Rose Garden Shawl From Knit N Purl - Done!

Done!

As expected, blocking brings out the true beauty of this shawl.  I found I had to pin each scalloped edge three times to keep the curve the way I wanted it.  No blocking wires for this job—just lots and lots of pins and patience.  

This is a lovely pattern—delicate but not so much that you can’t wear it with a casual outfit.  Some of that owes to the cotton Pima Quatro, but it’s also in the design.

I do like it, with two exceptions that are purely based on personal opinion:

1) I think I’d prefer this pattern in a solid, rather than the color quartet that is this particular yarn.  Quatro comes in solids, so you can still use this fiber.  Like most lace patterns, I’d stick with a bright or light solid.  Given the leaf motif, a spring green might suit perfectly.  It’s not that the one I have isn’t pretty, it’s just that the beauty of the pattern gets lost in all those purples.

2) I’ve decided I’m not a big fan of the shawlette.  I like full-size shawls, even if they are a bigger fiber and time commitment.  At nearly six feet tall, the scale of a shawlette or a small shawl like this always feels off.  I prefer a shawl to reach my elbows when I wear it, not just skim my shoulders.  Looking at these photos compared to others I find on the web, it's possible I missed a repeat in the lace pattern which would have made it wider, so the size may be be entirely my fault.  And for someone with a petite frame, this may be the perfect size.  Still, even for me, this would be perfectly suitable over a sundress in an overly air-conditioned restaurant,. 

I wore the Rose Garden Shawl to church this morning and received many compliments.  My worries over the few mistakes in those first rows were completely groundless—no one noticed a thing except how nicely it matched my dress.  

Over a lighter top like you see here, the design shows off even more.  And I must say, I do like the feel of cotton (cue the “fabric of our lives” theme song here…) against my neck or over bare shoulders.

Thanks for a challenging yet satisfying knitting experience, Knit N Purl!

Rose Garden Shawl From Knit N Purl - Day 3

The four-ply face-palm...

I’ve done two of the five required repeats of this lace pattern, and I still can’t quite make out the leaves I know are forming.  I think this will be one of those pieces where it really will not take on its true beauty until it’s blocked.  Lace is an end-game business—you get a glimpse of the final outcome, but not until all the stitching is done.  Right now it’s a super-soft ripply purply mess.  Yet, I am happy in my mess.

On a completely unrelated note, I had one of those facepalm moments with this yarn.  It’s called Quattro.  Surely they didn’t pull the name out of a hat—it means something.  I’ve been working with this yarn for over a week now, and JUST YESTERDAY did I realize it is four-ply and four different colors.  Really.  I like to think of myself as a bit quicker on the uptake, you know?

I press on, determined to speed my way through the final three lace pattern repeats.  Um…maybe given my track record, “speed” isn’t the right verb to shoot for here.  I will carefully work my way through the three remaining repeats.

Rose Garden Shawl From Knit N Purl - Day 1

Beginnings and endings...

It occurred to me today how much knitting is like writing books.  Starting a project is an exhilarating experience.  You cast on, all full-up with fresh wonder, completely devoid of any scars from mistakes or foolishness.  These are the same sensations every writer feels when she sits down to start her next (or first) novel.  Those great moments before the characters misbehave and the plot tangles and you start to wonder why this story was ever a good idea in the first place.  None of that yet; a beginnings is a lovely, hopeful place.

Endings are lovely, too.  Endings are jubilant, victorious things.  Endings show you what the piece will finally look like.  You bask in the beauty of the final product.  Sure, endings can be a bit tedious if there’s a complicated bind-off (I guess that makes binding off the spell-check of writing).  Writing endings mean you nailed it, you hung in there, you followed the story to its fruition.  I love finishing a novel—there’s a popular writer’s saying: “I don’t love writing, but I love having written.”

I’m looking forward to loving this when it’s done!

This Ultra Pima Quattro is cotton.  I hardly ever knit with cotton—it’s not my fiber of choice.  I miss the elasticity of other yarns and I always worry the stuff is going to unravel.  I don’t own a cotton shawl, so I’m fascinated to see how this one will feel.

After all, we’re at the hopeful beginning!