I recently finished my Baby Cables sweater and was extremely pleased with the design and the fit. So why did I feel compelled to knit something to “doll it up?” Who knows? Knitters are weird and cannot be explained.
I always had the Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark lurking in the back of my mind as a project. I had also just purchased some Malabrigo Sock Yarn for the color alone — a gorgeous blue green mix called Solis. It looked stunning with the newly minted Baby Cables.
Swallowtail was originally published in the Fall 2006 Interweave Knits. Evelyn generously opted to continue to provide the pattern as a free pdf (see link above). Thousands of knitters on Ravelry have knitted it or have it in queue. It is popular and gorgeous — and I believe those facts are related! The thing is, it’s small. Very small. However, by adding repeats of the Budding Lace Motif in multiples of five, it can be enlarged easily.
I learned a couple of great techniques from Evelyn’s pattern: the “garter tab” cast on, nupps, and her version of the lace bind off (slightly different than the one I had seen before). Nupps are dreaded things, but I had no problem — I used Addi lace needles with very pointy tips.
It is a lovely design and was very fun to make. I did add 5 repeats of the Budding Lace and still ended up with a small, shoulder-covering shawllette. It is small-tastic and shawl-tastic! 
Being Blocked
On Lettie — the color is very true here
With Baby Cables — the color is not true (can’t get this sweater to photograph!)
The yarn was nice to work with, though I had a bit of a problem. I bought two skeins of this sock yarn so I could give Sally one when she was here and “borrow” a little if needed for my Swallowtail. I tried to wind my skein into a ball, and it was a disaster! It completely disemboweled! Because I thought I would dip into the second skein anyway, I tried to salvage what I could from this mess:
So, I had to use Sally’s skein — which wound perfectly — and then go buy a third skein. This shawl got kind of pricey!
FYI: one skein would have been plenty if I had not added the extra repeats.
PS: Don’t forget to knit up a pair of Sweetheart Glovelets. 
PS2: Sally and I are admittedly very fond of knitting (obsessed?) and our husbands are equally fond of their respective sports: my DH cross country skis and Sally’s is a totally serious bicyclist. John skied the City of the Lakes 35 km Freestyle Ski Race today:
Not too bad for a 58 year old youngster!
Your Swallowtail is lovely, especially with Baby Cables. Such gorgeous, saturated colors. My sympathies on that yarn barf — don’t you hate it when that happens?
Comment by kmkat — February 1, 2009 @ 11:45 am
Love the shawl.
And that pile of yarn looks like a good challenge. (I’m weird, I love to untangle things)
Comment by Celestial — February 1, 2009 @ 12:03 pm
I am with Celestial (previous post). I have gotten very good at unraveling yarn. This is thanks to Jake the 10 month old Britany spanial that lives with us.
The shawl is lovely. I love the color.
Comment by Michele with one L — February 1, 2009 @ 12:40 pm
Your shawl is gorgeous! Y’know, I thought I was going to be the only person who sang the raptures of unraveling – guess it’s a bigger trend than I thought. Be glad to undo it for you and mail it back.
Comment by Knitsblue — February 1, 2009 @ 12:47 pm
I like to do it when I’m in the mood. (Hmmm. That didn’t sound right.)
Comment by surly — February 1, 2009 @ 3:02 pm
What a lovely Swallowtail! I need to start mine again. That yarn barf makes me cringe. I hate it when yarn gets tangled.
Comment by Mindy — February 1, 2009 @ 4:05 pm
The color of your shawl is absolutely luscious!
So sorry for the tangle fest – I hate it when that happens. It always seems to happen to me when I have limited time and patience.
Comment by Orinda5 — February 1, 2009 @ 6:51 pm
The color of your shawl is so beautiful! I sort of toyed with knitting this shawl, but now due to a case of “shawl-envy” I guess I have to
make one!!!! Looking at your tangled yarn made my stomach hurt…glad you got that worked out!
Comment by Angela — February 1, 2009 @ 8:22 pm
Beautiful shawl, Susan!
The Knot A Problem group on Ravelry would probably love to see the one skein’s tangled mess. The group is made up of 106 weirdos (yes, I’m one of them) who love to untangle yarn messes. There is a Tangle Porn thread on the group where one can post photos of tangled messes for the whole group to enjoy!
Mary G. in Texas
Comment by Katie's Granny — February 1, 2009 @ 11:59 pm
your husband needs a handknit skullcap…nothing too fluffy…sleek to enhance the speed!
Comment by karen — February 2, 2009 @ 12:32 am
Send me the yarn barf! I’ll untangle it with the help of my sister. She LOVES tangle messes!
Comment by Patricia — February 2, 2009 @ 9:30 am
Swallowtail is definitely one of my favourite patterns. I think I’ve made 5(!) now – all in very different yarns and all gorgeous. It’s a perfect magical pattern that suits all yarn. 🙂
Comment by Soo — February 2, 2009 @ 10:00 am
I can’t get into the Sweetheart glovelets, help me!! Your shawl is gorgeous. Excellent work.
Comment by WPGGAL — February 2, 2009 @ 12:26 pm
Gorgeous! I love Swallowtail, too. Summer before last, after making a larger one for myself, my daughter needed a shawl to go with the dress she was wearing to her son’s wedding (yes, I have a married grandson!). Because of time constraints, I made her the swallowtail with a fingering weight instead of lace weight yarn, and she looked lovely.
Comment by Astrid — February 2, 2009 @ 1:25 pm
🙂 ITs lovely! Would you recommend knitting the Swallowtail? Would you knit it again? It is just so pretty and it seems to me you may get more use out of a smallish shawl than a larger one at times.
Comment by Michelle — February 2, 2009 @ 7:21 pm
Athletic men in tights — yum! Don’t worry, I have one of my own, I’ll leave yours alone. 😉
Comment by victoria — February 3, 2009 @ 6:10 pm
While it isn’t necessary, Swallowtail gilds Baby Cables wonderfully. Worn together or separately, they are beautiful.
Comment by Felicia — February 5, 2009 @ 11:14 pm