Hidcote Garden Shawl KAL

It is not too late to join in the KAL... for more information, check this post. (We'll keep this one dated funny just to make sure it stays at the top...for future members of the KAL!)

For a good purpose

I just want to share with you that I made the Hidcote Garden Shawl for the Pink Ribbon Auction here in Norway. And it was auctioned away for about €180. That's some good news for all women with breast cancer, I hope?

Finished at last :D

At last, finished. If I had not promised to give it away, to the red ribbon organization in Norway, I would had laid it down for never picking it up.


I was very tired the last charts. It's huge, this shawl. But I really liked the last pattern, and I really didn't like the middle section. Would it be possible to make a shawl that just are part 1 and part 3? Would they fit together?

Tomorrow is blocking day.

Thanks for the joy ride :D

Working on

420 stitches and working on. I am at Chart #8, and closing in, ain't I?


The shawl is now too big to knit on the bus so it has become a television-shawl :) I don't find it difficult to make, but I am not sure that I am comfortable with the diamonds in this shawl ... Have others reflected about that as well?

I have decided to give it away to the Norwegian OktoberRosa 07, the Pink Ribbon action. Not because it is pink, but because I think it will fit others better then me.

So far so good :)

Having summer vacation in Scotland this year I brought with me my new baby, the Hidcote Garden Shawl.


I have not encountered any problems beside the odd forgotten yarn over, but that's really nothing. But I had to hit my head in anger with my self for not taking enough yarn with me: How could I!
I got to Chart #6 with 50 gram of lace yarn from handpeintedyarn.com, and then I had to stop. But luckily, home again, and I continue on this very beautiful shawl.

Slow starter

I am still only on chart #2 =( I have a bad habit of dozing off when I knit in the evening, therefore I have lost stitiches So for me, I don't work on this shawl if I am the tiniest bit tired, which I usually am in the evening. I just stick with my dishcloths in the evening, so if I drop stitches it not a big deal to recover....if you know what I mean.
Anyway for those that are finished, congratulations, your shawls are beautiful, they do inspire me to keep on going, and I will.

I do have a few questions though, someone had mentioned an errata sheet, where do I go to pick this up?

How many ring markers did you end up needing to use? just being on the chart #2 I have used up a pkg of 20 already. What do others use? At $3.99 a pkg this could become very expensive.

Appreciate your help,
Cindy

Finished!

I finished the shawl on Tuesday and I'm very happy with the finished product. I used Jaggerspun Zephyr in Sage on Size 3US Crystal Palace Bamboo Needles.

I started this shawl way back on October 15, 2006 when the Hawaiian Islands experienced an earthquake over the coast of the Big Island. The island I live on, O'ahu, experienced an island wide power outage. I couldn't work on the shawl I had on the needles at the time, because I couldn't see the stitches without my OTT light. When power was restored later that night, I put it away and didn't take it back out for several months.

I have mixed feelings now that I finally finished it as I had so much fun knitting, I almost wished the party would never end. At the same time I am incredibly happy with the finished result. I also had a great time with this knit-along and I hope to continue my time with you all even though my shawl is done.

Opal
the Akamai Knitter

Finally Got Her Blocked

I finally received my blocking wires in the mail and found the courage (and the time) to get down in the floor and block my Hidcote Shawl. Wow, she is a beauty! This is such a great pattern! I was especially pleased with the texture of the top section of lace--the light just danced off the shawl.

This was my first experience with blocking wires and there is a knack to working with them, like picking up enough strands of the yarn so that you can stretch the points out without fear. I managed to grab only one strand on a point and my cashmere yarn snapped. Yikes! But all was not lost and I successfully made the repair the following day once the shawl was dry.

I was surprised to find that after washing, fluffing the cashmere in the dryer, and blocking the final size of my shawl was the same as the pattern-44x90" I used needles that were one size larger than recommended and my unwashed/unblocked size was quite a bit larger so getting the exact final size was unexpected. I guess that's why cashmere needs to be fluffed up :-)

As usual, there are more pictures and ramblings on on my blog www.beadntat.blogspot.com
It's been great fun knitting along with ya'll!