I'm in LOVE ...

Oh, oh, oh ... I'm so pleased. I've been working away at this shawl, two steps forward and four steps back ... or at least that's what it felt like at times. I could so easily keep the leaf pattern in my head but the medallion pattern, which I really like, not so much. And when I get more than 300 stitches on my needles ... well that's a long rip out when you notice a mistake that you can't fix.

So here it is off the needles:

And here it is, pinned on the spare bed (I had to stand on

the dresser to take this shot) but ... oh, I am SO pleased, it is sooo beautiful : )

Just for fun, I timed the knitting of the last row of the medallion pattern. Turns out it was an HOUR!! Wow. Mind you, that included working it, counting it twice, grumble, grumble, not the same numbers on each side, figuring out what the mistake was, fixing the mistake, counting 3 more times, each in a different way, just to be sure (can you tell I was getting very fixated by this point of the shawl?).

I decided then that it was time to do the transition row for the edging and a good thing I did. I actually skimped on the edge and skipped 2 rows (which I don't think you can really notice) as I was getting really worried about getting it finished with the yarn I had left. The last few rows really used up a lot of yarn. I ended the edging with 3 beads on each scalloped edge and I had a tiny butterfly worth of yarn left. Whew, that was close. I found myself knitting faster and faster as I was coming to the end. Like if I went faster I could get to the end before I ran out? I really wanted to get it done with 100g of the yarn - mainly because that's what I had. That's serious motivation.

Not sure you can actually see the beads in the photograph. I used clear glass beads as I didn't want them to draw too much attention but still have a subtle effect.

The "off the needle" size was 36" x 18" and the "wet, pinned out" size was 64" x 24". I'll be interested to see what the size is, once I take out the pins.

I feel an amazing sense of achievement as this is my first lace weight, lace shawl. I actually feel quite excited and want to immediately cast on for my next one. Mmmmm, I want to make one in a heavier weight yarn ... Buffy gave me some in DK that is a lovely, creamy, soft green ...

Tomorrow, some more dyeing.

- Lyn

PS - Here's the shawl all nicely blocked and done. The size hasn't changed, so I assume that it would be possible to block it a bit larger but I'm pretty pleased (OK, really, really, pleased) with how it looks now.