Grandma's Special Birthday Shawl

Speaking of birthdays, March 21 is Grandma Lois' birthday and this year was a big one. (I'll refrain from announcing which birthday it was exactly... you know a lady is entitled to some secrets.)

I wanted to give her something special for a birthday and so I decided to try and knit something nice. It being spring, I wanted something light and bright. It's spring in the Northwest, though, so I also wanted something cozy. Versatility! Lastly, she's heading out on a great European cruise soon and those boat decks can get chilly.

To meet the light-yet-cozy requirements, I decided to take another swing at knitting lace. I'd done some of this with my Grace Lace Beret and felt that was pretty simple. So after some perusing on Ravelry, I settled on the Knit Lace Shawl/Châle en Dentelle au Tricot.

I picked out some really pretty and soft Merino & Alpaca yarn in a great, light heathery green and I waited for a class night to get started. This pattern is made up of four repeating rows and I think this fact gave me a false sense of security to start... but I figured I'd probably run into some questions. I was right! After two hours in class and a good deal of help, I had gotten the first two rows done. That's it. I had to start over probably three or four times, as I just couldn't get the stitches to come out right at the end of each row. This worried me a bit, as I had not given myself a whole lot of time to get this done.

But, I got the hang of it! The first few inches were slow going... but then I finally started to get it down and move more quickly. After a handful or two of repetitions I started to see the patterns and where each stitch was meant to sit. At that point, I just booked through as fast as I could.

I'd given myself about a week and a half from starting this project until Grandma's birthday party and I was not at all convinced I would get it done in time. But I did! Hooray!

This being lace, it needed to be blocked to open up the pattern and make everything lie the way it's meant to lie. This is something that I've avoided with each project but one old one, and with that old one it didn't really work. But... this was a good time to give it another shot.

I laid two towels down on the floor and pinned the shawl down, stretched out into it's proper shape. Then I turned the iron on to Super Steam Mode and steamed the thing until it was damp and hot. Then I just let it dry. And wouldn't you know... when I unpinned it the next day, it had worked! So, I
guess now I know how to block.



I am really pleased with how this turned out in the end and I think my grandma liked it too! :D








Yarn:
Louisa Harding Thistle (60% Merino Wool, 40% Baby Suri Alpaca)
50g/98 yd skein
5x Bracken (6)

Needles:
US10 (6mm) 16" circular needle