Much dancing of the happy variety has been happening.
The Shetland Shawl is done, done, done.
Unblocked.

Blocking.

Blocked!

Blocked! Blocked! Blocked! That spells finished!
I also think that now that it’s blocked, the dyelot differences are not especially obvious, so I’m not sure I’m going to dye it. In some of the close up pictures you can see it, but I’ll show it to a few people and see what they think in person before I make a definite decision.
Here’s a better picture of the whole shawl.

It’s big, but not enormous. Finished size is a bit under 140cm (54″), which is exactly what the pattern said. Here’s some detail shots.




Specs:
Pattern: Shetland Shawl, by Hazel Carter from A Gathering of Lace
Yarn: Jamieson and Smith 1ply cobweb in White, 8 balls (200g, not the 140g recommended in the pattern!)
Needles: 2.5mm Addi Lace circs.
Time taken: 10 months, from start to finish with a generous amount of hibernation in the middle.
Sense of Satisfaction: Priceless.

The end is in sight.

I’ve done nothing for the past three days except knit. And it’s paid off. I am so glad to be this close to finished.
But now the doubts are starting to set in. The pattern calls for a technique called “Lengthening the edge” and the corners seem really long. And I used way more yarn than the pattern called for. Maybe it’s going to huge.
Just call me paranoid. You wouldn’t be the first!

Nothing interesting knit wise to report, but I thought I’d let you know that I’ve uploaded a bunch of wedding photos to Flickr, and you can see them here.
My favourite of the bunch isn’t one of David and I, but one of Em and I.

I’m behind on my blog reading. I’m behind on my email, I’m behind on phone calls, and even more behind than usual on my housework. I’m behind on my blogging, but I don’t have anything new to blog about.
But I’m ahead of schedule on the Shetland Shawl.

Way ahead. 10 days ahead. It should be done in plenty of time.
And not a minute too soon, I want to work on something different. Even endless miles of stockinette would look good at this point.
I do occasionally do something other than work on the shawl. Like work on a sock.

Baudelaire number one, done.
Another project planned for the future is some quilting. I’m not normally a quilter, but while we were in Hawaii, I fell in love with the gorgeous Hawaiian quilts I saw. The one I really loved was a big enough for a queen size bed, but I thought that might be a bit ambitious, so I settled for two tiny little ones to start with.

One is a turtle, and one is a traditional symmetrical design. I’m itching to play with these!
And finally, one of my favourite people had a milestone birthday yesterday. Go wish Jussi a happy 40th!

The third border is done and grafted, complete. One more to go.

And I’ve started that one, too.
Mind you, I will never, ever, ever make a shawl with this construction again. Grafting is possibly worse than vacuuming. Or cleaning the bathroom.
At this stage, I’m nicely in front of my schedule to get this done, and I’m starting to worry about the dyeing!
In other news, I’ve been nominated twice for the You Make My Day Award.


Thank you so much, Cathy and Rachael! I really feel awesome when I gt nominated for these things!
However, I’m useless at re-awarding them. I subscribe to somewhere in the vicinity of 300 blogs. And you all make my day! I check in on Bloglines several times a day, and I love all of your blogs. I don’t read blogs I don’t like!
Can I nominate the Knitting Bloggers webring?
And via Bells, I put my hand up for the Pay It Forward dealie thing that’s been making the blog rounds of late.
I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I donít know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.
I love mail! Love sending it, love receiving it. Don’t’ know what I’ll send yet, but I promise to try to make it something nice 🙂