Color Affection Shawl from Bliss Yarns - Day 1

So this is the project everyone's talking about this year.  Just last night, I was in a restaurant and one of my dining companions was wearing a newly finished "Color Affection" shawl.  Which led me, of course, to the obvious question:  "how did your top edge turn out?"

She gave me a look one knitter can only give another, and made a noise that echoed how it went--which was "not well."  Talk to anyone who's made one, google it, or walk into a yarn store and someone has a Color Affection Top Edge Tightness War Story.  Funny, I was far more concerned with the bind off (where I usually go wrong), than the top edge.  But, that's knitting for you--while you're busy worrying about one thing, something else comes up to bite you.

I doesn't seem to be much of a big deal at this point.  Maybe I should be concerned, but I'm not.  Yet.  I prefer a selvedge edge on all my shawls, so I'm slipping the first stitch of every row and I expect that to help things out.  And, should the worst occur, I know how to block something within an inch of its life.

There is one final concern: this is one of those projects where the rows get longer and longer.  That is my least favorite type of shawl pattern.  I foresee late nights cursing the hundreds of stitches that will comprise my final rows.  

Still, this project has a lot going for it.  I'm reveling in the cheerful pink, the splendidly short rows, the near-perfect texture of Miss Babs' yarn, and the fact that I'll soon join the massive club of "Color Affectionionadoes."  According to fiber superstar Stephanie Pearl McPhee, I'm in some pretty awesome company.