In the nick of time...

Phew! It was close, but I finished the shawl for my son's teacher the day before graduation! I really enjoyed making this shawlette, from the Spring 2007 issue of Interweave Knits (see June 3 post for links). I was a little worried when I was knitting it, as it was a little wonky but when I blocked it the shawl really relaxed and flattened out beautifully. The combination of the alpaca and silk made it quite drapey and soft. The only part that gave me a little anxiety was when I had to kitchener stitch the 2 halves together at the end. I barely had any yarn left at all, and so I was nervous about running out of yarn before I finished, but I had just enough left to graft it together plus a few more yards. I wasn't sure how much to leave extra to kitchener stitch, but I went with the rule of thumb of 4 times the width. I added several inches just in case, and it was a bit cumbersome having to pull that much yardage through each time, but I muscled through it o.k. And even with a few phone calls interrupting me (was I knitting through the back or pearling through the front on that last stitch, urgh!) I managed to get through it.

Here it is, modeled by my daughter, and I think my son's teacher really appreciated it. It almost makes me want to knit one for myself, perhaps in the Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk - Ginger or the new Peapod colorway?