I got the yarn and pattern as part of a fabulous knit kit at my LYS, Yarn Junkees. They have a wide variety of knit kits available from shawls to hats to gloves to scarves. This particular shawl kit ran me about $53. Included in the charming plastic bag was the Knit One, Crochet Too yarn brand in Crock-O-Dye #564 Teal and Kettle Tweed #4435 Bamboo, the pattern (which is worth about $6 or so on its own), and the needles required for finishing this project. Each hank of yarn is worth around $25 each and the needles are about $10-ish. You really do get your money's worth with these kits. Not to mention it's the perfect way to pick a project when you're feeling a little indecisive or if you're new to knitting and want to give yourself a challenge.

You begin with the border working side to side as you can see in the WIP photo above. The lacework gives the impression that you're creating cables with the edge, but you're not. They do look pretty convincing though. Once you've finished the border, you pick up the stitches along the edge to begin working on the body. I'm a few rows in and now I'm starting to feel a little lost. There's some confusing phrasing in the directions that I'm having some problems deciphering.

The rows I'm struggling with are as follows:
Row 7: K7, *(k1 wrapping yarn around needle 2 times) 3 times, k7; rep from * across
Row 8: Using B, k7, *sl 3 wyib dropping extra wrap for each, k7; rep from * across

So, I guess I'm not supposed to knit those stitches? I'll figure this out, but for right now I'm stumped. I know that there will be some bobbles up ahead and I'm looking forward to those. From the picture of the pattern it almost looks like the slipped stitches are actually knitted in later which makes a lot of sense. So far, I have to say that this pattern is a lot of fun. I can't wait to start working on the short rows.

As for the yarn itself, I am beyond amazed at the color, texture, and ease. The first thing I noticed were the gorgeous colors of the skeins of yarn of the Kettle Tweed and Crock-O-Dye. The Crock-O-Dye is made with superwash wool, nylon, and silk. It's very soft to the touch and doesn't break easily. One of the things I loved about working with it is that when I needed to do the P2togs with the YOs in the pattern, the yarn didn't untwist very much making it easier to pull those stitches off without having to retry them over and over again. The Kettle Tweed is crafted using merino wool, baby llama, bamboo, and donegal. It has a crimped texture and feels even softer than the Crock-O-Dye. The blending of the earthy colors are even smoother. I'm totally falling in love with this yarn. The cable definition is outstanding.