Summer's Shadow Shawl from Hemstitched Heirlooms - Day 5

Happy accidents...

I’ve put in a lot of hours on the border of this shawl and I’m only a bit over one-third done.  This project will go to seven posts, I’m sure of it.

One interesting thing I’ve noted: to me, the garter stitch section of this shawl gives off a slightly more green hue while the border gives off a slightly more blue hue.  At first I thought it was a trick of the eye, but when I realized I switched skeins just about the same time I moved on to the border section, it made sense.  

So, if you’re knitting this with a hand-dyed or otherwise variable colorway yarn, you might want to make sure you are deliberate in when you switch from one skein to another.  For me, it was just a happy accident—one of the lovely surprises knitting offers up.

I have become comfortable enough to take this out in public, and I have a meeting tonight and a member-of-the-audience thing tomorrow, so I anticipate lots of useful knitting time.  I’ll need it—this thing is a sizable undertaking!

Summer's Shadow Shawl from Hemstitched Heirlooms - Day 3

Celebrating freedom--in more ways than one...

Finally, I'm free to turn that magical corner and begin the lace section! 

It’s so energizing to switch to 30-stitch rows, even though I realize I’ll have 342 of them.  The refreshment of something with a bit more substance than all that garter stitch is huge.

I’ll admit to a bit of worry that the business of all these colors—lush and lovely as they are—will hide the lace pattern.  Of course, it’s way too early to give in to such a concern.  This is lacework, after all—you can’t judge it until it’s blocked, much less two repeats in.

One downside is that this project just went up several notches in the concentration requirement department.  Row counters will take care of some of it, but if I lose my way mid-row (which, at 32 stitches per row is easily preventable but not impossible), I’m sunk. That may make the Summer's Shadow shawl a poor choice for public or meeting knitting.  I’ll need to get more familiar with the 12-row repeat before I feel confident venturing out of the house with this.

Lucky for me, it’s a holiday weekend and I have lots of relaxing, uninterrupted knitting time at my disposal. Happy Independence Day, those of you in the U.S.!

PS: I realized I've been using the wrong name for this shawl: it's Summer's Shadow, not Summer Shadow.  My apologies to designer Angelea McGarrah.