Worth the Effort, I Think

I do think this project was well worth the time and effort involved in making it. Here's Dianna 2's "glamour" shot, waving in the breeze on the redbud tree in my front yard. The original photo of the shawl the pattern designer made (Ravelry link) was like this, so I kind of re-created it.
This shot shows the border a bit better. I sure like this little border pattern. The giant holes made by the quadruple YOs just look cool to me! And if you click on the photo below, you can see how the beads on the points shine in the light. The border really ties all the colors in the yarn together, so I am pleased as punch with it.

In this photo you can see that, not only am I growing out my hair, but I put a picot hem on the top edge. I tried the i-cord edging (which I really would have preferred) but it was too tight, even when I used a larger needle. So, instead I picked up 3 stitches per every two slip stitches on the top border, and knit 4 rows of stockinette, then did K3, YO, K2tog for a row, followed by 4 rows of stockinette. I folded the edge on the YO row, then sewed down the live stitches on the wrong side, so it is nice and stretchy, but looks finished
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It's quite big, and I think even after the blocking "relaxes" a little, it will be long enough to actually keep my arms warm if I wear it in chilly rooms, etc. That is why I made it 18 repeats long. I wanted to be actually warm, and the other one I made was still a bit short for me. I sure enjoyed twirling around with this shawl. Whee.


I am still twirling here, which is why it is a little blurry. I wish I could have gotten images of it flashing in the light. It really looks cool in light.


I thought I'd also share a photo of the shawl blocking. I got a second set of blocking mats from KnitPicks, and it looks like they will handle most any shawl I'd make--this is about as big as I will ever go, I hope! I used pins at the top edge, giving a slight scalloping. On the sides I threaded blocking wires through each point, and that gave a nice, straight edge. This shot makes it clear that the edging covered exactly one repeat of the yarn, which is pretty neat!


Now that Dianna 2 is done, I am knitting something else. Still another shawl. I did start Andromeda with my Koi lace yarn. I started it on a long bus ride to a high school football game last night and as of today I am into chart 2 of the pattern. The yarn is quite colorful, but I think the patterning will come through. We will see. I hope to take some pictures tomorrow and share them with you.

I am resting this evening after that long ride with the high school band students, so more knitting will happen. I hope this post made some sense--I sure am tired! I even had to leave the yarn shop this afternoon because I felt like I was going to fall asleep in a room full of chatting, laughing, hard-knitting people. I'll have to share this week a photo of the yarn my friend Andrea brought back from Oregon that I bought from her (she brought a whole bunch of indie dyer and other unique yarns back from her trip and sold it, and some patterns, to her friends!).

In a couple of weeks there will be a fashion show at the shop, and everyone will share all their projects, mostly lace shawls. A couple of the people have REALLY done a lot of projects, so that will be fun. I hope to have photos! I should be more awake.